Producers John Frost and Suzanne Jones are delighted to announce that "9 to 5 THE MUSICAL" is partnering with Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library to bring the joy of reading to children in need across Australia.
As the official charity partner of the musical production, '9 TO 5 THE MUSICAL' will host a charity performance on Thursday, June 18 at 7:30 PM with the proceeds from 500 ticket sales going directly to the Imagination Library. These funds, plus other fundraising initiatives on the night, will assist the Imagination Library to bring the gift of reading to children all around the country. Dolly Parton said,
“I am thrilled to announce that "9 to 5 The Musical" will be raising funds for a foundation I started 24 years ago and is very close to my heart, The Imagination Library. The program sends out over one million free books each month to children all around the world - I guess that’s why they call me the book lady!”
Producer Suzanne Jones said, “We are thrilled to be collaborating with Imagination Library as our chosen official charity partner on 9 to 5 The Musical. Dolly Parton herself established this charity initiative in the US as a tribute to her father who never learned to read. Her aim was to inspire all children to love to read, and we are looking forward to helping her accomplish that mission here in Australia.”
Clayton Noble, Chief Executive of United Way Australia, said, “We are very excited to be hosting a special charity performance on Thursday, June 18 with proceeds from the ticket sales to go towards supporting families and carers involved in the Imagination Library, and providing the gift of a book each month to children aged 0-5 in many communities across Australia.”
IMAGINATION LIBRARY CHARITY PERFORMANCE
Venue: Sydney Lyric Theatre, The Star
Date: Thursday, June 18, 7.30 PM
Prices: $79.90 (Transaction fees apply)
Book Tickets
* Performance times vary weekly
** Transaction fees apply
London’s West End smash-hit "9 TO 5 THE MUSICAL" will premiere at the Sydney Lyric Theatre next month on April 19, 2020, followed by a season at Her Majesty’s Theatre, Melbourne starting July 25, 2020. Eddie Perfect, one of Australia’s leading television and musical theatre stars, will play the egotistical boss Franklin Hart Jnr. Producers John Frost, Suzanne Jones and Ambassador Theatre Group Productions announced the addition of Eddie Perfect on Feb. 29, 2020.
“We’re thrilled that Eddie has accepted our challenge to return to Australia to play this wonderfully self-centred, chauvinist character after living in New York for a few years,” said the producers. “As well as being a fantastic comic and composer, Eddie is a much-loved musical theatre performer, and will be fantastic in 9 TO 5 alongside Caroline, Marina, Samantha, Erin and the wonderful ensemble.”
"9 TO 5 THE MUSICAL" in Australia also stars Caroline O’Connor, Marina Prior, Samantha Dodemaide and Erin Clare. This run-away success on the West End features a book by the iconic movie’s original screenwriter Patricia Resnick and an Oscar, Grammy and Tony award-nominated score by the Queen of Country herself, Dolly Parton, including her much-loved hit song, "9 to 5!"
Also in the cast are Ana Maria Belo, Amy Berrisford, Zoe Coppinger, Mia Dabkowski-Chandler, Josh Gates, Ben Gillespie, Emma Hawthorne, Matthew Jenson, Jay Johns, Ethan Jones, Ariana Mazzeo, Joe Meldrum, Jordanna Morandin, Josh Mulheran, Tom New, Matthew Prime, Melissa Russo and Glaston Toft.
"9 TO 5 THE MUSICAL" opened at London’s Savoy Theatre in January last year, initially for a 16 week season and surpassed all audience expectations. It has been extended multiple times and is now selling until April. Perhaps a whole new generation of Dolly fans are treating themselves to a fun night out on the West End!
Get "9 TO 5 THE MUSICAL" Tickets
Each year, the esteemed Book Selection Committee, a specially selected panel of early childhood literacy experts, is responsible for reviewing hundreds of potential titles for inclusion in Dolly Parton's Imagination Library. With the new year’s list curated, Dolly Parton's Imagination Library is proud to announce the Australian Book List (Australia), the Gold Medal Book Selections (United Kingdom) and the Blue Ribbon Book Selections (United States & Canada). When asked about this year's selections Dolly said,
“My commitment to kids has always been to deliver the very best books right to their doorstep and last year we put over 9 million books in the hands of children and their families. Of course, none of this would be possible without the contributions of these talented authors, illustrators and the hundreds of local partners who love kids as much as I do.”
Since launching in 1995, Dolly Parton's Imagination Library has become the premiere early childhood book gifting program in the world by mailing over 66 million books in Australia, Canada, United Kingdom and the United States. Currently the program mails over 820,000 specially selected, age-appropriate books monthly to registered children from birth to age five.
In 2015, Dolly Parton's Imagination Library will mail over 9.5 million books to hundreds of thousands of children across four countries. Recent studies suggest participation in the Imagination Library program is positively and significantly associated with higher measures of early language and math development.
2015 Australian Book List - Australia
2015 Gold Medal Selection List - United Kingdom
2015 Blue Ribbon Book Selections - United States & Canada
During the first week of May, thanks to the efforts of the United Way, Dolly's Imagination Library became available in Australia.
With the expansion, Australia becomes the fourth nation and third continent to join the Imagination Library. Queensland, was the first Aussie community to register children for the program.
It has been suggested in recent publications, that Dolly's Imagination Library might just be her most lasting legacy. The PBS program “NewsHour” featured an interview via “Learning Matters” and Dolly spoke at length of her early childhood literacy dream turned reality.
Imagination Library continued to expand stateside as well. In North Dakota, First Lady Betsy Dalrymple continued her support of the program. In Mississippi, the Power of the Purse fund-raising effort by the United Way of East Mississippi collected enough funds to mail books to 1,000 children a year. In Maryland, “The Delmarva Times” profiles the state's second chapter of the project, sponsored by the United Way of the Lower Eastern Shore. In Missouri, the literacy project will integrate Imagination Library into the Kansas City, North Kansas City, Independence, Shawnee Mission and Center school districts through the United Way of Greater Kansas City's Women's Leadership Council.
