The big hair. The shoulder pads. The misogynistic boss trying to look up your skirt. For all these reasons and more, the Mike Nichols-directed Working Girl , landing 18 years before the #metoo movement, was always bound for a musical — with its relatability, unfortunately, spanning generations. The revival, currently showing at the La Jolla Playhouse, reworks the original while embracing its relentless optimism, and is powered by the lyrical maestro herself, Cyndi Lauper , and Christopher Ashley, who helmed the on-stage ensemble.

While the play keeps things smartly in the Eighties, the most noticeable change is the cohort of fast-talking girlfriends who are ready to help Tess McGill through the trials and tribulations of a man’s world and corporate America. In the 1988 film — whic

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