Post by
Mondschein
"WORKING" presented by Prospect Theater Company at 59E59 Theatre, December 12, 2012
(photo: Richard Termine)
Prospect
Theater Company presents a new re-working of the 1978 musical based on
Studs Terkel's book, with two new songs by Lin-Manuel Miranda.
The
streamlined cast of six replaces the seventeen from the original
Broadway production, slicing and dicing the remains into a tight 65
intermissionless minutes.
Director Gordon Greenberg has
assembled a talented and capable cast to portray the 25 remaining stories,
including Marie-France Arcilla, Joe Cassidy, Donna Lynne Champlin, Jay
Armstrong Johnson, Nehal Joshi and Kenita R. Miller.
Some
moments stand out more than others: Ms. Champlin's Rose Hoffman, an
aging and out of step teacher who sadly reflects on the degradation of
respect for her role in the lives of children over her 45 years in the
classroom with
Nobody Tells Me How. She gives another clever moment as the waitress Delores Dante in
It's an Art responding to the question, "just a waitress?" Mr. Johnson gets a nice turn as well as pervy UPS delivery man, Conrad Swibel.
The
juxtaposition of Ms. Miller's hooker to Ms. Champlin's high society
fundraiser points up how the two roles are more similar than different.
My
father always said, "if it were fun, they wouldn't call it 'work'," and
for the most part he was right. Still, of the 25 working stories,
there are remarkably few that really expressed any joy. As much time as
we spend working, an uplifting evening of work stories and songs would
have more appeal.
WORKING runs through December 30. Tickets
here.
