San Diego Arts"Working" at the Old Globe Theatre
Refreshed and back on the job! What’s not to love about “Working”? Touching stories of ordinary working folk as captured by the late, great Studs Terkel and turned into jewel-like miniatures by Stephen Schwartz and Nina Faso. Scads of marvelous monologues. Deeply satisfactory songs, including a few that are unforgettable. And a scope that leaves nobody out. Yet, despite endless successful revivals (including a memorable San Diego Rep version in the 1970s), this is not a show that makes many Top 20 lists. The lovely original production closed after just 30 Broadway performances (one of which I was privileged to see) and there’s never been much talk of major revivals. Maybe that could change, since Schwartz isn’t giving up on the project. He’s been in residence while the Globe Theatre assembled its affectionate, respectful and immensely successful new version to light up our spring season. I’ll confess to a bit of nervousness in approaching this project, given my blissful memories of the original and the tendency of many creators to tinker with work which they feel never totally worked. But the changes here are harmless. Mostly understandable updating of material dating back three decades, when small boys threw newspaper routes and computers were the size of your garage. Studs Terkel, who died last year at 96, was a genius interviewer who never missed that exact moment when people shyly shared their souls. His 1974 book “Working People Talk About What They Do All Day and How They Feel About What They Do” was his masterpiece and the Schwartz-Faso team recognized it as a bounteous source of fresh, organic vignettes. About 40 of the stories, from migrant workers to professional hockey stars, prostitutes to company executives, were arranged into a loose narrative and 18 became songs, written by six different composers, including Schwartz. A cast of 18, including Patti LuPone, Bob Gunton, Rex Everhart, Lynne Thigpen and Joe Mantegna, split the roles and did backup duty. Musically, the best news is that the work of Craig Carnelia hasn’t been disturbed at all. His exquisite portraits of the dedicated housewife, the sweet old retired guy and the mason, whose always disappointed that quitting time makes him leave the stone, are the show’s unforgettable moments. Schwartz’s formidably professional waitress is still around and James Taylor’s haunting lament by the assembly-line workers (“...my body is a tool...”) continues to both fascinate and appall. Micki Grant’s anthem for cleaning women remains fresh and the ageing school teacher portrait by Mary Rodgers and Susan Birkenhead has been touched up just enough to continue its true ring. The new name on the songwriter list is Lin-Manuel Miranda, responsible for a delightful take on a fast-food delivery boy and a poignant take on minority caregivers. What’s missing? Lovin’ Al, the jivey car-parker. The kid newspaper carrier. The supermarket checkers, the migrant workers and the sports pros. The seamen and the salesmen. And what’s new? Well, a hedge-fund manager pondering ethics. A tech support telephone worker in India. A fund-raiser and a publicist. Those caregivers and some cubicle commandos. Plus, the gas meter reader has mysteriously become a UPS delivery guy. Either Terkel came up with some supplemental stuff before his death or Schwartz and Faso have learned his style well, because the new material generally snaps right in place seamlessly. The Globe production gets along just fine with only six actors, in Gordon Greenberg’s deft, unagressive staging. Really, there’s no need for more faces, given the skills of this cast and the enveloping theme of universality. Taken in the order listed, they are: Adam Monley, the average-looking white guy who nails the slimeball financier as neatly as the MBA kid dreaming of his colonial mansion and golfing wife. He also leads James Taylor’s “Brother Truckers.” Nehal Joshi, the dialect specialist who does the delivery boy, the frustrated Indian phonista, the gentle Italian mason and a really scary fired clerk who’s making up a victims list. Wayne Duvall, the senior member, equally touching as a kick-ass steelworker who reads books and dreams for his kid and that dear old worn-out retired guy. Marie-France Arcilla, who brings fresh young beauty and poise in a variety of mixtures and shines as a flight attendant. Danielle Lee Graves, remarkably flexible across age and class and versatile enough to sell both the candid call girl and that precious housewife. Donna Lynne Champlin, who disappears totally into characters such as the thorny old school teacher and that indomitable waitress, never sinking into stereotype. The basic four-piece band led by Mark Hartman and armed with Alex Lacamoire’s realistic orchestrations, is as impeccable as possible and Josh Rhodes’ reasonable choreography keeps a sparkle to the movement. Beowulf Boritt has provided a three-story set with lots of opportunities for silhouettes and projections, a boon to lighting designer Jeff Croiter and projectorian Aaron Rhyne. Mattie Ullrich’s clothes are right for all occasion and lend themselves gracefully to quick change. It wouldn’t be hard to stick in an intermission and the show probably would benefit. And if the idea of having the stage manager’s opening cues audible is to show workers effectively at work, then it would be a good idea to make sure of the resulting sound balances. But, hey, those are quibbles. What’s really refreshing is to report that a neglected classic of the American musical theatre is, today, considerably less neglected. DOWNLOAD PROGRAM HERE
 Welton Jones About the author: Welton Jones has been reviewing shows for more than 50 years, 35 of those years at the San Diego Union-Tribune and, now, nearly 10 for SanDiego.com, where he wrote the first reviews to appear on the site. More by this author Subscribe to Arts:
Trackback(0)TrackBack URI for this entryComments (2)...
"Working" may be the worst musical that I have ever seen -- and I've seen four or five different productions. So, bad writing, bad staging and bad songwriting are among the things not to love. I have not seen the new production and I welcome the deletion of certain dull characters, but despite the pull of one or two songs, like "If I Coulda Been," it's not something I'd ever want to see again.
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March 14, 2009
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Personally, I thought this show was one of the most creative things I've seen recently in terms of theatre. I saw it last weekend, and was blown away by how well such a large collaboration came together. Besides the songs (which are pretty catchy and well-performed), the show's book is fantastic as well. Some of my favorite moments were found in the spoken monologues which, in musical theatre, is a rare treat.
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April 04, 2009
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