Working - NYC City Center Encores

[Doe Be Doe]

I saw "Working" tonight at City Center. I had low expectations before the show. I was wonderfully surprised. It was fun. A lot of fun.

[RyanDean]

So sorry to miss this one. I have a soft-spot for this odd little show and suspect that the Encores format is perfect for it.

[edjames]

NYTimes says:

 

Review: A Familiar Set of Laborers Join the Cast of ‘Working’

This revival of the 1977 musical about the monotony of earning a living custom-tailors the original for City Center’s 75th anniversary.

 

The most engaging workers in the concert revival of “Working,” which opened on Wednesday night at New York City Center, have only recently been added to this 1977 musical’s cast of characters. But they pulse with a vitality and human detail that makes you think, “Tell me more.”

Take Abdou Sillah, a Gambian-born New Yorker whose résumé includes jobs as a sommelier, long-distance trucker, restroom cleaner and “fry guy” at Planet Hollywood. More immediately relevant, though, is Abdou’s current gig: site supervisor for security at the very place where Anne Kauffman’s production of “Working” runs through Saturday.

“I am New York City Center’s face, I’ll say,” he offers, by way of introduction, “because I am the one who has direct contact with anybody who enters.” He continues: “Everybody who comes into this building, I have different ways of greeting each of them. So many gestures, I will wave, take five … some will dance, I will dance … ”

Now that’s the kind of specifically individual talk that reminds you of the serendipitous pleasures of hearing someone you’ve never met before describe what she or he does for a living. This is especially true when the speaker makes you appreciate the unacknowledged labor of keeping a place you hold dear alive and functional.

Mr. Sillah is not himself on stage. Instead, he is portrayed with becoming modesty and warmth by Christopher Jackson, whom you may remember for portraying George Washington in the original cast of “Hamilton.”

For the 75th anniversary of New York City Center, the creators of this season’s Encores! Off-Center summer series of staged concerts came up with the charming idea of interviewing City Center employees and weaving their stories into the fabric of a show based on conversations with Americans about the pleasures and pains of how they earn their livings.

So I was very pleased to encounter Mr. Sillah and his daughter Fatou (Tracie Thoms), who checks the bags of those entering City Center, and Angie White (the Oscar- and Emmy-winning actress Helen Hunt), a ticket taker. Then there are Ron (David Garrison), a box office manager, and his son and co-worker, Jon (Mateo Ferro). I learned all sorts of things about the process of ticket-taking, and how it’s changed over the decades.

I wish that the show in which they appear — each in a multitude of roles — were similarly quirky and spontaneous-seeming. Yet there’s a weariness about this latest version of “Working,” which was adapted by Stephen Schwartz and Nina Faso from Studs Terkel’s oral history of the same title and features musical numbers by seven veteran songwriters. Much of its 90 minutes passes by in a pleasant, anodyne blur — even, or especially, when its performers are singing and dancing.

Perhaps appropriately, “Working” remains a work in progress. Though its Broadway debut in 1978 — which featured Lynne Thigpen and a young Patti LuPone — closed after 24 performances, it quickly became a favorite among school and community theaters, and has been retooled for later productions to match the changing times and workscape.

The current incarnation — an earlier version of which was presented by the Prospect Theater Company in 2012 — features additional written material by Gordon Greenberg and songs, if you please, by Lin-Manuel Miranda, the man who gave us “Hamilton.” But its parts have yet to cohere into a dynamic whole (a complaint made about “Working” even in its earliest forms).

The show’s original songwriters are Mr. Schwartz, Craig Carnelia, Micki Grant, Mary Rodgers, Susan Birkenhead and James Taylor. With the exception of Mr. Taylor, each contributed tuneful, wistful melodies that tend to evaporate from memory even as you listen to them. (The unobtrusive, smooth onstage band here is led by Alvin Hough Jr.)

Mr. Taylor composed what remains the show’s breakout anthem,

It is nicely sung here by Ms. Thoms. Yet as in much of this show — which is choreographed by Avihai Haham — the staging feels distracting and oddly desultory, as if the cast were still awaiting fuller instruction.

This production is blessed with the presences of Andrea Burns (a crowd pleaser as a self-dramatizing waitress) and Javier Muñoz, another “Hamilton” alumnus, who is allowed only once to fully

unfurl his sweet, emotive singing voice, in a teary number by Mr. Carnelia called “Fathers and Sons.”

The handsome set, by Donyale Werle, is likely to stir feelings of déjà vu. A neat shift of perspective at the show’s conclusion, achieved by the full raising of a curtain, makes you realize just where you’ve seen it before.

Those doors, those steps, that stately facade? It’s the onstage version of City Center, which fully deserves its own curtain call.

Correction: June 27, 2019

An earlier version of this article misstated the given name of a writer of a new production of “Working” at City Center. He is Gordon Greenberg, not Garth. It also misspelled the surname of the director. She is Anne Kauffman, not Kaufman. The given name of one of the performers in the musical’s Broadway debut was also misspelled. She is Lynne Thigpen, not Lynn.

https://www.nytimes.com/2019/06/27/theater/review-a-familiar-set-of-laborers-join-the-cast-of-working.html

[bostonman]

in a teary number by Mr. Carnelia called “Fathers and Sons.”

 

I'm surprised this gaffe wasn't caught by the Times. "Fathers And Sons" is by Stephen Schwartz, not Craig Carnelia.

 

I'm also a huge fan of this show, and have done 4 productions of it - the original licensed version twice (before it was tinkered with in the 1990's in what I felt became an inferior rewrite) and the latest 2012 revision (which I mostly love) twice. In fact, I just recently was musical director for a college production of the show this past April.

 

Yes, it's a flawed show in some respects, and it will never please everyone. But I think it's really great material, and it's also a lot of fun to perform. I'm glad to see Encores give it a showing, even if some of Brantley's comments above hint at the result being under-rehearsed (as all many of these "concert performances" of musicals tend to be).

[+ WilliamM]

I'm surprised this gaffe wasn't caught by the Times. "Fathers And Sons" is by Stephen Schwartz, not Craig Carnelia.

 

I'm also a huge fan of this show, and have done 4 productions of it - the original licensed version twice (before it was tinkered with in the 1990's in what I felt became an inferior rewrite) and the latest 2012 revision (which I mostly love) twice. In fact, I just recently was musical director for a college production of the show this past April.

 

Yes, it's a flawed show in some respects, and it will never please everyone. But I think it's really great material, and it's also a lot of fun to perform. I'm glad to see Encores give it a showing, even if some of Brantley's comments above hint at the result being under-rehearsed (as all many of these "concert performances" of musicals tend to be).

 

There do not tend to be under-rehearsed at Carnegie Hall especially the Rodgers and Hammerstein musicals dating back to Reba McEntire in "South Pacific."

[bostonman]

There do not tend to be under-rehearsed at Carnegie Hall especially the Rodgers and Hammerstein musicals dating back to Reba McEntire in "South Pacific."

 

Yes they are all under-rehearsed. None of those concerts get much rehearsal time at all - most of the prep needs to be done by the singers on their own time. Some of them turn out better than others, but it all basically relies on casting the right people who are going to come in prepared, just like one would expect with a classical concert.

 

The Company concert starring Neil Patrick Harris? (Which, even in terms of "concert" performances seemed much more full staged than usual) - they had ONE rehearsal together, and as far as I remember, it was the same day as the performance. All that choreography, etc, had to be learned by each performer on their own, and then quickly put together. It only worked because everyone was really prepared. (And even then, there were problems - Stephen Colbert never quite getting the knack of the timing in "Sorry Grateful" for instance. More rehearsal time would have helped that.)

 

I thought the televised concerts of Show Boat and Camelot, among others, were terribly underrehearsed (and also miscast to an extent). My impression of the South Pacific was also that Reba was not ready. Didn't she go up on lyrics a few times? I'd have to look back.

 

I believe that in the "old days," the regular Encores shows got maybe 3 rehearsals tops, including the choreo/staging. I think they may do more now, I'm not sure. But I'm pretty sure that these summer productions are thrown together without much time at all.

Edited June 29, 2019 by bostonman

[+ WilliamM]

The Carnegie Hall concert performances use part rehearsal tape but mostly the actual performance.

 

The Merman-Martin 1977 concert opened with "Send in the Clown" and then the two ladies briefly become lost. The recording that was used for that brief period was from a bootleg person in the audience.

 

It is easier for me to see these concert because I live closer to NYC

[bostonman]

It's really about cost.

 

Classical musicians - singers and instrumentalists - are trained to arrive the gig knowing their music. Rehearsal essentially becomes about putting things together - ensemble, tempi, dynamics, etc - making sure everyone is doing the minutia that the conductor wants. There is no need for scads of rehearsal time. Everyone can make adjustments on the fly.

 

Musical theatre singers are NOT necessarily trained to do this, though of course almost off of them will know that advance prep is required in situations like this. But often there isn't enough time to really get all the minutia together, and if it's a one or two performance shot, you get what you get.

 

In terms of a symphony doing these kind of concerts as part of a full, regular seaons, it would become prohibitive to allocate a lot of "extra" rehearsal time, let alone flying the singers in, paying them, lodging them, etc, for extra time. So they don't - and that often means there simply isn't enough time. And orchestra rehearsal time under union rules is also expensive.

 

Also - when I was a kid, I remember "concert" performances of operas in particular, both on TV and locally. Most often, there was no staging. Singers were in concert dress, not costumed - they stood in front of the orchestra as they would for a Messiah or Requiem or Mahler symphony, etc, and simply sang. When you consider that the modern-day "concert" opera/musical is really much more of a staged affair, that takes most of the time away from doing any musical prep that really needs to be done.

[+ WilliamM]

I have seen about a dozen or more of these concerts including "Dreamgirls" with Audra McDonald and "Carousel." with High Jackman, "Anyone Can Whistle" with Madeline Kahn, "Chess" with Josh Groban.

 

New York audiences know there will be mistakes.

Edited June 29, 2019 by WilliamM

[bostonman]

New York audiences know there will be mistakes.

 

There are always mistakes. But there are mistakes caused by any number of human nature-ish things in the heat of the moment, and there are mistakes made due to lack of preparation. The 2nd kind, which often happens in these concerts, is unfortunate, because better prep could prevent them.

[+ WilliamM]

There are always mistakes. But there are mistakes caused by any number of human nature-ish things in the heat of the moment, and there are mistakes made due to lack of preparation. The 2nd kind, which often happens in these concerts, is unfortunate, because better prep could prevent them.

 

Mistakes of any kind do not bother me in one-night only Broadway concert, out of town tryouts and previews of Broadway shows.

 

"Legends!" did bother me, not the forgotten lines -- the play itself sucked.

[bostonman]

In any case, I think this production of Working might have benefitted from really being a real concert. The true action of the show is the storytelling - very few of the monologues or songs really depend on specific movement. ("Millwork" may be the only one, actually, given the miming of the purposely repetitive "40 seconds" of factory work that's built into the scene and the song.) There could have been more musical rehearsal time, more time to finesse the monologues, etc. Unfortunately we're in an era where a "concert performance" and a full-scale staging are not all that far apart. There's way too much effort to stage everything, when really, the music and text should be the featured elements of the evening.

 

There used to be a group that did concert musicals in Boston - they did a series of 3, of which I was able to see the first two - The Baker's Wife and Follies. The former starred Judy Kuhn and a cast of Boston professionals; the latter starred Len Cariou with another wonderful cast of Boston performers. (The producer had connections, lol.) And both had complete full orchestras. These were honest to god stand-and-sing CONCERTS - actors would stand together for scenework or musical ensembles, but there was very little actual "staging" as you'd expect now. Occasionally dance numbers would feature choreography, but often the attention would be given to the orchestra and we would just hear them play the dance arrangements. And you know what? They were fabulous evenings. (I remember the miking for the latter was not good, but otherwise it was a very memorable night). No big staging/costuming/wigging/makeup/sets needed. The focus was solely on the performers and the material, and it worked. I'd love to see that style come back.

Edited July 1, 2019 by bostonman

[+ WilliamM]

I grew up in Framingham, MA when the town had a large tent summer theater. Too young to really remember how together the musicals and plays were back then. I remember seeing Ginger Rodgers, Tony Perkins, Merman. Sir Cedric Hardwicke and Gertrude Berg. Ella Fitzgerald sang. Berg brought "A Majority of One" to Massachusetts right after Broadway.

[bostonman]

I grew up in Framingham, MA when the town had a large tent summer theater. Too young to really remember how together the musicals and plays were back then. I remember seeing Ginger Rodgers, Tony Perkins, Merman. Sir Cedric Hardwicke and Gertrude Berg. Ella Fitzgerald sang. Berg brought "A Majority of One" to Massachusetts right after Broadway.

 

Kinda off topic, my friend...we're talking about concert musicals, not summerstock.

[+ WilliamM]

Kinda off topic, my friend...we're talking about concert musicals, not summerstock.

 

It is on topic for shows that have to be put together quickly with little time for rehearsals. And Ethel Merman, Sir Cedric Hardwicke and Gertrude Berg are hardly thought of as summer stock performers.

[bostonman]

Summerstock shows, at least in traditional rep-style companies, usually get at least a week of solid full day rehearsals. (Typically rehearsals are during the day, with other shows performed at night. Most often the ensemble is doing all or many of the shows, while the stars and lead roles are jobbed in separately.) Not comparable to the one or few days the concert shows get.

 

And if you're doing a show at a summerstock theatre it doesn't necessarily peg you as a "summerstock performer." But if the folks you mentioned were in the shows, they were indeed performing at summerstock venues.

 

Tomorrow night I'm seeing Andrew Keenan-Bolger in Little Shop of Horrors at a (non-repertory) summerstock theatre on the Cape. They had 2 weeks of rehearsal plus tech. Plenty of time if you're a focused group of performers. The regional shows I do in Boston generally get 3 weeks plus tech.

 

Back to concert musicals...perhaps Working in particular. Or perhaps we should start a new thread?

Edited July 1, 2019 by bostonman

[+ WilliamM]

.."if the people you mentioned were in the shows..."

 

no Ethel Merman, Cedric Hardwicke and Gertrude Berg were actually on the moon

[bostonman]

.."if the people you mentioned were in the shows..."

 

no Ethel Merman, Cedric Hardwicke and Gertrude Berg were actually on the moon

 

The Will Rogers Follies?