Роль в мюзикле «9 до 5» помогла актрисе из Гринвилля поверить в себя как главной героине

How Dolly Parton’s ‘9 to 5’ gave one Greenville actor confidence to be a leading lady Upstate performer Roxanne Vogel says playing Doralee Rhodes changed how she saw herself, both on stage and off GREENVILLE, S.C. (FOX Carolina) - Dolly Parton broke Grammy records, donated millions to charity and inspired generations of musicians and humanitarians. Fewer people know she also belongs to a small circle of women who have written both the music and lyrics for a Broadway musical. Parton starred in “9 to 5,” the 1980 film that used comedy to take on workplace sexism. Years later, she returned to the story, writing the music and lyrics for “9 to 5: The Musical,” which opened on Broadway in 2009. In 2022, Centre Stage in Greenville staged its own production. Roxanne Vogel played the lead role of Doralee, the character Parton originated on screen. Vogel had graduated college and joined the show’s ensemble when, a week before rehearsals started, she was asked to step into the lead. “I remember I cried and I screamed and I was so excited,” Vogel said. “I was very overwhelmed by the fact that I felt that such a big role was being trusted to me, a 22-year-old who hadn’t had any professional experience before.” Doralee’s story is, in some ways, an age-old one. She clocks in at 9 and out by 5, and in between she’s underestimated by her co-workers and harassed by her boss. Vogel said playing her felt personal. “She gets objectified a lot throughout her whole life, and I know Dolly experienced that too,” Vogel said. “It felt very reassuring as a woman playing that role as a young woman that I felt very validated in my experiences, even though the story does take place in the ’80s.” Vogel said the role also forced her to confront a bias she’d absorbed in her own career — that curvier actresses get cast as the comedic sidekick, not the leading lady. “I was 22, and it sounds sad to say I’ve given up — I have given up on the idea of being a leading lady ingenue,” Vogel said. “But you get typecast as one thing for so long, you start to believe it. And so when I was asked to play this role, I was like, me? You’re considering me for this leading lady who gets to have romance?” That shift in mindset stayed with her long after the show closed. “This role opened the mindset for me to actually view myself and advocate for myself to be leading roles,” Vogel said. “That changed how I audition. It changed how I carry myself in rehearsals. It changed how I just feel about myself as an actress and how I can relate to my characters. I can be who I am and what I look like.” Vogel’s favorite song from the show is “I Just Might,” the number where Doralee and her two co-workers, each isolated in her own frustration, begin to imagine standing up for themselves. “All three melodies are so different, and they all sing at the same time,” Vogel said. “When they all come into unison together, it just feels like a perfect moment. It feels like they’re feeding off of the energy of each other, even though they are alone in those moments.” Longtime local artist John Fagan directed the 2022 production. It wasn’t Centre Stage’s first attempt — an earlier version of the show was three days from opening in 2020 when COVID-19 shut it down. “We were three days from opening the show, and we had to close down,” Fagan said. “At that point we thought it was only going to be a couple weeks, like everybody did. It ended up being well over a year and a half.” When the production finally returned, Fagan said, it came back with a mostly new cast, including new leads. Fagan called the finished show “a blast.” “I had great people and it was so full of life, which is what Dolly was,” he said. For Vogel, the role of Doralee left a lasting mark on how she sees herself — and how she now watches other performances. “After playing Doralee, when I would audition for future roles, I would study these characters differently,” Vogel said. “I would see the actresses’ deeper choices rather than just, ‘oh, she is a romantic lead meant to support this male lead. She has all of these other layers to her.’” Her advice for performers coming up behind her is simple. “You have the power to play anything you want,” Vogel said. RELATED COVERAGE: Feel more informed, prepared, and connected with FOX Carolina. For more free content like this, download our apps. Copyright 2026 WHNS. All rights reserved.