Tracy Poindexter-Canton

Despite the original Broadway production’s less-than-lukewarm reception from big-city theater critics, the national touring production of “9 to 5” is an amusing mélange of feel-good music, memorable characters and campy ’70s nostalgia. Based on the 1980 cult movie starring Lily Tomlin, Dolly Parton and Jane Fonda, the musical comedy follows three office gal pals who conspire to hold their chauvinistic boss hostage in order to shatter the company’s glass ceiling and boost company morale. Dee Hoty, Diana DeGarmo and Mamie Parris have been well cast in the lead roles of Violet Newstead, Doralee Rhodes and Judy Bernly.

If you enjoyed the 2001 movie “Legally Blonde,” starring Reese Witherspoon, then you’ll probably enjoy the national touring musical now playing in Spokane. Both offer peppy, girly fun and a main character who is hard not to like. The show’s inclusion of popular, MTV-inspired music and high-energy dance routines keep its story from becoming, as Elle would put it, “like something from last season’s sample sale.”