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Friday, June 19, 2009

STEPHEN SCHWARTZ’S MUSICAL BASED ON STUDS TERKEL’S BOOK,

IN STEPHEN SCHWARTZ'S MUSICAL BASED ON STUDS TERKEL'S BOOK,
AMERICAN WORKERS SING OF A SONG OF THEMSELVES “WORKING”

PART 2B: REVIEW BY ROBERT W. McDOWELL

Like 19th-century U.S. poet Walt Whitman in LEAVES OF GRASS (1855), I hear America singing in WORKING, The Justice Theater Project's season-ending show. WORKING is a an eyebrow-raising 1978 Broadway musical based on the 1974 oral history by Pulitzer Prize winner Studs Terkel (1912-2008), who interviewed a representative cross-section of the blue- and white-collar workers and recorded their “carols” -- about their jobs, their hopes, and their dreams. Four years later, composer, lyricist, and librettist Stephen Schwartz and cohorts, including one of Chapel Hill, NC's favorite sons, 20th-century troubadour James Taylor, set some of the pithiest sentiments of these Salt of the Earth characters to music.

WORKING, which concludes its three-week run in the Cardinal Gibbons Performing Arts Center on June 19-21 and 26-28, features compelling characterizations by LeDawna Akins, Susan Burcham, Bing Crosby Cox, John Honeycutt, Barbette Hunter, Byron Jennings, Kevin Lawrence, Andrea Schulz Twiss, and Deb Royals-Mizerk -- each of whom contributes vivid vignettes in their multiple roles.

Byron Jennings gives passionate portrayals of “Lovin' Al” the parking-lot attendant, Frank the long-haul trucker, Ralph the salesman, Roberto, and Tom the fireman. Andrea Schulz Twiss, who broke her left wrist on opening night and bravely eschewed a sling for Saturday night's performance, is the epitome of the old theatrical adage that the show must go on. Her personable portraits of Roberta the Hooker and Delores the waitress are especially powerful.

Barbette Hunter likewise makes the most of her moments in the spotlight as Amanda the project manager, Babe the supermarket checker, Candy the political fundraiser, and Enid the telephone solicitor. Deb Royals channeled Norma Rae as Grace the millworker, and LeDawna Akins brought Maggie the cleaning woman and Sharon the telephone operator to full, glorious life.

Susan Burcham has her memorable moments as Rose the schoolteacher, but is also good as Heather the telephone operator and Kate the housewife; and Bing Crosby Cox gives gritty performances as Mike the ironworker, Anthony the stone mason, and Rex the corporate executive.

By adding more snippets of Studs Terkel's trenchant observations from his 1974 book WORKING: PEOPLE TALK ABOUT WHAT THEY DO ALL DAY AND HOW THEY FEEL ABOUT WHAT THEY DO to the script, Justice Theater Project's artistic director Deb Royals-Mizerk beefs up John Honeycutt's role in The Justice Theater Project production. Not only does Honeycutt create a memorable portrait of Joe the retiree, sort of an Everyman in a funny old-fashioned hat and high-riding pants, but the Triangle stage veteran also impersonates the irascible Studs himself as he saunters through the set, candidly commenting on the deep-seated feelings about working that the Pulitzer Prize-winning oral historian coaxed out of his interviewees.

Director Deb Royals-Mizerk and choreographer Freddie Lee Heath keep the cast constantly moving and gesturing, sometimes in motions that cleverly mimic a manufacturing process. Production designers Thomas Mauney and Julie Jones' have concocted a striking minimalist multilevel set, whose bare bones gives the show a building-under-construction ambiance, complete with painter's plastic drop cloths and carpenter's plywood panels propped against the back wall; and musical director/pianist Coty Cockrell, standup bass and acoustic guitar player Kevin Lawrence, and drummer Chuck Kuhlmann provide perky accompaniment and help the seasoned cast sing as well as they sling the bull. Cockrell also adds a couple of colorful cameos as Charlie the ex-newspaper copy boy and especially as Conrad the UPS deliveryman.

The Justice Theater Project scores big with WORKING, creating an entertaining musical for the masses while simultaneously raising the audience's consciousness about workplace issues and the plight of the working class. The Raleigh-based theater's heady mix of theatricality and social activism once again proves to be a crowd-pleasing combination.

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