Cyndi Lauper wants to have more than just fun with the 'Working Girl' musical

In the 1988 movie “Working Girl,” an adjunct secretly stays astatine her absent boss’ apartment, ogles its opulence alongside her champion person and tries connected a formal with a $6,000 terms tag.

The caller philharmonic mentation of the beloved movie re-creates this iconic country with 9 women onstage. They participate the glamorous dwelling with voluminous permed hair, shoulder-padded blazers and achromatic diversion sneakers — the second for commuting from the outer boroughs into Manhattan — and instrumentality turns admiring the tweed Chanel suits, silk Versace robes and vintage Hermes scarves. They past quick-change into fabulous metallic gowns and, with the assistance of LED panels and lighting cues, the chamber transforms into a manner runway of scintillating secretaries, singing and dancing successful feminine revelry. And that showstopper dress? It present costs $7,000.

The infinitesimal epitomizes the attack of this adaptation, which begins its world-premiere tally Tuesday astatine La Jolla Playhouse: instrumentality the astir memorable parts of the movie and crook up the measurement for the stage. The result: an unabashed solemnisation of women, theatre and each things 1980s, led by the quintessential instrumentalist who embodies it all: Cyndi Lauper.

Cyndi Lauper successful New York City successful September.

(Larsen&Talbert / For The Times)

“I privation the assemblage to beryllium entertained — laughing, crying, lasting up and feeling similar they tin bash it each too,” Lauper said of the show, already extended done Dec. 7. “Not that you could spell successful your boss’ closet and deterioration her clothes, no! But that breathtaking feeling of surviving successful the metropolis successful the ‘80s, being originative and not backing down.”

A firm Cinderella story, the 20th Century Fox drama starred Melanie Griffith arsenic Tess, a tenacious caput astatine a Wall Street brokerage steadfast who learns that her boss, Katharine, has taken recognition for her concern proposal. When a skis mishap keeps Katharine retired of the office, Tess poses arsenic her superior to squad up with Jack — an concern broker played by Harrison Ford — and transportation her thought to the apical brass herself.

Directed by Mike Nichols, “Working Girl” was nominated for six Academy Awards, highlighting the performances of Griffith, Sigourney Weaver arsenic the deliciously cutthroat Katharine, and Joan Cusack arsenic Tess’ champion person Cyn. “The tacit designation of the barriers that clasp the Cyns and the Tesses backmost and the deficiency of condescension to them successful the absorption and successful [the] publication makes ‘Working Girl’ 1 of the warmest films that Nichols has touched,” praised The Times’ movie professional Sheila Benson successful her review.

Since the “Working Girl” crippled is locked into the ‘80s — “If you tried to walk yourself disconnected arsenic an enforcement today, radical would Google you and it’d beryllium over!” joked manager Christopher Ashley — the philharmonic wholly embraces the era’s aesthetics successful its costumes, choreography and, of course, its score. “Sonically, determination was a batch of individuality astatine the time, with truthful galore caller sounds and genres,” recalled Lauper, a born-and-bred New Yorker who concisely worked arsenic an bureau adjunct earlier her vocation took off. (Lauper’s cause adjacent encouraged her to audition to play Tess successful the movie.)

With the motorboat of MTV, “the ‘80s was the archetypal clip we were watching music,” she continued. “Like, the archetypal clip we saw Annie Lennox successful a boardroom successful that suit with her fist connected the table, looking close astatine america and saying, ‘Sweet dreams are made of this,’ ohio my God, it stopped you. It wasn’t conscionable her androgynous representation oregon the colour of her hair, which was awesome, but it was besides the information that, possibly for the archetypal time, we were getting a existent consciousness of who she was, due to the fact that euphony videos were wherever the artists were successful originative control. Anyway, determination was a batch of worldly going connected then, and we wanted each of it successful the show.”

Lauper — whose debut theatrical outing, the 2013 Broadway deed “Kinky Boots,” won six Tony Awards, including for her archetypal people — has been penning “Working Girl” compositions for a decade. To make songs for the five-piece set that afloat represents the assortment of the era’s euphony — electronic, hip-hop, hairsbreadth metallic and much — Lauper brought successful her “Time After Time” co-writer Rob Hyman of the Hooters, Cheryl James of the rap radical Salt-N-Pepa and Sammy James Jr., who co-wrote the rubric opus for the movie “School of Rock.” (Carly Simon’s Oscar-winning archetypal opus “Let the River Run” is not successful the score.)

Harrison Ford, Melanie Griffith, center, and Sigourney Weaver, right, successful Mike Nichols’ 1988 drama play “Working Girl.”

(20th Century Fox)

“Working Girl” is the latest deed drama to effort the leap from ‘80s movie to philharmonic theater, pursuing “9 to 5,” “Big,” “Beetlejuice,” “Footloose,” “Tootsie” and “Back to the Future.” Not each of these titles stuck the landing, critically oregon commercially.

“I deliberation immoderate musicals get caught successful trying to recapture the nonstop lightning-in-a-bottle of the movie,” said Ashley. “We person the fortunate condition of Kevin Wade, the film’s screenwriter, passing this to america and saying, ‘Take what’s utile and remake what you request to.’”

Joanna “JoJo” Levesque, left, and Leslie Rodriguez Kritzer prima successful the philharmonic adaptation of the 1988 movie “Working Girl,” adjacent the La Jolla Playhouse.

(Ariana Drehsler / For The Times)

The accumulation stars Joanna “JoJo” Levesque arsenic Tess, who is “a small rougher astir the edges” onstage, said Levesque. “We thin into her working-class inheritance due to the fact that we’re truly telling a communicative astir class, the haves and the person nots. And successful this clip that we’re surviving in, that’s important to speech about.” (Yes, Tess inactive says her legendary line: “I’ve got a caput for concern and a bod for sin.”)

Likewise, Levesque’s co-star Leslie Rodriguez Kritzer teased that her Katharine has moments of hilariously frantic vigor — a Kritzer quality signature. Nevertheless, she remains arsenic statuesque and merciless arsenic Weaver was onscreen. “This is my 3rd movie-musical adaptation,” said Kritzer, who originated roles successful the “Legally Blonde” and “Beetlejuice” musicals. Each time, “it’s astir figuring retired however to marque it antithetic but inactive giving the assemblage what they want.”

Though Tess and Katharine are rivals successful the show, seasoned signifier histrion Kritzer go a mentor of sorts to Levesque, the popular prima who entered the theatre country with a 2023 stint successful Broadway’s “Moulin Rouge!” and is originating a relation for the archetypal time. In rehearsals, they assistance each different incorporated cardinal vocal influences: Lennox, Pat Benatar, Roxette, Joan Jett, Patti Smith, Blondie and Lauper herself. Onstage, the secretaries collectively echo that aforesaid women-helping-women attitude, which mightiness animate immoderate young women watching.

“There’s truthful overmuch quality successful Cyndi’s lyrics astir dreaming large and utilizing anticipation arsenic a fuel,” said publication writer Theresa Rebeck. “In the ‘80s, companies kept getting bought and divided open, but our communicative celebrates that combat for accidental and coming unneurotic to physique thing new. It was important then, and it’s important now.”

So volition it each entreaty to today’s moving girls? “It’s been my acquisition that a batch of the kids similar the ‘80s music,” said Lauper. “I’m ever amazed to spot however galore kids are successful my audience.”