WORKING
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METRO STAGE COMPANY
| WORKING Directed by James Tallach Musical Direction by Adam MacDonald Fri & Sat, JUNE 5, 6, 12, 13, 2009 at 8PM Thurs, JUNE 11, 2009 at 7:30PM & Sun, JUNE 7, 2009 at 2PM Cambridge Family YMCA Theatre Central Square, Cambridge |
| Book by Stephen Schwartz and Nina Faso Music by Stephen Schwartz and Micki Grant and Craig Carnelia and Mary Rodgers and James Taylor Lyrics by Stephen Schwartz and Micki Grant and Craig Carnelia and James Taylor and Susan Birkenhead Based on Working by Studs Terkel In the course of one twenty-four hour workday, the audience meets and hears the stories of various workers. The hopes, dreams, joys and concerns of the average working American are the focus of this unique, extraordinary musical. That the everyday lives of “common” men and women should be so compelling and moving will surprise and inspire anyone who has ever punched a time clock. Based on Studs Terkel’s best-selling book of interviews with American workers, “Working” paints a vivid portrait of the men and women the world so often takes for granted: the schoolteacher, the parking lot attendant, the waitress, the millworker, the mason, the trucker, the fireman, the housewife, just to name a few. The musical ends with a collective acknowledgment of the accomplishments of each of them. It’s a highly original look at the American landscape that’s simply impossible to forget! ... a kind of maturity not often associated with Broadway shows. - Boston Globe "Immensely moving... terrfically original in concept... it's a glorious show that rethreads the fabric of American life and leaves you cheering." - Daily News "... more substance than the average musical... one of the best shows in town." - Los Angeles Times |
CAST
David DaCosta (Mike Dillard, Ironworker)
Robin Welch (Al Calinda, Parking Lot Attendant)
Ann Carpenter (Rose Hoffman, School Teacher)
Caitie Grady (Julia Nunez, Migrant Worker)
Rachel Fisher Parkman (Kate Rushton, Housewife)
Kendra Alati (Roberta Victor, Hooker)
Rebecca Shor (Candy Cottingham, Fundraiser & Alexis Winship, Executive)
Dinah Steward (Grace Clements, Millworker)
Gary Ryan (Anthony Coelho, Stone Mason)
Ashley Agbay (Heather Lamb, Phone Operator)
Karen Dervin (Sharon Atkins, Receptionist)
Jaime Steinbach (Enid DuBois, Phone Solicitor)
Meredith Stypinski (Delores Dante, Waitress)
Cliff Blake (Joe Zutty, Retired)
Lucas Lloyd (Tom Patrick, Fireman)
Nella Mupier (Maggie Holmes, Cleaning Woman)
Adam Randall (Ralph Werner, Salesman)
Joshua Smith (Charlie Blossom, Ex-Copy Boy)
Jeff Sewell (John Rushton, Newsboy)
Collette Gagnon (Heather Lamb, Phone Operator)
Angela Foley (Babe Secoli, Supermarket Checker)
Mike Foley (Conrad Swibel, UPS Worker & Frank Decker, Trucker)
WORKING
by Kilian Melloy
EDGE Staff Reporter
Saturday Jun 6, 2009
There is a peculiar, particular eloquence that is recognizably American. With his 1972 collection of interviews Working, Studs Terkel tapped
directly into that eloquence.
Terkel interviewed over a hundred people for the book, an oral history subtitled "People Talk About What They Do All Day and How They Feel
About What They Do." His approach was democratic: though society, and with it work, is stratified into hierarchical levels of glamor and reward,
Terkel refused to stick with the more prestigious jobs. He talked to individuals who had all sorts of jobs, from Wall Street workers to street
walkers.
Six years after the book was published, a musical adaptation was staged on Broadway. An American Playhouse TV version followed in 1982,
and then the musical was revised last year.
The Metro Stage Company’s production, playing through June 13 at the Cambridge Family YMCA Theatre, features two dozen characters who
earn their living high above as construction workers, on the road as truckers, in classrooms or mills or supermarkets... imagine The Village
People with a bigger ensemble and, frankly, better music. (The music is mostly the work of a live orchestra, with musical direction by Adam
MacDonald. Live music is always a plus, especially when it’s done this well.)
The text is plainly updated; cubicle workers complain about colleagues sending email or chatting on their cell phones; a fireman (Lucas Lloyd)
talks about coming on the job in 2004. But the musical version, updates and all, loses none of the raw drive and plainspoken lyricism of the
book, enhancing the genuine narration with clever adaptation into song: I loved the original oral history, and I loved the musical stage version
even more.
Terkel organized the book’s material in certain ways, and the musical follows suit, arranging stories such that a teacher’s (Ann Carpenter)
remarks about a former student, now a grocery cashier (Angela Foley), lead into the cashier’s own appearance. A harried housewife (Rachel
Fisher-Parkman) ties several episodes together, before finally having her own say.
What surprises one is the depth of the disconnect between the generally accepted status of jobs versus the satisfaction that they offer. A high-
powered Wall Street type (Rebecca Shor) dreams of leaving her job for something quieter; the grocery cashier can’t wait to get to work in the
morning, she loves her job so much; her fellow employee (Caitie Grady) comes from a family of migrant agricultural workers, and she bitterly
complains that privileged Americans have no idea where their food comes from or how much toil (for too little pay) goes into its production.
Some of the songs are almost ballads; a mason’s (Gary Ryan) passion for his work carries over into what sounds like a romance with stone.
Others have a more lively character; a truck driver (Michael Foley) swings into an almost-burlesque tune, while a valet (Robin Welch) puts a jazzy
spin on tales from the parking lot. (The valet’s observation: working men tip better than rich folks. His professional ethics dictate that everyone
gets good service, but regulars who tip well get service with swing.)
If work is what defines a life, the play is diligent in noting perspectives from either end of the working life’s arc: both a pint-sized newspaper
delivery boy (Jeff Sewell) and a retiree (Cliff Blake) offer their stories.
Nothing is as optimistic as the American voice; Terkel’s book captured that, and "Working," the musical, captures Terkel’s book. Director James
Tallach brings out the distinct voices of an array of characters; costumer Meg Crowe provides authentic wardrobe; there are a minimum of props,
with some sections relying on pantomime, but some of the actors are so accomplished at this that the imaginary machinery they operate seems
palpable (Dinah Stewart, as a mill worker, is especially adept). John MacKenzie’s set and lighting serves to bring characters to the fore while
allowing the ensemble as a whole to provide a kind of living backdrop; it’s an effective choice.
by Kilian Melloy
EDGE Staff Reporter
Saturday Jun 6, 2009
There is a peculiar, particular eloquence that is recognizably American. With his 1972 collection of interviews Working, Studs Terkel tapped
directly into that eloquence.
Terkel interviewed over a hundred people for the book, an oral history subtitled "People Talk About What They Do All Day and How They Feel
About What They Do." His approach was democratic: though society, and with it work, is stratified into hierarchical levels of glamor and reward,
Terkel refused to stick with the more prestigious jobs. He talked to individuals who had all sorts of jobs, from Wall Street workers to street
walkers.
Six years after the book was published, a musical adaptation was staged on Broadway. An American Playhouse TV version followed in 1982,
and then the musical was revised last year.
The Metro Stage Company’s production, playing through June 13 at the Cambridge Family YMCA Theatre, features two dozen characters who
earn their living high above as construction workers, on the road as truckers, in classrooms or mills or supermarkets... imagine The Village
People with a bigger ensemble and, frankly, better music. (The music is mostly the work of a live orchestra, with musical direction by Adam
MacDonald. Live music is always a plus, especially when it’s done this well.)
The text is plainly updated; cubicle workers complain about colleagues sending email or chatting on their cell phones; a fireman (Lucas Lloyd)
talks about coming on the job in 2004. But the musical version, updates and all, loses none of the raw drive and plainspoken lyricism of the
book, enhancing the genuine narration with clever adaptation into song: I loved the original oral history, and I loved the musical stage version
even more.
Terkel organized the book’s material in certain ways, and the musical follows suit, arranging stories such that a teacher’s (Ann Carpenter)
remarks about a former student, now a grocery cashier (Angela Foley), lead into the cashier’s own appearance. A harried housewife (Rachel
Fisher-Parkman) ties several episodes together, before finally having her own say.
What surprises one is the depth of the disconnect between the generally accepted status of jobs versus the satisfaction that they offer. A high-
powered Wall Street type (Rebecca Shor) dreams of leaving her job for something quieter; the grocery cashier can’t wait to get to work in the
morning, she loves her job so much; her fellow employee (Caitie Grady) comes from a family of migrant agricultural workers, and she bitterly
complains that privileged Americans have no idea where their food comes from or how much toil (for too little pay) goes into its production.
Some of the songs are almost ballads; a mason’s (Gary Ryan) passion for his work carries over into what sounds like a romance with stone.
Others have a more lively character; a truck driver (Michael Foley) swings into an almost-burlesque tune, while a valet (Robin Welch) puts a jazzy
spin on tales from the parking lot. (The valet’s observation: working men tip better than rich folks. His professional ethics dictate that everyone
gets good service, but regulars who tip well get service with swing.)
If work is what defines a life, the play is diligent in noting perspectives from either end of the working life’s arc: both a pint-sized newspaper
delivery boy (Jeff Sewell) and a retiree (Cliff Blake) offer their stories.
Nothing is as optimistic as the American voice; Terkel’s book captured that, and "Working," the musical, captures Terkel’s book. Director James
Tallach brings out the distinct voices of an array of characters; costumer Meg Crowe provides authentic wardrobe; there are a minimum of props,
with some sections relying on pantomime, but some of the actors are so accomplished at this that the imaginary machinery they operate seems
palpable (Dinah Stewart, as a mill worker, is especially adept). John MacKenzie’s set and lighting serves to bring characters to the fore while
allowing the ensemble as a whole to provide a kind of living backdrop; it’s an effective choice.
Metro Works It!
By Beverly Creasey
Theatre Mirror
You wouldn’t think that a musical without a plot would be so compelling…and you wouldn’t think that a musical based on interviews about work
could work so well ---but it does! The songwriters (James Taylor, Stephen Schwartz and Mary Rogers to name but a few) for WORKING (at the
Cambridge YMCA thru June 13th) have taken the stories from Studs Terkel’s monumental interview book and made them soar. (The rarely
performed stage play crafted from Terkel’s interviews can’t hold the weight of all those talking heads.) But the songs in Schwartz and Nina Faso’
s remarkable musical flesh out the characters so naturally, you’d think they were invented for it.
The Metro Stage Company production has some of the best singing actors around in WORKING. Director James Tallach treats each song
vignette as if it were a world all by itself and John MacKenzie’s slides enlarge the impact of each mini-scene. To highlight just a few of the joys of
WORKING, there’s David DaCosta’s touching “Fathers and Sons”…Dinah Steward’s heartbreaking “Millwork”…Ann Carpenter’s sad “Nobody
Tells Me How”…Kendra Alati’s sorrowful “What I Could Have Been”…Caitie Grady’s tragic “Un Mejor dia Vendra”…Gary Ryan’s earnest “He
Builds a House”…and Nella Mupier’s noble “Cleaning Woman.”
For fun, there’s Robin Welch’s oh-so-cool “Parking Lot Attendant,” Joshua Smith’s hilarious ex-copy boy and Mike Foley’s dog taunting UPS Man.
Music director Adam MacDonald and band make the score pop. From Angela Foley’s supermarket checker to Jeff Sewell’s newsboy, every
performance packs a dramatic punch. Don’t miss this one. It works like gangbusters!
By Beverly Creasey
Theatre Mirror
You wouldn’t think that a musical without a plot would be so compelling…and you wouldn’t think that a musical based on interviews about work
could work so well ---but it does! The songwriters (James Taylor, Stephen Schwartz and Mary Rogers to name but a few) for WORKING (at the
Cambridge YMCA thru June 13th) have taken the stories from Studs Terkel’s monumental interview book and made them soar. (The rarely
performed stage play crafted from Terkel’s interviews can’t hold the weight of all those talking heads.) But the songs in Schwartz and Nina Faso’
s remarkable musical flesh out the characters so naturally, you’d think they were invented for it.
The Metro Stage Company production has some of the best singing actors around in WORKING. Director James Tallach treats each song
vignette as if it were a world all by itself and John MacKenzie’s slides enlarge the impact of each mini-scene. To highlight just a few of the joys of
WORKING, there’s David DaCosta’s touching “Fathers and Sons”…Dinah Steward’s heartbreaking “Millwork”…Ann Carpenter’s sad “Nobody
Tells Me How”…Kendra Alati’s sorrowful “What I Could Have Been”…Caitie Grady’s tragic “Un Mejor dia Vendra”…Gary Ryan’s earnest “He
Builds a House”…and Nella Mupier’s noble “Cleaning Woman.”
For fun, there’s Robin Welch’s oh-so-cool “Parking Lot Attendant,” Joshua Smith’s hilarious ex-copy boy and Mike Foley’s dog taunting UPS Man.
Music director Adam MacDonald and band make the score pop. From Angela Foley’s supermarket checker to Jeff Sewell’s newsboy, every
performance packs a dramatic punch. Don’t miss this one. It works like gangbusters!
"What Happened in Boston, Willie"
By Larry Stark
Theatre Mirror
There are regulars, of course, but the Metro Stage Company is essentially Christopher Teague and Robert Case. When they're not
producing/directing their own shows at the YMCA Family Theatre in Central Square Cambridge (They've been doing them there for five seasons
already) you can usually find them over at Turtle Lane Playhouse --- running sound, stage-managing, performing. They know that Metro Stage
can't buy elaborate sets and costumes, but instead they've concentrated on voices and acting, and finding Music Directors who can can make an
orchestra accompany instead of forcing singers to compete. They're not afraid of Sondheim --- "Assassins" "Company" and next season they're
taking on "Sweeney Todd"! --- and a lot of their regulars show their Boston Conservatory backgrounds. Chris and Bob love working in theater,
and their casts enjoy working with them, and feel appreciated. They risk the money from their day-jobs every show, and sometimes the
low-budget approach finds unexpected fires in familiar shows, or neglected gems. Their warmly moving production of "Working" is an excellent
example of Metro Stage at their best, and it will run for only one more week-end. Catch it if you can.
The soul of "Working" is Studs Terkel, who did his work with a tape recorder, coaxing everyday nobodies to display their dignity and expertise. He
was a proud ex-Communist who took the word "proletariat" seriously; Studs never left the Party, the Party left him while he was too busy listening
to the people to notice. Stephen Schwartz got a bunch of songsmiths to set the rhythms and insights and pride of people talking of their jobs to
music, and he and Nina Faso boiled two dozen lives down to two hours of pure poetry. "I hear America Working," it says, where, one by one, with
stance and attitude and minimal mime two dozen different individuals explain their days on the job.
This is the sort of show where, say, David DaCosta as an ironworker can come center and sit, dangling a foot over the edge of the stage, the way
he would on a naked I-beam a hundred feet above the city; where Dinah Steward as a millworker can demonstrate the endless repetitions that
make her mindlessly part of her machine; where Gary Ryan's stone-mason can say "nothing lasts forever, but what I make with mortar and stone
has a good shot at it"; where Rachel Fisher-Parkman can say, apologetically, "I don't ... get a paycheck, I don't ... have a job: all I am is ... just a
housewife" --- as though no one should take that seriously.
John MacKenzie's set here is a scatter of building-blocks with letters made of tools spelling the show's title. Behind them, projected on a screen
are sharp and sharply chosen photos of people at work, matching jobs to those the cast is miming. There's no dance as such, but Director
James Tallach opens and narrows focus, now on a trio of phone-workers, each with a microphone-headset over one ear, now on a woman
scrubbing floors, now on a hooker recalling her life, a valet-parker who loves cars or a trucker miles and days away from his family. A frustrated
teacher (Ann Carpenter) speaks of a memorable pupil and she appears --- Angela Foley as a supermarket-checker proud of her speed,
accuracy, and ability to endure insults without strinking back.
Studs Terkel's work was listening, and he was so good at it people volunteered to him things about themselves no one could suspect were
there. He taped them, and put them on the radio, and packaged them in big, sprawling multifaceted books, and one of those books turned into a
musical. And the Metro Stage Company brought it to life.
By Larry Stark
Theatre Mirror
There are regulars, of course, but the Metro Stage Company is essentially Christopher Teague and Robert Case. When they're not
producing/directing their own shows at the YMCA Family Theatre in Central Square Cambridge (They've been doing them there for five seasons
already) you can usually find them over at Turtle Lane Playhouse --- running sound, stage-managing, performing. They know that Metro Stage
can't buy elaborate sets and costumes, but instead they've concentrated on voices and acting, and finding Music Directors who can can make an
orchestra accompany instead of forcing singers to compete. They're not afraid of Sondheim --- "Assassins" "Company" and next season they're
taking on "Sweeney Todd"! --- and a lot of their regulars show their Boston Conservatory backgrounds. Chris and Bob love working in theater,
and their casts enjoy working with them, and feel appreciated. They risk the money from their day-jobs every show, and sometimes the
low-budget approach finds unexpected fires in familiar shows, or neglected gems. Their warmly moving production of "Working" is an excellent
example of Metro Stage at their best, and it will run for only one more week-end. Catch it if you can.
The soul of "Working" is Studs Terkel, who did his work with a tape recorder, coaxing everyday nobodies to display their dignity and expertise. He
was a proud ex-Communist who took the word "proletariat" seriously; Studs never left the Party, the Party left him while he was too busy listening
to the people to notice. Stephen Schwartz got a bunch of songsmiths to set the rhythms and insights and pride of people talking of their jobs to
music, and he and Nina Faso boiled two dozen lives down to two hours of pure poetry. "I hear America Working," it says, where, one by one, with
stance and attitude and minimal mime two dozen different individuals explain their days on the job.
This is the sort of show where, say, David DaCosta as an ironworker can come center and sit, dangling a foot over the edge of the stage, the way
he would on a naked I-beam a hundred feet above the city; where Dinah Steward as a millworker can demonstrate the endless repetitions that
make her mindlessly part of her machine; where Gary Ryan's stone-mason can say "nothing lasts forever, but what I make with mortar and stone
has a good shot at it"; where Rachel Fisher-Parkman can say, apologetically, "I don't ... get a paycheck, I don't ... have a job: all I am is ... just a
housewife" --- as though no one should take that seriously.
John MacKenzie's set here is a scatter of building-blocks with letters made of tools spelling the show's title. Behind them, projected on a screen
are sharp and sharply chosen photos of people at work, matching jobs to those the cast is miming. There's no dance as such, but Director
James Tallach opens and narrows focus, now on a trio of phone-workers, each with a microphone-headset over one ear, now on a woman
scrubbing floors, now on a hooker recalling her life, a valet-parker who loves cars or a trucker miles and days away from his family. A frustrated
teacher (Ann Carpenter) speaks of a memorable pupil and she appears --- Angela Foley as a supermarket-checker proud of her speed,
accuracy, and ability to endure insults without strinking back.
Studs Terkel's work was listening, and he was so good at it people volunteered to him things about themselves no one could suspect were
there. He taped them, and put them on the radio, and packaged them in big, sprawling multifaceted books, and one of those books turned into a
musical. And the Metro Stage Company brought it to life.
WORKING it
by Thomas Garvey
The HUB Review
Saturday June 13, 2009
This review is of necessity short but sweet, because Working, presented by Metro Stage Company at the YMCA Theatre in Central Square, has
only one performance to go (tonight). But if you can catch it you really should. And don't bother wondering how Stud Terkel's famous series of
interviews could ever have been transformed into a musical - it's really more of a revue than a musical, but the material fits comfortably within the
form's current parameters, and the music, from a wide range of contributors led by Stephen Schwartz, may not give Sondheim any competition
but can easily hold its own against the likes of Cats or The Producers (the catchiest ditty is probably James Taylor's "Traffic Jam").
So just go, because Working turns out to be genuinely smart and affecting, and though this version is a bit low-tech, and is flecked, it's true, with
a few acting and vocal gaps, it's nevertheless startling in the generally high standard held by a huge ensemble (some two dozen featured
performers), who have been directed with subtlety and insight by James Tallach (the bouncy musical direction is by Adam MacDonald). And this
consistent level of craft, like a quiet tide, somehow lifts the piece to real heights of emotional power.
Terkel, of course, is in many ways a sentimentalist - nobody in Working is lazy or backstabbing or conniving, and the intersections of class and
race are only treated lightly (but more honestly than you'd find on most local stages). Still, his sentiments are universal ones, and may have never
been treated in a musical before. There's no romance, for example, in Working - although plenty of comedy - unless you count the love of work for
its own sake (which many of Terkel's interviewee's genuinely share).
And yes, the exploitive, even inhuman conditions of many workplaces make their inevitable appearance ("Millwork"), but generally Working is
hearty and optimistic about endeavor, and about the meaning it gives life - as well as the sadness that sets in when that meaning is gone
("Retired"). There are songs about first jobs ("Neat to Be a Newsboy"), menial jobs ("He Builds a House") and even hand jobs ("What I Could
Have Been"). And there's actually a song about the joys of bad waitressing ("It's an Art"), hilariously put over by Meredith Stypinski. Plus there are
stand-out acting cameos from David DaCosta, Rebecca Shor, Ann Carpenter, Kendra Alati, Rachael Fisher-Parkman, Dinah Steward, Cliff Blake,
Joshua Smith and Lucas Loyd (as well as strong support from the entire ensemble). Where have all these people been all my life? Banging
around either the community theatre scene, or the edge of the professional one, it turns out - two worlds which Metro Stage seems to
seamlessly bridge.
But the show is at its deepest in its honest exposure of what it means to work when that work has been shorn of glamour, or social esteem, or
even the satisfaction that comes from "making a difference" - when it's just work, done to get by, or, most poignantly, to provide for the next
generation (I defy you to remain dry-eyed during "Cleaning Women" or "Fathers and Sons"). It's at moments like these that Working suddenly
seems better than any musical I've seen this season - certainly better than Pirates!, but also better than Jerry Springer or Grey Gardens or
Cabaret, all done at bigger and better-funded companies. In the end, the big news about Working is that with it, Metro Stage Company makes its
claim to joining the local mid-sized theatrical tier, alongside the likes of SpeakEasy, the New Rep and the Lyric Stage. There's some new
competition in town, boys (and girls)! Next up for this crew is Sweeney Todd (!) - which would sound like folly if you hadn't seen how they worked
Working.
by Thomas Garvey
The HUB Review
Saturday June 13, 2009
This review is of necessity short but sweet, because Working, presented by Metro Stage Company at the YMCA Theatre in Central Square, has
only one performance to go (tonight). But if you can catch it you really should. And don't bother wondering how Stud Terkel's famous series of
interviews could ever have been transformed into a musical - it's really more of a revue than a musical, but the material fits comfortably within the
form's current parameters, and the music, from a wide range of contributors led by Stephen Schwartz, may not give Sondheim any competition
but can easily hold its own against the likes of Cats or The Producers (the catchiest ditty is probably James Taylor's "Traffic Jam").
So just go, because Working turns out to be genuinely smart and affecting, and though this version is a bit low-tech, and is flecked, it's true, with
a few acting and vocal gaps, it's nevertheless startling in the generally high standard held by a huge ensemble (some two dozen featured
performers), who have been directed with subtlety and insight by James Tallach (the bouncy musical direction is by Adam MacDonald). And this
consistent level of craft, like a quiet tide, somehow lifts the piece to real heights of emotional power.
Terkel, of course, is in many ways a sentimentalist - nobody in Working is lazy or backstabbing or conniving, and the intersections of class and
race are only treated lightly (but more honestly than you'd find on most local stages). Still, his sentiments are universal ones, and may have never
been treated in a musical before. There's no romance, for example, in Working - although plenty of comedy - unless you count the love of work for
its own sake (which many of Terkel's interviewee's genuinely share).
And yes, the exploitive, even inhuman conditions of many workplaces make their inevitable appearance ("Millwork"), but generally Working is
hearty and optimistic about endeavor, and about the meaning it gives life - as well as the sadness that sets in when that meaning is gone
("Retired"). There are songs about first jobs ("Neat to Be a Newsboy"), menial jobs ("He Builds a House") and even hand jobs ("What I Could
Have Been"). And there's actually a song about the joys of bad waitressing ("It's an Art"), hilariously put over by Meredith Stypinski. Plus there are
stand-out acting cameos from David DaCosta, Rebecca Shor, Ann Carpenter, Kendra Alati, Rachael Fisher-Parkman, Dinah Steward, Cliff Blake,
Joshua Smith and Lucas Loyd (as well as strong support from the entire ensemble). Where have all these people been all my life? Banging
around either the community theatre scene, or the edge of the professional one, it turns out - two worlds which Metro Stage seems to
seamlessly bridge.
But the show is at its deepest in its honest exposure of what it means to work when that work has been shorn of glamour, or social esteem, or
even the satisfaction that comes from "making a difference" - when it's just work, done to get by, or, most poignantly, to provide for the next
generation (I defy you to remain dry-eyed during "Cleaning Women" or "Fathers and Sons"). It's at moments like these that Working suddenly
seems better than any musical I've seen this season - certainly better than Pirates!, but also better than Jerry Springer or Grey Gardens or
Cabaret, all done at bigger and better-funded companies. In the end, the big news about Working is that with it, Metro Stage Company makes its
claim to joining the local mid-sized theatrical tier, alongside the likes of SpeakEasy, the New Rep and the Lyric Stage. There's some new
competition in town, boys (and girls)! Next up for this crew is Sweeney Todd (!) - which would sound like folly if you hadn't seen how they worked
Working.
PHOTOS
Photos by Martin Gordon
