ICC “Working” to Stage First Musical in Nearly 10 Years

EAST PEORIA — The Performing Arts Center and Illinois Central College Theatre Department will soon be hosting their first student-casted musical in 10 years, Working.

Based on Studs Terkel’s best-selling book of interviews with American workers, Working tells the individual stories of the men and women the world so often takes for granted: the schoolteacher, the phone operator, the waitress, the millworker, the mason, the housewife, etc. The version of Working the Performing Arts Center will show is a slightly modified musical exploration of 26 people from all walks of life.

The show has been revised several times since its 1977 Chicago debut. In addition to new songs and scenes, most of the occupations have been updated from the original productions. As the Working website puts it, though, the “strength of the show is in the core truths that transcend specific professions; the key is how people’s relationships to their work ultimately reveal key aspects of their humanity, regardless of the trappings of the job itself.”

Over the years, the show has won two Drama Desk Awards and was nominated for nearly 10 Tony awards. It has been staged on Broadway, as well as Chicago, Los Angeles, Singapore, Melbourne, New Haven and San Diego.

The show is praised for its raw adaptation and exploration of contemporary American life, which is shown through the stories of each modern American worker. As college students and staff, the in-depth look at common life can be very engaging. The timelessness of the working man and his struggles, and the way in which Working explores them, has made the play stand the test of time. It could be in important watching for anybody with a struggle, or at least anybody who has ever worked in any job.

Perhaps what makes Working so important is the fact it is the first musical in nearly ten years to play at Illinois Central College.

Many ICC students are returning to the stage, including Tannen Skriver, Emma Luttrell, Meghan Bordeaux , Ethan Johnson and Lindsay Nolan. Veteran stage manager Natalie Holland will also be returning to do the job. The play opens on Friday, Feb. 28, and will play March 1, 2, 7, 8 and 9. Shows on Fridays and Saturdays will begin at 7:30PM, Sundays at 2:30PM. Tickets are only $7 for the general public and $5 for students with a valid ID.