Workplace heroes tell their stories in KCPT’s “Working: The Musical”

Folk-rock musical opens Sept. 19 at Port Townsend’s Key City Playhouse 

Kristin Wolfram faces the challenges of today’s changing classrooms as a thirty year veteran teacher.

Michael Gruber takes pride in the city skyline he helped to build as an ironworker.
 

Brandan Chappel plays a UPS delivery man who ponders the dangers of dogs on his route.

Christina Carpentier breaks into song and dance, sharing the joy of her job as a supermarket checker.

Photos by Kathie Meyer / KCPT

Work—it’s an inescapable fact of life for most people. Work is boundlessly fascinating for some, excruciatingly boring for others, sometimes dangerous, and other times exploitative—but everyone has a story to tell about what they do for a living.

Boy, do they ever!

In Key City Public Theatre’s “Working: The Musical,” 15 singers and actors playing multiple roles belt out the stories of unsung workplace heroes, including a parking lot attendant, corporate executive, schoolteacher, housewife, fireman, waitress and millworker.

Opening Friday, Sept 19, and running for four weekends at Key City Playhouse, “Working” is the fifth and final mainstage production of Key City Public Theatre’s 50th anniversary season and is generously sponsored by Siren’s Pub.

Adapted by Stephen Schwartz and Nina Faso from the best-selling book of the same name, “Working” is a collection of oral histories gathered by Studs Terkel in 1972. The musical’s eclectic, folk-rock score chronicles the daily grind as well as the dreams and aspirations of our country’s uncelebrated workers.

This year marks the 30th anniversary of the musical’s opening on Broadway, a show that earned five Tony Award nominations, including “best book of a musical” and “best original score” for the folk-rock pieces composed by Schwartz, Micki Grant, Craig Carnelia, James Taylor, Susan Birkinhead and Mary Rodgers. In 2001 the script was revised to reflect the modern-day workplace.

“The actors really care about telling the story,” said Director Heather Poulsen, who is pleased with her cast’s dedication to the challenge of both acting and singing.

“If you look back at the time when Terkel was writing this book, it wasn’t a time when people talked much about what they did,” Poulsen continued. “You see a trend after his book came out where people started to look and think about work in a different way, and the choices we make about work changed. In the show, we’re working to bring out the balance of hope and humor with the lament of the workers. Everybody will find something to relate to.”

In conjunction with the run of “Working,” KCPT holds its annual theater trip raffle. The lucky winner of this year’s trip wins a travel package for two that includes airfare and two nights’ accommodations in Chicago, the adopted home of writer Studs Terkel. The trip includes two tickets to a show at The Goodman Theatre where “Working” was first produced. Raffle tickets are $5 each or $20 for 5 tickets. Anyone purchasing $50 or more in raffle tickets is invited to join the actors for a champagne brunch on the set on Sunday, Oct 19. Tickets are on sale at the KCPT administrative office, 1128 Lawrence St., or at KCPT’s box office during performances. Funds raised from the raffle help support KCPT’s season of mainstage productions.

The cast consists of Richard Bruce, Christina Carpentier, Brandan Chappell, Bill Davis,  Denise Fleener, Michael Gruber, Nancy Israel, Deena Lien-Richards, Jennifer Nielsen, Beth Noelle, Scott Nolette, Raven, Jessica Rice, David Speck and Kristin Wolfram. Noelle also serves as musical director accompanying the singers on piano, supported by Steve Arbuckle on percussion.

“Working” is a musical about people who are never in musicals…an unashamed celebration of the common man, as wholesome as a Labor Day picnic,” wrote The New York Times theater critic Peter Marks.

The show runs Sept. 19-Oct. 12 at Key City Playhouse, 419 Washington St., Port Townsend. Performances are Fridays and Saturdays at 8 p.m. and Thursdays and Sundays at 7 p.m. with additional Sunday matinee performances at 2:30 p.m. on Oct. 5 and 12. General admission is $15; $10 for students.

For the pay-what-you-wish performance on Thurs., Sept. 25, advance tickets are available at full price and donations are accepted at the door for the remaining seats on a first-come, first-serve basis. This evening is sponsored by the Port Townsend Arts Commission to encourage accessibility to quality live theatre for and by the community.

Informal “AfterWords” discussions with the artistic staff and cast follow all Thursday performances and Sunday matinees.

All advance ticket sales are handled by Quimper Sound Music and Media, where you can purchase tickets in person at 230 Taylor St., Port Townsend, or call 360-385-2454 with a credit card. FLEXpass vouchers and gift passes may be exchanged for tickets at Quimper Sound. 

For information about group sales and subscription packages, call KCPT’s administrative office at 360-379-0195.For more about the show or schedule, call the KCPT show info line at 360-385-7396 or visit the on-line show calendar page.

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