Studs Terkel's Working (Broadway Theatre Archive)

Starring:Studs Terkel, Barry Bostwick, Scatman Crothers, Barbara Browning, Vernee Watson-Johnson, Jay Garner, Billy Jayne, Barbara Barrie, Carole Schwartz, Bill Beyers, Fausto Barajas, Charles Haid, Beth Howland, Barbara Hershey, Eileen Brennan, Rita Moreno, James Taylor, Lynne Thigpen, Edie McClurg, Didi Conn
Director: Stephen Schwartz, Kirk Browning
Studio: Image Entertainment
Product Type: DVD

Amazon.com

Steelworkers, waitresses, and parking garage attendants hardly make the stuff of the traditional Broadway musical. But their voices form the songs and monologues of this plotless paean to the American working stiff, inspired by the bestselling oral history by Studs Terkel. Adapted from the stage production by composer Stephen Schwartz, this 1982 American Playhouse production has a pleasingly fluid structure that includes Terkel himself as an onscreen narrator/host. It veers from sentimentalizing working folk to (at its best) questioning the conclusion drawn by a high-priced call girl played by Barbara Hershey: "What you do is what you are." James Taylor sings a truck-drivin' tune, Scatman Crothers and Charles Durning lend a rascally vigor, and Rita Moreno insists "It's an art to be a fine waitress." Strongest of all is Eileen Brennan, with her face out of a Walker Evans photograph, as a weary factory worker resigned to her punishing job. --Robert Horton

Description

This musical adaptation of the Studs Terkel book examines the average worker's viewpoint--showing that he or she is anything but average. Based on a series of interviews with real working people--construction workers, waitresses, firemen, secretaries and cleaning women--"Working" is both an exploration of the individuals' occupations and a lament for lost hopes and dreams. This musical adaptation was conceived by Stephen Schwartz (Godspell, Pippin). A must for all musical theatre buffs.

Customer Reviews:

a great dvd .......2006-01-21

never say you "have it bad" until you have walked in someone elses shoes..everyone has troubles..
this play tells the story from the other side..and everybody has a story..you are not the only one..

this is the story of "working"
I love the dvd .. and it is the best for the year of 1982..the play was from the year 1978 and it was on a stage.. the only thing is ..the actor "david patrick kelly " sings a song called "the mason" which was from the play. but is not on this dvd ..it has been cut from this ..he has a great voice and is a fantastic actor even today..I am sorry to have missed seeing that part being I am such a big fan of his .
the play was shot for the tv station PBS and is in "play form"
the film was remastered and sound is great also.
there are so many good actors in it as well some are not with us anymore but good to see on this..
there are many scenes that tells the stories of how people deal with thier jobs and what they do for a living.. I will watch this dvd again and again . it hits close to home with me..

What an awful imitation of the original!.......2005-12-18

I assumed it would be with original cast members... I loved the CD soundtrack. But here they are, parading out different "stars" of the 70s/80s, butchering the beautiful tunes without a trace of feeling.

Rita Moreno does pretty well, but the "customers" never sing at the big finish. Looks like they've got a 17 year old playing the 11 year old newsboy. Even having James Taylor sing his song Brother Trucker has him looking like he's never acted in his life. The school teacher? Some concocted caracature of the woman, filmed in a Mr. Roger's stage set.

This DVD is just sad. I won't watch it again. It would only bring laughable images to my mind the next time I listen to the Broadway CD.

Some great stuff.......2004-11-30

This production moved me when it first aired, and I was not disappointed when I bought the DVD. I remember thinking back in 1982 that some performances/songs were fantastic, others less so. This holds true today: Eileen Brennan is heart-wrenching as the millworker, as is her song; Rita Moreno is perfection as the waitress, with another great song; Beth Howland may not have been the perfect choice for the housewife, but the song is so good it doesn't matter; and who can resist Edie McClurg as the hotel switchboard operator?

Overall, this production has much to commend it - the closing number chokes me up every time I see it. It may not be perfect, but let's be glad it was done!

Hey Somebody, Don't You Want To Hear..........2002-10-16

The story of my life? So begins one of the most underratd musicals ever. With a simple message, "Everyone has a story." This is a TV adaptation of a musical based on a book by Sociologist and pundit Studs Terkel available by the grace of God for the first time on DVD. I knew the play from high school and was anxious to see it on film. It's a fairly reliable adaptation of the play, except that it omits two very fine songs and is kind of simply set up (it was PBS after all).

For those unfamiliar with the book or the musical, Working is based on a series of interviews Terkel performed with people from all walks of life. The book was subtitled "People Talking About What They Do All Day And How They Feel About What They Do." Composer and Lyricist Stephen Schwartz (with help from the likes of James Taylor and Craig Carnelia) adapted the interviews (which were verbatim from these peoples' mouths) into a musical.

Now let me adress a common concern right here. "I don't like musicals." Something like that is simply impossible to say. It's like saying "I don't like soup." You can't. There are too many different kinds of musicals (indeed soups) to say that you hate them all. Do you hate bright and sunny musicals like "Meet Me in St. Louis" or lavish dance numbers like "42nd Street" or quasi-historic grandeur like "Camelot?" In Working the musical performances are limited to singing at the camera, or singing off camera.

And the singing is performed by some wonderful people. "Rocky Horror's" Barry Bostwick as the Steelworker, Scatman Crothers as a Parking Lot Attendant called "Lovin' Al: The Wizard," "West Side Story's" Rita Moreno as a Waitress who feels like an artist, Charles Durning as a retiree, Patti LaBelle as a Cleaning Woman and James Taylor (mentioned above) as a Trucker. Highlights include Bostwick's stirring ballad "Fathers and Sons" Moreno's "It's an Art" and the highly affecting "Me and My Machine" performed by an unseen vocalist during the Millworker scene.

People who do these jobs, might be inspired by these completely true stories. And people who interact with these people might be inspired as well. Inspired to spend a few brain cells thinking about the guy who put his car together, talking to the telephone operator who's been having a hard day, showing respect for the cleaning woman, you even see hookers in a new light.

"Hey somebody, don't you want to hear the story of my life?"

Could have been better.......2002-08-24

...- the production is flat & lacking in energy (especially in the chorus numbers "See That Building" & "I Hear America Singing/All the Livelong Day") and sets look cheap. And some of the actors are miscast or can't sing very well. It would have been much better filmed in performance with an audience instead of an empty studio.
I happen to have done this musical & like it, but this is just an OK production. Fans of the show will want to buy it as it's the only "movie" version available.

There are standout performances - Barbara Hershey as a vulnerable hooker, Eileen Brennan as an exhausted millworker, Edie McClurg as a perky operator, Charles "Hill St Blues" Haid as the mischievous "gas man," Charles Durning as a retiree, and James Taylor adds a nice touch as he sings something he actually wrote for the show ("Brother Trucker").

But there are also annoying, jarring or boring performances, like Beth Howland as the housewife & Didi "Grease" Conn as a receptionist - both of them breathy & nasal.

Some actors push it too hard - seems like most were cast because they were the "hot A list" for the moment (i.e. the late 70s) which makes the show a little dated. It would have been better casting some unknowns (but great singers from Broadway). So "Where Are They Now?" - Eileen Brennan? Barbara Barrie? Beth Howland? Didi Conn? Matt Landers? Vernee Watson-Johnson?

Good thing they didn't make an album of this soundtrack - its thin singing & orchestrations pale in comparison to the original cast album of 1978, which has much better singers (like Bob Gunton & David Patrick Kelley) and there's more excitement, feeling & fullness in the songs.

amazon.com

How many 93-year-olds do you know who are going strong after breaking their necks and undergoing open heart surgery? Then again, there are very few 93-year-olds quite like Studs Terkel, an American original. To be a good interviewer, you have to be a good listener. And for most of his long life, Studs Terkel has opened his ears to people across America who aren't the most sought-after interviewees. Terkel has chronicled the trials and tribulations of the country's working men and women. But before he launched his career as an oral historian, he was one of America's most eclectic radio hosts, spinning records as diverse as Enrico Caruso and Louis Armstrong, on a program called "The Wax Museum." His book, "And They All Sang: Adventures of an Eclectic Disc Jockey" (New Press), recalls a period when music didn't come out of the radio in synthetic niche formats. Anchor: Ted Koppel.

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