LtoR Nicola Espallardo, Huon Mackley, Izuka Hoyle, Patrick Coulter, Luke Latchman & Kerri Norville from the cast of WORKING. Photo by Darren Bell
Rehearsals are now under way for Working, take a look at the images below:
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Photography by Robert Workman
The cast of the European Premiere of WORKING at Southwark Playhouse include six young performers all making their professional debuts. Patrick Coulter (Bird College of Dance), Nicola Espallardo (Guildford School of Acting), Izuka Hoyle, Luke Latchman, Huon Mackley (all Arts Educational Schools, London) and Kerri Norville (Bird College of Dance) will join the previously announced Gillian Bevan, Dean Chisnall, Krysten Cummings, Siubhan Harrison, Peter Polycarpou and Liam Tamne.
WORKING opens on 7 June 2017, with previews from 2 June, for a strictly limited season ending 8 July 2017, and is directed by Luke Sheppard.
The musical’s creative team has auditioned over 130 drama school students and aspiring young performers, discovering some of the most exciting upcoming musical theatre talent. With the support of Arts Council England and Unity Theatre Trust, the production will also host workshops for young people in Southwark and Lambeth interested in entering the theatre profession.
Luke Sheppard said of the new company members,
“I’m thrilled we are able to welcome these graduates to our company. They are integral to the vision of our production. I hope that this opportunity reflects a fundamental theme of the piece: a new generation asking questions of those who have trod the career path that lies ahead, holding a mirror up to the changing landscape of employment.”
Producer Ramin Sabi said,
“We are so grateful to Arts Council England for supporting our endeavour to provide professional opportunities to young people who face so many challenges when entering the world of work. Their grant has helped us to include these actors on the same equal footing as the whole cast and creative team, in accordance with our company’s commitment to Equity’s Professionally Made Professionally Paid campaign.”
WORKING is the extraordinary genre-defining musical from Grammy and Academy Award-winner Stephen Schwartz (Wicked, Godspell) based on Studs Terkel’s best-selling book of interviews with the American workforce: Working: People Talk About What They Do All Day and How They Feel About What They Do. The show has been adapted by Stephen Schwartz and Nina Faso, the creators of Godspell and Rags, with additional contributions by Gordon Greenberg.
This highly original and universal portrait of the American workday is told from the perspective of those that the world so often overlooks – the schoolteacher, the housewife, the fireman and the waitress, amongst many – whose daily grind and aspirations reflect the truths of the people that make up a nation. WORKING employs a range of musical styles and genres from contributing composers, including five-time Grammy Award-winner James Taylor and Pulitzer Prize-winner Lin-Manuel Miranda (Hamilton, In The Heights), as well as Craig Carnelia, Micki Grant, Mary Rodgers & Susan Birkenhead.
WORKING first opened on Broadway in 1978, under the direction of Stephen Schwartz, with a cast including Patti LuPone, Bob Gunton, Joe Mantegna, David Patrick Kelly and Rex Everhart. The show has since undergone several revisions, with additional songs by Lin-Manuel Miranda being introduced in 2009. WORKING was last performed off-Broadway in December 2012, under the direction of Gordon Greenberg (Holiday Inn, Guys and Dolls, Jacques Brel Is Alive and Well and Living in Paris).
WORKING will have Choreography by Fabian Aloise, Set Design by Jean Chan, Costume Design by Gabriella Slade, Lighting Design by Nic Farman and Sound Design by Tom Marshall, with Musical Supervision by Alex Parker, Musical Direction by Isaac McCullough and Casting by Will Burton CDG.
The new production at Southwark Playhouse is performed by arrangement with Music Theatre International (Europe) Limited.
WORKING is produced by Jack Maple, Ramin Sabi, Christopher Ketner, & D.E.M. Productions
LISTINGS INFORMATION
2 June – 8 July
Southwark Playhouse 77-85 Newington Causeway London SE1 6BD
Performance Times: Monday – Friday 7.30pm Saturday 3.00pm & 7.30pm N.B Tuesday 4 July – Additional matinee at 3pm
Tickets: £25 and £20 concessions (from £14 during previews)
The Life is a musical that ran originally off and on Broadway in the 1990s. With lyrics by Ira Gasman and music by Cy Coleman it explores a dark and depraved world of pimps and prostitutes, dealers and users around Times Square, New York in the 1980s.
Jojo (John Addison) is an opportunistic hustler who will sink to any low to make it big. Fleetwood (David Albury), a Vietnam veteran will a deluded ambition of making loads of money, is a shady character who pimps his own girlfriend, Queen (T’Shan Williams). Queen befriends ageing hooker Sonja (Sharon D Clarke), whilst out on the streets. Add into the mix Lacy (Jo Servi) a crooked bar owner, Mary (Joanna Woodward) a naive youngster straight off the bus from Minnesota and sadistic gangster Memphis (Cornell S John) and we’re set for a tale of debauchery, hope and ultimately death.
The show is very nicely housed in Southwark Playhouse’s ‘Large’ auditorium with the cast using every available space to bring energy to the show. The choreography, the colourful costumes, the set, the big hair are all enjoyable to watch but the show just doesn’t set you alive with passion.
Sharon D Clarke has an amazing voice (and much of the hype around the show related to her casting), but it’s not used enough. T’Shan Williams has an equally great voice as does David Albury, in fact the whole cast are vocally superb.
Some of the songs are lively and fun others are moving . But whilst they are enjoyable in the moment, they are sadly instantly forgettable. The first act starts well and the scene is set, but the plot then meanders and goes on for quite a long time. A very long time! The second act is more concise and by far the more enjoyable of the two; the story is much easier to follow and definitely more engaging.
The cast did well but at the end of the day, The Life felt a little dated and was far too long (not helped by a late start and a technical problem delaying the start of the second act).
Production photography by Conrad Blakemore
The Life is at The Southwark Playhouse until 29th April.
