Scenes from "Working" at Davidson Community Players. (Bill Giduz photos)

By EMMALINE HARVEY
DavidsonNews.net

Davidson Community Players’ production of “Working,” playing this weekend and next, certainly lives up to its name. From the opening curtain to final bow, it’s clear the cast has worked hard to make this inaugural production in the company’s new Armour Street Theatre a great one. The opening number began with the entire cast singing their hearts out onstage, showing again – as I have said before – that Davidson Community Players is far from your typical community theater group.

“Working” is a musical by Stephen Schwartz, based on the 1972 book by Studs Terkel. Both Mr. Terkel’s book and the musical consist of interviews about work with working-class Americans.

The Davidson production, directed by resident director Melissa Ohlman-Roberge, features a talented ensemble of 17 actors. The two-hour show has no particular lead characters, but gives audience members a glimpse into each character’s life and job through monologues and song. The play showcases more than two dozen characters as they work, sing and talk about their work. A grocer, steelworker, parking lot attendant, waitress, and even a hooker share with the audience the trials and tribulations of their jobs.

As an avid Broadway Baby, I was unfamilar with “Working,” but I was pleasantly surprised. The musical features the music of Mr. Schwartz – writer and composer of “Wicked,” and the movies “Pocahontas,” “The Prince of Egypt,” and others. The parts were well-cast, and near the end of Act I, I couldn’t help but wonder where in the world all these actors had come from. I had no idea Davidson was filled with so much talent.

Of particular note were performances by Abigail Pagan (who had roles as project manager Amanda McKenny and supermarket bagger Maria Nunez) and newcomer David J. Horton (as parking lot attendant Al Calinda). Ms. Pagan’s voice and delivery of her emotionally heavy roles made me feel for the character, and Mr. Horton’s upbeat personality and impressive dance moves had me wondering why he had never participated in a DCP show before.

The two most impressive voices were easily Nickeya M. Adams (as cleaning woman Maggie Holmes) and Carmen Coulter (a solo singer and cubicle worker), who belted out solos with a confidence not often seen on a community theater stage. I could have kept listening to them, even after the curtain fell.

My favorite song of the entire show was “Nobody Tells Me How,” performed by Marilyn England in the role of Rose Hoffman – every word just rang true. Ms. England plays a schoolteacher of several decades unsure how to teach children in this new short attention-span, disrespectful society.

This production offers food for thought amid the current economic downturn. The company could not have known when “Working” was chosen a year ago that the country would be facing its highest unemployment rate in 25 years and and many would be clinging to low-paying jobs just to get by. We see characters struggling in jobs they always thought they could do better than, in low-paying jobs  they enjoy, or even in high-paying jobs they hate. It’s interesting how a play written in the 1990s can be so spot on for today’s society.

I couldn’t end this review and without mentioning the new Armour Street Theatre. This cozy new home is the perfect fit for the DCP. Though small, the close proximity of the audience to stage brings a feeling of intimacy instead of awkwardness in the room – a feeling made much easier when the actors are this good. It’s a great milestone for the theater company, and a well-deserved recognition for their hard work. Although, in the middle of the end of Act I, when the cast was belting out “What I Could’ve Been,” I couldn’t help but feel that this cast could easily fill Davidson College’s much larger Duke Family Performance for each performance.

“Working” by the Davidson Community Players

Armour Street Theatre, 307 Armour St.

November 6-8 & 12-15, 2008 at 8:00 p.m. and November 16, 2008 at 7:00 p.m.

November 9, 15 & 16, 2008 at 2:00 p.m.

Performances on November 7, 8, 9, 14 and 15 are SOLD OUT

Call 704-892-7918 or visit www.davidsoncommunityplayers.org for tickets.

General Admission: $17.00?Students and Seniors: $15.00

PREVIOUS COVERAGE

Nov. 3, 2008, “‘Working’ opens this week in new Armour Street Theatre.”