[NEohioPAL] Review of "Working: The Musical" at Blank Canvas Theatre

[Bob Abelman]

Blank Canvas' 'Working' is a laborious entertainment

 

Bob Abelman

News-Herald, Chagrin Valley Times, Solon Times, Geauga Times Courier

Member, International Association of Theatre Critics 

 

This review will appear in the News-Herald on 5/10/13

 

 

Despite a superb cast and a valiant effort, Blank Canvas Theatre's "Working: The Musical" is as tedious as the jobs this one-act ode to the American worker tries to champion.  

 

"Working" is based on the 1974 Studs Terkel book of the same title that chronicles the work ordinary people do and, in their own words, how they feel about doing it.  It was adapted by Stephen Schwartz and Nina Faso, with songs by Broadway and mainstream music composers like Lin-Manuel Miranda and James Taylor, respectively.

 

Despite the various revisions this musical has gone through since its original Broadway production in 1978 - including a reduction in length and cast size, updates in occupations, and the addition of several songs by a greater variety of composers - "Working" still unfolds like an oral civics lesson.  Plays based on books grounded in journalism often do.

 

The show is essentially a musical revue, with each of the 14 songs and the monologues that accompany them depicting the malaise of the middle class as they toil, unappreciated, at their jobs.  One can almost hear the page turn after each song, as we move from one case study of blue collar melancholy to another. 

 

There is something very public service announcement about this play's sentimental celebration of workers' small contributions to our national identity, as if it was underwritten by the U.S. Department of Labor.  All the profanity thrown into the storytelling may simply be there to throw us off the scent.

 

As such, it is difficult to pinpoint the target audience for a show like this.  Given its Broadway origins, one can only assume that this musical was intended to give affluent patrons of the arts a sense of appreciation for those faceless few who deliver their food, build their houses, protect their gated neighborhoods, and educate their kids.  However, the show ran for only 24 performances and closed due to lack of interest.  

 

If this musical is for the rest of us, do we really want our theater escapism to be based on the very 9-to-5 reality we're escaping from?  Will the unemployed among us - 7.6% of the U.S. population - be enticed to see a play called "Working" or get anything meaningful out of it?  Not really.

 

Director Patrick Ciamacco accentuates the local relevancy of the play's narrative by infusing Cleveland references in the costuming, in a backdrop of our skyscape, and in still-life projections of city scenes on two raised screens.  This is a nice touch.  

 

Ignored is the diversity of Cleveland's workforce.  Cast members Doug Bailey, Ian Atwood, Derrick Winger, Tasha Brandt, Joanne May Hunkins and Sarah Edwards-Maag are wonderful singers and fine actors, but they are not so good as to be seen as anything other than young and white.  This sucks some of the authenticity out of many of the songs.  

 

But not all.  The production has its moments, particularly when the right performer is matched with an appropriate career and given a good song to sing.  Such moments can be found in "Brother Trucker," sung by Ian Atwood, and "Millwork," sung by Tasha Brandt.  "If I Could Have Been," a song about the choices we make, is beautifully performed by the entire ensemble.  The band, led by Lawrence Wallace, does a nice job of supporting the show in general and these songs in particular.  

 

After the final song, there's the distinct impression that "Working" doesn't quite pack the emotional punch the playwright and performers were going for.   In fact, applauding seems like part of the job description for being an audience member and exiting allows for the next shift to take over.

 

"Working: The Musical" runs through May 18 at the Blank Canvas Theatre (at 78th Street Studios), 1305 West 78th Street, Suite 211 in Cleveland.  For general admission tickets, which are $15, visit www.blankcanvastheatre.com.
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