'80s Heroine Tess McGill Climbs the Corporate Ladder in 'Working Girl' Musical

The 1980s are the real stars of the new Broadway-bound musical 'Working Girl' now playing at the La Jolla Playhouse. Poofy hair, shoulder pads, and synthesizer-driven pop music set the tone as the show revisits the story of Tess McGill, the upwardly mobile secretary played by Melanie Griffith in the 1988 film.

Tess, portrayed by Joanna "JoJo" Levesque, is a Staten Island native with big dreams of making it in the male-dominated world of mergers and acquisitions. When her boss, Katharine (Broadway vet Lesley Rodriguez Kritzer), steals Tess' big idea, Tess decides to take matters into her own hands, borrowing Katharine's designer clothes and seducing a key client to broker the deal herself.

Cyndi Lauper's music and lyrics, which blend contemporary sounds with retro flair, drive the plot forward as Tess navigates the challenges of the corporate jungle. While the show has more plot than a typical musical, the catchy tunes and period-appropriate aesthetic transport the audience back to the excesses of the 1980s, when "greed was good" and office assistants were often objectified.

Ultimately, 'Working Girl' is a story about a woman determined to shatter the glass ceiling, even if it means betraying her own principles and friends along the way. As Tess learns, the path to success is rarely straightforward, but her ambition and resilience make her a heroine worth rooting for.