Issue date: 2/1/02 Section: Campus Life

Media Credit: Vanessa Norton

Media Credit: Vanessa Norton

Media Credit: Vanessa Norton

The Hendrix College Theatre Arts Department presents the musical Working Wednesday, Feb. 13, through Sunday, Feb. 17, in Cabe Theatre on the College campus. Performances are at 8 p.m. Wed.-Sat. with a matinee at 2:30 p.m. on Sunday. The public is invited to attend, and there is no admission charge. Reservations are required and may be obtained by calling the box office at (501) 450-1343.

Working is based on the best-selling book of interviews with American workers by Studs Terkel, adapted for the stage by Stephen Schwartz and Nina Faso. It chronicles the lives of working people in a musical portrait of Americans and how they define themselves by their jobs. The musical is an oral history come to life in a blend of music, dance and dialogue, with a small cast playing multiple roles.

In the course of one 24-hour workday, the audience meets and hears the stories of various workers, including the men and women the world so often takes for granted. The musical reveals their hopes, dreams, joys and concerns, incorporating quotes from Terkel's interviews in the dialogue and lyrics. Terry Sneed is the guest director for the production.

Working, the musical, is an adaptation of a book of the same name by Studs Terkel. It follows the experiences of several modern day proletariats.

Mike Dilliard is an ironworker with a regretful dispotions and harbors a mild disdain for his station and those above him. Bradley Knapp makes his Hendrix Theatre debut as Dilliard. With Knapp, 19 other Hendrix Players comprise a line of two dozen proletariats with some axes to grind, some stories to tell, and "Something to point to."

Among them are a cleaning woman played by Candace Cauley; a truck driver played by Clint Cargile; a grocery store checker played by Laura Sessoms; a disgruntled newspaper copy boy played by Evan McDonald; and a waitress played by Laura Zeis.

A talented list of musicians, including James Taylor, adds an ecclectic score ranging from blues and cabaret to latin and Taylor's signature folk.

In one number, "Millwork", a girl(played by Alice Holifield) tells of her family's plight in the mills. In "Lovin' Al", a parking attendant(played by Chris Arrington) sings of his dazzling ability to park Cadillacs and of the white collars who drive them. And in "Something to Point to", the ensemble of characters sings with working class pride for their lives' accomplishments.

This production of Working is being directed by Terry Sneed, a freelance director who has been on the artistic and administrative staffs of such theatres as Arkansas Repertory Theatre, Alabama Shakespeare Festival, Wildwood Park for the Performing Arts, and St. Louis University.

Sneed discussed with the cast the implications of September 11 on Blue Collar America with regards to the overall theme of the play. Slight changes were made to the production to punctuate the event's effects on the working class and on all of America.

Working is sure to please and "Something to be proud of" for all involved.

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