Good Golly Redux

So when I heard about the set breaking down during the first preview of the much ballyhooed "9 to 5: the Musical" forcing composer Dolly Parton to step out of the audience to entertain the masses, I thought, "Now that's a performance I'm sorry I hadn't attended.

Which now goes under the heading of "Be careful what you wish for, moron!" because the same thing happened again on Saturday, "9 to 5's" opening night.

"Don't make me come up and sing again," twanged that familiar twang after the stage went dark some 20 minutes in and a voice announced that due to technical difficulties, the show would stop.

And after some 10 minutes or so, when it became clear the tech difs were going to keep things stalled a bit longer (and the muffled sound of drills were heard), Parton got to her feet, took a mic, thanked everybody for coming, and said, "I guess there's nothing more for us to do than sing '9 to 5.'" Which she did, an appreciative crowd chiming in at various points along the way.

Once again, I've got to give the lady her props for enthusiasm. And clearly it pays to be prepared. Naturally, Dolly Parton is going to be attending opening night. Naturally, after the set malfunction happened before, she's going to be ready to grab the mic and start vamping. I suspect Parton could sing "9 to 5" anywhere, anytime for any occasion. She would have launched into "I Will Always Love You" (Heck, I'm betting the lady would have taken requests) had the performance not started again.

It's embarrassing, though...for Parton, for the production, for Center Theatre Group. If you've got a big event show like this, have your stupid problems fixed and have things running as smoothly as possible by opening night.

I've got to say, as charismatic and cheerleader-ish as Parton is/was, it would have been a real kick if, instead of singing and going on, she had shared the mic with fellow "9 to 5" cast mates Lily Tomlin, Jane Fonda and Dabney Coleman, all of whom were sitting in the same row. Maybe a Q and A instead of yet another rendition of "Working 9 to 5..." The show is positively lousy with that song (My review of the performance appears later this week _ probably Friday_ in print in the Daily News and at LA.com.).

With big premieres in L.A., it's not so unusual to have an unexpected bit of extra performance. At the opening night of "Movin' Out" a few years back, Billy Joel _ whose music is the basis of the dance show _ took the stage after the curtain calls and sang "Only the Good Die Young." The difference, of course, Joel didn't have to vamp to compensate for technical difficulties. He sang because he felt like it.

Doubtless he was in a better mood. I'd take "Movin' Out" over "9 to 5" any day of any week. Or perhaps that's tipping my hand...

Still, kudos to Dolly Parton, a team player if ever there was one.