For the first 39 years of Jackson County Community Theatre’s annual dinner theater musical, all of the dinner shows had never been sold out.

With this year’s production of “9 to 5: The Musical,” though, history was made.

The four shows, which drew 224 people apiece, were sellouts. Plus, there was a non-dinner matinee show Sunday that drew 170 people, which also was the most ever.

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That means 1,066 people saw the musical.

Talk about service and devotion.

You could say the folks tumbled out of bed and headed to The Pines Evergreen Room in Seymour to see the shows, which were Feb. 15 and 16 and Friday and the last one is tonight.

So what was the draw to this show?

“First of all, the name recognition of the show is probably part of it,” director Stacey Williams said.

“I think it’s Dolly Parton,” production manager Kate Stahl said of the country music singer who starred in the movie “9 to 5” in 1980 and wrote the music for the musical. “Everybody loves Dolly. It’s the Dolly effect. Everyone from all walks of life, all different ages, they love her.”

The size of the cast — 17 — was another factor, Williams said.

“If you have 17 people, they all have people who want to come see them, so that makes a big difference, too,” she said.

Plus, even though the film is 39 years old, the issues portrayed in it are still prevalent today.

“We’re still dealing with that, like women in the workplace are feeling marginalized or belittled or sexualized or whatever,” Williams said.

“It’s one of the reasons the season selection committee picked it,” Stahl said. “It’s very timely.”

Another reason Williams gave for the success is that the theater has established a reputation for having great shows.

“This is my fourth dinner theater in a row. I’ve been in two, and this is the second one I’ve directed,” she said. “I just think word of mouth travels, and people enjoy it, and they have a good time.”

Kristina Charlton of Seymour played the role of Doralee Rhodes, who is Parton’s character in the movie.

She said Parton’s popularity was among people’s draw to the show.

“I think it’s just the ‘9 to 5’ charm, the Dolly charm, that Dolly is so widely loved,” Charlton said. “You don’t have to love country music to love Dolly. She’s just a national treasure. It was just such a popular movie and fun, and just everybody loves it.”

Skyla Fields of North Vernon portrayed Judy Bernly, a co-worker of Rhodes in the show.

She agreed with Charlton’s assessment of the show’s popularity.

“It’s just down-home southern,” Fields said. “It’s something everyone knows, something that they can relate to. It’s funny. It’s an homage to women. I just think it’s awesome because of Dolly, of course, because she wrote the music, she wrote ‘9 to 5.’”

Fields also gave credit to all of the actors from Jackson and Jennings counties.

“Of course, our cast is amazing,” she said. “(The theater) did ‘Little Shop of Horrors’ a couple years ago and ‘Almost, Maine’ last year, so (the audience members) are kind of expecting a little bit more from us each year, and they were probably excited.”

Megan Snyder of North Vernon played the role of Violet Newstead, the senior office supervisor who is encouraged by her co-workers to apply to run the company.

“The storyline, I think, is very relatable to a lot of people, and especially right now with all of the things in politics going on, there are a lot of relatable themes,” she said. “It’s humorous. Everybody likes to laugh.”

The three women will long remember being a part of a record-setting show.

“I’m so thankful, and I love it so much,” Fields said. “When I auditioned, in my mind, I wanted to be Doralee. Once I got the cast list and I listened to Judy’s part, I was able to hold onto Judy personally from my own struggles. It just hits home in so many different ways, and it’s so vulnerable to be able to put your emotion out to everyone and tell a story that way. It’s just awesome.”

Hearing the four dinner theater shows were sold out was exciting to Charlton.

“It was unbelievable,” she said. “This is my first (show) since high school, and so as I’ve heard just historically what has happened through dinner shows in the past and how the audiences react and how ticket sales and things go, it blew us away that we sold out.”

Snyder had a similar reaction.

“Mind blown,” she said, smiling. “It’s an honor, and it’s humbling. It’s a little nerve-racking because this many people are expecting a really whizbang show. We’re setting the bar a little higher each time.”

In her director notes in the program, Williams thanked everyone involved in the musical for “generously sharing their time and incredible talents.”

“I always love the magic of watching a show come together, and it can feel like magic, too, with the right people, even though the reality is something grittier,” she wrote. “Everyone you see and hear — and many you don’t — contributed imagination, sore throats, drawings, bags of Goodwill clothing, paint-stained hands and rehearsals bundled in their winter coats to making this spectacular thing in front of you happen.”

She said she was humbled and inspired to be a part of it.

“Amazingly, no one you see or hear is a professional at this,” she said. “We are teachers, factory workers, chicken farmers, youth ministers, students, moms and dads who just happen to love this stuff. Join us any time you want.”

Workin’ 9 to 5, what a way to make a livin’.

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For information about Jackson County Community Theatre, visit jcct.org.

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