Quality Is Job One : OCC’s large cast shows that it’s up to the task of ‘Working.’

In the couple of decades since Studs Terkel’s “Working” opened, things haven’t changed all that much. Maybe technology is different, maybe attitudes are different--but people still work, and so does this paean to the working men and women who keep things running.

Based on Terkel’s book--he had little to with the show--with songs by Craig Carnelia, Micki Grant, Mary Rodgers, Susan Birkenhead, Stephen Schwartz and James Taylor, the show has no plot. It’s a panorama of jobs, filled with wit, insight and empathy. The dialogue and lyrics are almost unchanged from the interviews Terkel had with his subjects.

“Working” is often staged with a small cast, performers sometimes doubling in roles. Director Alex Golson, in this Orange Coast College revival in Costa Mesa, has a bigger canvas. The show’s perfect for a college theater department, giving many company members a chance to show their stuff. And they do.

It’s a rousing, energetic and often explosive production, with a cast of more than 40 igniting the stage with enthusiasm and joy.

Two performers knock the socks off the audience with magnetic turns that would be at home on any stage. Fatima is cleaning woman Maggie, following a long line of African American women who mop floors for others and then go home to mop their own. But Maggie has an ace in the hole: Things are going to be different for her daughter. In a deep, rich and bluesy style, Fatima’s optimism is sure, and Fatima makes us believe.

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The biggest hit of the evening is Sean Henry’s exhilarating, electric moment as professional parking attendant Al, who adores his job and knows his customers are all “Lovin’ Al.” Henry’s strong musical-comedy voice is vibrant and audacious, his style kinetic and show-wise. He moves like a vaudeville trouper.

The show’s choreography is by Jennifer Ruper, and Henry’s turn is the best example of the inventive and explicit moves she has created throughout. There’s not a weak pattern or a wrong step.

The same can’t be said about the miscasting of Erika Odegard as the Newsboy. The firecracker number “Neat to Be a Newsboy” is too much for her, and Ruper’s moves and the song are diluted by insecurity.

Otherwise, the company is solid. Mark Palkoner’s steelworker Mike opens and closes the show, and his powerful, burnished voice is just right, with an empathetic, honest reading of his dialogue a big plus. Kristen Miller (speaking) and Debbi Berk (singing) are affecting in relating the trapped feeling of women working long, monotonous hours in a suitcase factory, and Laura Viramontes is touching as a migrant worker.

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Jeff Marx’s very funny gas meter man, Conrad, and Leonard Joseph Dunham’s stoic, proud mason, Anthony, stand out for their insights into their characters.

A special nod has to be given to Harriet C. Whitmyer; her Delores says “It’s an Art” of her waitress job and thinks she’s on stage when she’s working. Whitmyer’s comic flair and elastic voice are just right for her flamboyant material.

BE THERE

“Working,” Orange Coast College Drama Lab, 2701 Fairview Road, Costa Mesa. Thursday-Saturday, 8 p.m.; Sunday, 2 p.m. Ends Sunday. (714) 432-5880. $6-$7. Running time: 2 hours.