Entertainment
CONTACTStaffCAREER OPPORTUNITIESADVERTISE WITH USPRIVACY POLICYPRIVACY PREFERENCESTERMS OF USELEGAL NOTICE
© 2024 Pride Publishing Inc.
All Rights reserved
All Rights reserved
Scroll To Top
By continuing to use our site, you agree to our Private Policy and Terms of Use.
Allison Janney, who famously played dry-witted White House communications director C.J. Cregg on TV's The West Wing, sings out strong in Dolly Parton's megamusical version of Nine to Five, opening on Broadway tonight. Out checked in with the actress a week before the show opened and even though she was suffering a major stomach virus, she was still soldiering through previews and just as charming as ever.
Out: So Nine to Five is in previews and you open in a week. How's it going?
Allison Janney: I've got an awful stomach virus. But I did the show last night! I'm very much of a workhorse, and "the show must go on." I'd have my dresser hold the Pedialyte offstage and eat half a banana. For my big number, "One of the Boys," I thought, "How am I going to do this?" And then I thought, "Come on, Alison, it's two hours of your life, then you can get back in bed." A lot of the people in the cast and crew have been hit with this bug. We've got tons of Purell backstage.
Well, I hope you all get over it soon. So, where were you when the original Nine to Five movie came out in 1980?
It must've been near my freshman or sophomore year in college. I think I saw it in Dayton, Ohio, and I loved it. It was such a female empowerment movie and it empowers the work guys, the little guy. It can make you feel good about the people who work their asses off in this country.
You're playing the role Lily Tomlin made famous. Has she seen you in it?
Yeah, well, I worked with her on The West Wing and she and Dolly and Jane [Fonda, also in the movie] watched the musical together when it opened in L.A. before this. Lily did an interview in New York with me a couple weeks ago. I've stolen from Lily whatever I can steal that works!
Where do you think Nine to Five takes place? It's never really stated.
We kind of said Cincinnati, but also I'm from Ohio.
So you've done tons of straight plays and nabbed a 1998 Tony nom for A View from the Bridge, but this is your first musical, eh?
Yeah. It's not quite in my wheelhouse, my book of tricks. But musical theater is such a fun form, you get to do so many things..."Now I've go to sing and make it work!" There's even some scenes that are kind of vaudeville, some classic schtick that only musical theater will allow.
What's the hardest part?
Knowing that my voice is going to be out there, just doing my warm-up. I say, "Oh my God, can I do eight shows a week for a year?" I just take it day by day. I love being back in New York after years in L.A., and living on the Upper West Side. My favorite restaurant is Cafe Luxembourg. I've spent a couple of birthdays there.
what's coming up for you?
I''m doing a Sam Mendes film called Away We Go, which is coming out soon. It's about Maya Rudolph and John Krasinski as a young pregnant couple trying to find a town to live in. I play an old friend of Maya's, very loud and out-there and bawdy. And I also did Todd Solondz's untitled continuation of Happiness. And an Eddie Murphy movie called A Thousand Words.
A very tall friend of mine named Arianne Cohen who has a book coming out called The Tall Book asked me to ask you to blurb her book. Will you consider it, because you're six-feet tall, and Arianne says that tall actresses actually win more awards.
I've certainly never gotten to play the ingenue parts.
Well, thanks for the interview. Do you feel better since we started the call?
I think it's all because of you that I'm going to be able to go on and do the show tonight.
9 to 5 is playing on Broadway at the Marquis Theatre. For tickets and more info click here.Send a letter to the editor about this article.
From our Sponsors
Most Popular
41 male celebs who did full frontal scenes
September 16 2024 2:02 PM
39 LGBTQ+ celebs you can follow on OnlyFans
November 19 2024 9:39 AM
33 actors who showed bare ass in movies & TV shows
September 17 2024 5:43 PM
21 times male celebrities had to come out as straight
November 19 2024 3:33 PM
17 queens who quit or retired from drag after 'RuPaul's Drag Race'
November 30 2024 12:26 AM
52 steamy celebrity Calvin Klein ads we'll always be thirsty for
August 27 2024 1:08 PM
15 things only bottoms understand
October 08 2024 5:18 PM
15 gay celebrity couples who make us believe in love
October 03 2024 5:43 PM
A gay adult film star's complete guide to bottoming
September 16 2024 8:50 AM
Latest Stories
16 gay NFL players who proved that LGBTQ+ athletes belong in football
December 09 2024 3:47 PM
TikToker reveals girthy results from his personal 'Grindr Wrapped' round-up
December 09 2024 3:35 PM
Victory for LGBTQ+ couples in landmark fertility coverage case
December 09 2024 3:25 PM
Can pop music save souls? Chappell Roan is giving us hits & visibility
December 09 2024 3:00 PM
7 biggest LGBTQ+ snubs at the 2025 Golden Globes
December 09 2024 2:30 PM
A homophobe posted a video of a gay couple kissing & got dragged for it
December 09 2024 2:25 PM
December 9, 2024
December 09 2024 1:24 PM
All the LGBTQ+ nominees we're rooting for at the 2025 Golden Globes
December 09 2024 12:16 PM
Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer was my first gay icon
December 09 2024 10:56 AM
Trans 10-year-old fears her gender identity might get her murdered
December 09 2024 10:45 AM
Meet Justin — the hot himbo looking to date a daddy on 'For the Love of DILFs'
December 09 2024 10:39 AM
'Queer's Daniel Craig & Omar Apollo pull back the sheets on their steamy sex scene
December 09 2024 10:17 AM
Karla SofÃa Gascón makes trans history with Golden Globe nomination
December 09 2024 10:07 AM
Rebecca Black is bringing us 'SALVATION'—her new tour for 2025
December 09 2024 10:00 AM
The Ruby Slippers sold for $32M had been stolen & lost for 13 years
December 08 2024 5:38 PM