THEATER REVIEW : ‘Working’ Deserves Promotion, and a Bonus

For a 1978 musical revue that lasted only a few weeks on Broadway, “Working” has proved to be a remarkable flop. Sixteen years later, it is still putting in lots of overtime entertaining audiences at theaters across the country.

Some critics have put down the show, adapted by Stephen Schwartz and Nina Faso from Studs Terkel’s priceless collection of interviews with ordinary working people, also called “Working.” It has been dismissed as preachy, maudlin and, by now, dated.

Maybe the revivals they saw were second-rate. There are plenty of lousy revivals of Broadway hits out there, let alone flops.

But these critics could not have hung their dismissive opinions on the show had they seen the sterling production that opened over the weekend at the Laguna Playhouse’s Moulton Theater.

Forget preachy, maudlin or dated. This “Working” is a musical revue I’d pay money to see, which--if I may say so--is the highest form of praise that can come from someone who doesn’t have to pay to see the shows he reviews.

I put the money test to Laguna’s production, that is, I made believe I had to pay. So this is what’s called a “money review.” It’s meant to put people in the seats.

“Working” deserves to be seen not because it’s “good for you” but because it’s show-biz at its best.

It is polished, not slick. It is brimming with talent. The staging isn’t just smooth from beginning to end, it never strikes a false note. And the subject has a substantial theme: human nature minus the bromides.

Don’t miss this show if you like bluesy rock ‘n’ roll, country-western, a touch of folk, a bit of ethnic, old-fashioned Broadway verve and one tune (“Just a Housewife” by Craig Carnella) that ranks with Stephen Sondheim’s. So, go tomorrow or next week or whenever you can get in.

The show’s 16 tunes come from an eclectic bunch of fine songwriters: James Taylor, Stephen Schwartz, Micki Grant, Carnella, Mary Rodgers and Susan Birkenhead, Graciela Daniele and Matt Landers. The smartly cast performers--a dozen of them, ranging from potent belters to sweet crooners--put the tunes over with panache and conviction in multiple roles. They are led by standouts Tracy Lore (hot), Ree Johnson (swingin’), Lisa Richard (cool) and Marti Hine (touching).

Stay home, though, if you can’t stand a plotless, gentle, good-natured show that is subtly subversive. It tells the truth about the dignity of work, the pride of craft and the lack of dignifying jobs, recompense or recognition in an automated, impersonal, cut-and-dried, computerized society.

*

“Working” gets the job done with affecting portraits of a steelworker who sees himself as part of a dying breed, an executive put out to pasture, an unappreciated housewife who is technically unemployed but works all day, a waitress with no complaints, a corporate operator who understands how to get ahead in her career by doing less, a prostitute with some regrets but not enough to matter.

There’s also a migrant farm worker on strike for fair wages, a trucker with telephone problems on the road, an old-fashioned schoolteacher fed up with new teaching methods that don’t work, a parking-lot attendant who takes pride in his job, supermarket clerks with attitudes, a millworker whose job is killing her slowly, a gas-meter reader who peeps at naked women to relieve his boredom, and a newsboy with peculiar aim.

Sha Newman has brought all these characters to life on a simple platform set flanked by a pair of high scaffolds. Her personable choreography is first-class. Comic and sophisticated, it brings out character, highlights Lore’s finesse as a Broadway-quality dancer, capitalizes on Johnson’s light-footed grace and even makes the non-dancers look good.

The costumes are on the money. The lighting was rich and dramatic. The five-piece band, with Diane King Vann conducting from one of the two keyboards, laid down a buoyant musical carpet. In other words, “Working” was a pleasure.

* “Working,” Moulton Theater, 606 Laguna Canyon Road, Laguna Beach. Tuesdays-Saturdays, 8 p.m.; Sundays, 7 p.m.; Saturday-Sunday matinees, 2 p.m. Ends May 28. $23-$28. (714) 494-8021. Running time: 1 hour, 55 minutes.

With Danielle Barbosa, Lisa Hale, Marti Hine, Michael Irish, Ree Johnson Tracy Lore, Moira Nash, Ken Renta, Lisa Richard, Richard Rodgers, Ron Sheehan, Jesse Swimm.

A Laguna Playhouse production of a musical by Stephen Schwartz and Nina Faso, adapted from the book by Studs Terkel. Directed by Sha Newman. Songs by Schwartz, who also directed the original production, Craig Carnella, Micki Grant, Mary Rodgers and Susan Birkenhead, and James Taylor. Dance music by Michele Brourman. Musical direction by Diane King Vann. Set design: Don Gruber. Lighting: Eileen Thomas. Costumes: Juan Lopez. Sound: David Edwards. Stage manager: D. Alexander.