Trumbull New Theatre has been trying to find the right time for “9 to 5” for a few years.

When TNT first tried to program it, the Dolly Parton-Patricia Resnick musical was on tour and unavailable to community theaters, director Lisa Bennett said. Now it’s available and opens Friday for a three-weekend run.

“It’s a show that a lot of our people are very excited about,” she said. “It was definitely something we wanted on our roster.”

The musical is based on the 1980 film of the same name, which wasn’t a musical, but it featured a Grammy-winning and Oscar-nominated title song by Parton.

“It’s not the movie, but this one plays pretty closely,” Bennett said. “It’s got the big scenes that people will remember from the movie.”

“9 to 5” focuses on three women working for a lecherous, misogynistic boss – Violet (Connie Cassidy), who repeatedly has been passed up for promotions in favor of less-qualified men; Judy (Michelle Jones), who is newly divorced and new to the workforce; and Doralee (Sherri Mayoras), who is the boss’s secretary and must deal with both his sexual advances and the assumptions of her coworkers.

When one of them accidentally poisons the boss, they kidnap him until they can figure out how to prove it was an accident. They also have to cover up for his absence at work — with surprising results as far as office productivity.

In the film, those characters are played by Lily Tomlin, Jane Fonda and Parton, respectively. Bennett said she tried to avoid turning the stage characters into carbon copies of their film counterparts.

“Let’s face it, those three are so strong, I don’t know that you could duplicate those personalities, so you’re better off making it your own,” Bennett said. “We give the nod to the attitude. We’re giving a little bit of a nod to the accent, because, you know, Doralee has gotta be Dolly, so there’s a little bit of an accent, but we’re trying not to be them. You can’t. You just can’t.”

The rest of the cast features Jerry Kruse, Niki Baringer, Susan Cook, Amy Giovannone, Steve Halas, Scott Jones, Marissa Keshock, Sarah Moreton, Kathy Purdum, Jill Sakonyi, Jackie Shannon and Bob Spain.

Alan Purdum is music director and plays bass in the band that includes Robin Sanders and Tom Hitmar, guitar; Tom DeNicholas, keyboard; Mike Ognibene and Tyler Husosky, drums; Ken Young, trumpet; and Marti Young, piano.

With a show as heavily dependent upon music as “9 to 5” is, the working relationship between the director and music director is vital. Most of the early rehearsals focused on the music, and Bennett worked with Purdum on staging some scenes and even incorporated the band into the production, giving them some of the dialogue.

Making room for a live band on the already crowded stage was difficult, but Bennett said it was worth the effort.

“I think audiences like to see the band, and it really helps us keep the band and the actors together. She said. “There’s a back and forth with that. If you stick the band somewhere where nobody can see them, you don’t get that relationship.

“I really prefer live music, and most music directors I know prefer live music. If there’s a glitch, if the actor speeds up or something slows it down, you can’t do that with the recording. Everything has to be just so when using recorded tracks. With the band, we’re able to make adjustments.”

If you go …

WHAT: “9 to 5”

WHEN: 7:30 p.m. Friday and Saturday through Nov. 23 and 3 p.m. Nov. 17 and 24

WHERE: Trumbull New Theatre, 5883 Youngstown Warren Road, Niles

HOW MUCH: Tickets are $20 for adults and $18 for students and are available online at trumbullnewtheatre.tix.com and by calling the TNT box office at 330-652-1103.