Working is a musical with a book by Stephen Schwartz and Nina Faso, music by Schwartz, Craig Carnelia, Micki Grant, Mary Rodgers, and James Taylor, and lyrics by Schwartz, Carnelia, Grant, Taylor, and Susan Birkenhead.
Based on the book of the same name by Studs Terkel, it chronicles a day in the life of twenty-six average American workers. Characters include an ironworker, a waitress, a stone mason, a trucker, a housewife, a UPS delivery man, a teacher, and a retiree. All of their monologues, in which they describe their daily routines and discuss their hopes and aspirations, are true stories derived from interviews with actual workers. While there is neither a unified plot nor a narrative thread carrying the action forward, each scene makes a smooth transition into the next, with each character's speech related in content to what precedes and follows it.
The show was originally staged at the Goodman Theatre in Chicago. After twelve previews the Broadway production, directed by Schwartz and choreographed by Onna White, opened on May 14, 1978 at the 46th Street Theatre, where it ran for 24 performances. The cast, most of whom played multiple roles, included Patti LuPone, Bob Gunton, Joe Mantegna, Lynne Thigpen, Steven Boockvor, Rex Everhart, Bobo Lewis, Lenora Nemetz, Brad Sullivan, and Matt Landers.
In 1982, Schwartz and Nina Faso adapted the show for a ninety-minute telecast on the PBS series American Playhouse, directed by himself and Kirk Browning and introduced by Terkel. The cast included Barry Bostwick, Barbara Barrie, Didi Conn, Scatman Crothers, Barbara Hershey, Beth Howland, Charles Haid, Eileen Brennan, Rita Moreno, Edie McClurg, Charles Durning, Patti LaBelle, Jennifer Warnes, James Taylor, and Lynne Thigpen. The program was nominated for three technical Emmy Awards and won for Outstanding Lighting Direction.
A revised and updated version was staged by the Long Wharf Theatre in New Haven and L.A. Theatre Works in 1999. It is a popular choice with regional theatres and summer stock companies.
Working is a situation comedy praised by fans in its first season, but lost momentum after a massive cast change for the second season. It starred Fred Savage as an office employee. Other employees included Jimmy (Dana Gould), Hal the under-respected secretary, the perky Abby Cosgrove (Arden Myrin), and Steve Hytner as the acerbic DeLaney.
The show originally aired on NBC, and was later syndicated to USA Network (now a sister network to NBC).
What do you do after graduating college? Go to work. And that is exactly what Matt wants to do. He wants to climb up the corporate ladder the old-fashion way: by working. But with the bizarre employees that can be found in a multinational corporation, it looks like a long and hard climb to the top. Written by Steve Richer
