Press

Wednesday, June 17, 2009

Strong performances found in Studs Terkel musical

BY ROY C. DICKS - CORRESPONDENT

RALEIGH -- The 1978 musical "Working," based on Studs Terkel's 1974 book, might seem outdated for today's workplaces and careers. But as seen in the Justice Theater Project production, the show still has a lot to say about what jobs mean to people and how they affect their lives.

The show is a series of monologues taken from interviews in Terkel's book. Funny, moving and insightful, these vignettes, from a parking attendant, fireman, secretary, migrant worker, trucker, and a dozen others, are still surprisingly relevant, voicing concerns about pensions and physical safety, age, race and gender discrimination.

The songs, composed by Stephen Schwartz ("Wicked"), James Taylor and four others, range from blues and gospel to folk and show tunes. Some are more effective than others, but the lyrics also come directly from the interviews, supplying an authentic ring.

The creators have updated the musical several times over the years to include e-mail, bar codes and mobile phones. Some of what's left in shows the play's age, but most sections are universal enough to transcend any time frame.

The production's five women and four men (counting music director-pianist Coty Cockrell's occasional participation) gamely cover the wide range of roles and songs, their singing and acting skills sometimes tested, but each getting moments to shine. Bryon Jennings gives a chilling account of a policeman's near-fatal confrontation and poignantly renders a father's hopes for his son's future. John Honeycutt's Terkel-like narrator and lonely widower Joe register strongly, while Bing Cox finds a haunting simplicity in the mason's song.

Deb Royals memorably voices a mill worker's gripping description of numbingly repetitive tasks. LeDawna Akins lets rip a sassy cleaning woman's anthem; Barbette Hunter amuses as a series of phone operators and office workers; and Susan Burcham makes a warm-hearted teacher and humble housewife.

Andrea Schulz Twiss became the reluctant participant in a true the-show-must-go-on moment at Friday's opening when she took a misstep in Act One, fell and broke her wrist. EMS workers put her in a temporary splint during intermission, and she came back to perform her big waitress number as if nothing had happened. (She has since had surgery and will continue in the role.)

Royals, doubling as director, gives the show a nicely casual feel in keeping with its revue-like nature. Freddie Lee Heath supplies cleverly choreographed sequences, although some are more stylized than befits the down-to-earth material.

Cockrell adds polished vocals to several songs and confidently leads the three-piece band in all the requisite styles. Thomas Mauney's construction-site setting of platforms and levels is distractingly messy and contributes to some awkward staging.

Opening night's understandable tentativeness should be overcome by now, allowing the production's simple pleasures and intimate nature to entertain and enlighten.

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