COEUR d’ALENE — As Dolly Parton sings it: "Want to move ahead but the boss won't seem to let me - I swear sometimes that man is out to get me!"

And as three fierce females demonstrate in "9 to 5: The Musical," when the going gets tough, the tough get going.

High heels and all.

"It is very much a woman’s moment," Aspire Community Theatre artistic director Trigger Weddle said Thursday during rehearsal. "They are in an office with a guy who’s not the kindest, doesn’t treat them like an equal, and they rise above it. Their methods are a little questionable, but their intentions are good."

Based on the 1980 film starring Parton, Jane Fonda and Lily Tomlin as the leading ladies who've had enough of their "sexist, egotistical, lying, hypocritical bigot" boss Franklin Hart Jr. (played by Dabney Coleman in the movie), the Aspire production is packed with memorable music and references to an era of blatant inequality in the late ’70s that continue to strike chords in 2020.

"The appeal to people that are standing up for the small guy is admirable and applicable to anybody," Weddle said. "One of the lines from the show is, ‘Everybody deserves to be treated with respect and dignity,’ and that’s it. That’s the brunt of it."

Aspire's production stars Hannah Melton as Parton's Doralee Rhodes, Allison Knoll as Fonda's Judy Bernly and Tricia Petrinovich as Tomlin's Violet Newstead. The trio become embroiled in a kidnapping case when their boss pushes them too far and they take matters into their own hands.

"I am a CFO in real life, and my character is trying to become CEO and break that ceiling, so I have to say I’m fortunate I never felt this feeling," Petrinovich said. "I think it’s a credit to this generation before me that made these movements forward to have women be able to have a position at any table. I love that I am living basically what was a result of this type of strong female characters."

"It's just a great show of women who have been beat down a little bit get to fight back and get to take charge," Knoll said. "And that was so rare for those days."

Playing the antagonistic boss is Charlie Monte, who admits he despises his own character.

"I am looking for boos and hisses," Monte said with a grin. "I hope the audience hates him as much as I do."

He said Franklin Hart is "so vicious and self-centered and mean and uncaring and unrelentingly so."

"There’s no redeeming qualities to this character. None. And I'm being very careful to not give him any redeeming qualities," Monte said. "Ultimately, in the end, he gets what he really deserves."

In a curly blond wig and radiant red dress, Melton is thrilled to step into Parton's shoes and bring her songs to life.

"Dolly wrote the music, not the script, but her sense of humor shines through,” Melton said.

Weddle said part of the show's charm comes from Parton's narrations that help tell the story.

"She has sent her voice to narrate parts of the show," Weddle said. "It’s almost like she’s a character in our little production."

"9 to 5: The Musical" opens on the Kroc Center Theater stage Feb. 7 and runs through Feb. 16.

The Kroc Center is at 1765 W. Golf Course Road, Coeur d’Alene.

Tickets and showtimes: www.kroccda.org