‘working” is best described by the subtitle of the book it’s based on, Studs Terkel’s 1974 oral history: “People Talk About What They Do All Day and How They Feel About What They Do.”
In the mid-’70s, Stephen Schwartz (“Wicked,” “Godspell”) and Nina Faso adapted that collection, roping in such songwriters as James Taylor, Mary Rodgers and Craig Carnelia to supply some tunes. The result flopped on Broadway in 1978, providing only short-lived employment for the young Patti LuPone, Joe Mantegna and Lynne Thigpen. Even in the blue-collar-friendly ’70s, audiences didn’t want to hear truckers, builders and cleaning women sing about their lives without doing jazz hands.
Now “Working” is back, streamlined and updated by Schwartz and Gordon Greenberg, the director of the revival that opened last night at 59E59. They replaced a couple of songs with new ones by Lin-Manuel Miranda (“In the Heights”), and added material from recent interviews.
As befits the off-Broadway setting, the staging is intimate, with a cast of six playing 25 characters. Beowulf Boritt’s set places a dressing room underneath the four-piece band, but the actors often change in front of our eyes — among the best switcheroos is Kenita R. Miller going from a prim housewife to a prostitute in hot pants.
Beyond cosmetics, the revival’s tweaks reflect the evolution of America from a society where people built things with their hands to a service economy: The testimonials now include a hedge-fund manager (Joe Cassidy) and a call-center employee (Nehal Joshi). Of Miranda’s catchy new songs, the first, “Delivery,” is about a fast-food worker (Joshi), and the second, “A Very Good Day,” concerns an elder-care attendant (Joshi) and a nanny (Marie-France Arcilla).
The original numbers feel more nostalgic than documentary. Some are too sappy by half, but Schwartz’s own “It’s an Art” — an anthem for waitresses, affectionately performed by Donna Lynne Champlin (“Sweeney Todd”) — endures as a minor classic.
The server takes pride in her job, but the song suggests that at the end of the day, it’s crap work, if you can even get it.