"Working" Works! at the Ritz Theatre Company

by Brian K. Herrick

Originally staged in 1977 at Chicago’s Goodman Theatre, Working is a loose adaptation of “Working: People Talk About What They Do All Day And How They Feel About What They Do” by Studs Terkel. It highlights various individuals takes on their jobs, their careers themselves, and the difference between the two. With a book by Stephen Schwartz and Nina Faso, the fascinating literally element is the large array of composers attached to this piece in it’s many iterations. With credited contributions from Craig Carnella, Micki Grant, Lin-Manuel Miranda, Mary Rodgers, Susan Birkenhead, Stephen Schwartz, and James Taylor, Working promises to provide a variety of style and takes on the many walks of life in America’s work force, and The Ritz Theatre Company’s production proved to be no different.

AJ Klein, who I’ve only known now as a fantastic and celebrated performer in the area, makes his directorial debut with this lesser known Schwartz piece. Through a series of various tableau’s, Klein successfully found a way to take some of this (in my opinion) dated writing, and turn it into an ensemble piece that has the audience reflecting on how every building we see is made, and our contributions to it once we step inside (especially poignant in a space with as much rich history as The Ritz Theatre Company). Each tableau would feature a member of the ensemble either delivering a monologue or song describing their job and their identity relating to their work, with most utilizing the other ensemble members supporting the piece itself. It allowed for a celebration of the storytellers, and with a crisp running time of 2 hours (and seamless transitions set by Klein) it felt well timed and fresh.

I found Diego Subero-Butler’s features to be charming and heartfelt as they successfully navigated the demoralizing pain that comes with work, while Chidinma Chukwueke’s 11 o’clock number “Cleaning Women” (with fabulous support by CJ Mooney and Dana Weiss) off set this well with the enormous pride that comes with getting the job done! I was especially moved by Bobby Kramer’s Fireman monologue in Act 2 which briefly touched on societal interpretations of civic roles in America, and the weight of carrying constituents livelihood accordingly. Kramer handled the text with nuance, and it didn’t feel heavy handed, and especially relevant given recent socio political discourse. Ilana Huiya Lo shined as a grounded storyteller, with versatility and gravitas, as her track probably offers the starkest difference in occupations.  Dana Weiss really had us hooked in Act 1 from the second she opened her mouth in her big feature “Millwork” as she discussed working as a (you guessed it) mill worker on assembly line, making suitcases. Dana’s otherwise youthful spirit the rest of the show, quickly shifted into a bottomless well of maturity, depth, and pain as she masterfully describes the physically debilitating nature of that type of manual labor. She really shined.

Carrie Rupnow-Kidd get an especially large reaction for her work in her number “Just A Housewife”, where her smooth and clean vocals did as much of the work as the text itself. The timbre of her voice was perfect for the number. CJ Mooney’s work on “It’s An Art” really stole the audiences attention in Act 2, as she hilariously laments on the trials and tribulations of food service work (RELATABLE). It was a very necessary breath of fresh air, and her affiliated choreography was executed beautifully. Speaking of Mooney, CJ’s real life father Joe Mooney absolutely blew me away in every single one of his features (“Joe”, “Fathers and Son’s”, and various monologues throughout the evening). I heard whisperings that due to some cast changes, Joe joined the cast right before tech last week, and you’d never know. The complete control of the text was a true treat for the audience. From describing the pride attached to successfully executing work through a lifetime, to the lifestyle affiliated with retirement after a lifetime of work, Joe had the audience in the palm of his hand every time he stepped on stage.

MJ Santry’s choreography not only was well thought out given the limitations the space, but sat well in every ensemble member’s body. You can tell she choreographed around the capabilities of her performers, and it really reflected in the quality of the execution. Her pictures were clean and precise, and offered variety that kept the audience wanting more. As a music director, Emily Gibson took on this vocal beast like a pro, with every ensemble piece offering clean harmonies, and varied dynamics as the piece required. While you can tell some performers are not vocalists first and foremost, I thought Gibson did a good job of shining everyone in their best light. Speaking of lights, the stage featured a series of 9 panels that were illuminated as each performer spoke, as to recognize their contributions. With varied color coding and placements, this allowed some aesthetically pleasing scene shifts on an otherwise barren stage. Designers AJ Klein and Matt Weil utilize this feature effectively.

My constructive criticism starts and stops solely in the design of the space. The Ritz Theatre is a beautiful and spacious facility that is consistently under utilized. Working is a part of their black box series which shifts the audience onto the stage, and while it does allow for some innovative designs (I’ve seen productions in the round as part of this series), this production just had stadium styled seating and restricted the playing space of the stage to a quarter of what it usually is. On a shoe string budget, this didn’t allow for a more intimate theatrical experience, but rather just lowered production quality to the point that I felt it undermined the performers themselves. Lesser known works deserve platforms, and while I’m realistic they can’t have the same budget and production support as a MainStage show, I felt as a consumer I was seeing a product that I would not describe as professional. It’s unfortunate because the actual storytelling itself was extremely moving, but with feeling so cramped and the amplification so lacking, there was a part of me that felt like the performers had zero support. In my opinion, this is clearly a piece coded to work well in the round, and I wonder if Klein could have reconsidered the set up. It would have been nice if there was a way to tie together some of the tableaus as to justify the telling of the piece itself, and maybe having more space for the factors to utilize could have contributed to more ensemble building in this capacity.

Despite this feedback, I think the piece still works, the cast works, and Working just works. Working is running at The Ritz Theatre Company from now until January 28th. Tickets can be purchased here: https://www.tix.com/ticket-sales/ritztheatreco/6520