Broadway’s brightest

9 to 5 star Stephanie J. Block chats about her long stage career, her new solo debut, and recording with Dolly herself

By Michelle Carlton
Published: June 3rd, 2009 | 2:25pm

"Someone recently told me, 'You've only been in New York six years, you've done four original [Broadway] shows — that's kind of an overnight success,'" says Stephanie J. Block. "And I laughed! Because I'm a 25-year overnight success."

Block is currently starring in Dolly Parton's new Broadway musical, 9 to 5, while also preparing for this week’s release of her debut solo album. She may be on the fast track to stardom, but her rise has been slow and steady. Ever since childhood, Block knew she wanted to be a singer and actress. At age 11, she began singing lessons, followed by acting and dancing lessons. She worked her way up, starting with community theater, amusement parks, and then regional theater, eventually making the move to New York. "My career trajectory was rung by rung by rung," she says. "I really worked to get here and it makes me so appreciative of everything that comes my way."

This year, all that hard work is paying off big time. In 9 to 5, Block is starring as Judy Bernly, a role Jane Fonda hilariously originated in the classic 1980 film. On top of that, she's also recorded and executive produced her debut album, This Place I Know (PS Classics). The first single off the record is a duet with none other than Parton herself; the women are singing one of the biggest hits of the 20th century, "I Will Always Love You," which Parton wrote in 1973 and Whitney Houston later belted out in The Bodyguard.

Jane Fonda? Dolly Parton? Whitney Houston? Talk about pressure. But Block says she doesn't feel it. Twenty-five years in the business have taught her how to live up to big expectations.

For Block, the involvement with 9 to 5 started two years ago, after she starred in the Tony Award-nominated musical, Wicked, which was also directed by 9 to 5's Joe Mantello. Mantello asked her to try out for the show, and when she walked into the audition room, she saw Parton sitting with the rest of the team.

"She was dressed in gold lamé from head to toe," Block says. "The meeting kind of blindsided me — I wasn't expecting that to happen at my audition. But by the end, Dolly gave me a big hug and I walked out going, 'Even if I don't get this job, that was a pretty great day!'"

As for Parton, Block says she's everything you’d want her to be. "A lot of people that just see her at face value see the sparkle and the wig and the nails and the glitter," she says. "But this woman is smart, really grounded, and the best musician I've ever come across."

For her first solo album, Block knew she wanted tracks that some of her favorite composers had written but never released ("What they call trunk songs," she explains). Finding the perfect ones took some legwork: "I listened to about three or four hundred songs," she says. One by one, she chose the pieces and asked the composers if she could use them. She decided to have all the composers come in and record their songs with her — a big undertaking with 13 different songs and 13 different schedules. But Block felt it was important. "When a composer is playing his or her own music, it's completely different— the way they interpret it, the way they feel it," she says.

Many of the composers she approached were already friends, so asking them was relatively easy. But with Parton, she hesitated. Block says they had such a wonderful working relationship, she was afraid to ask the icon for more.

"But every time I left the studio ... I thought, man, I gotta ask her," she says. "So I spent hours composing what I thought was the perfect email, and days later I sent it out." Block says Dolly's response was comically modest for such a living legend: "[She said], 'I would love to! There's a song, perhaps you've heard of it, it was the theme from The Bodyguard, and Whitney Houston did record it. It's called 'I Will Always Love You.' I think our voices would be great on that.'"

Block was thrilled with the song choice (and she didn't dare question it — if Dolly suggests something, you don't say no). So she hit the studio with Parton. "I wept from the second she stepped in until the moment we finished recording," she says. "I really just couldn't believe that this musical giant was willing to take the time and give of her talent for my solo, debut album."

The end result is a song that's almost a lullaby, absolutely beautiful, and completely different than Parton's original country version and Houston's powerful Bodyguard recording. The single and the album have been getting rave reviews from everyone from Perez Hilton to what seems like the entire Broadway community.

Block's career has been blossoming since she was young, growing larger with every step, and it looks like her two latest projects will keep that ball rolling. She attributes her success to hard work and her rung-by-rung approach. "For me, it's about endurance," she says. "I want to be doing this when I'm 70."