Harry Pham and Donovan Parris perform a popular scene from the play.

Our lives revolve around work.  Some despise it, others love it.  Regardless of our relationships with our jobs, there is no escaping the fact that one must have a working life in order to prosper.

         For this year’s spring musical, Paint Branch Perspectives took on Stephen Schwartz and Nina Faso’s Working, the Musical, an adaptation of the Studs Terkel book.  The piece examines a wide array of jobs and, more importantly, the thoughts and feelings of those who do them.

Perspectives Director Ms. Perkins, along with Technical Director Ms. Ryan, Orchestra Director Mr. Kirchoff, Vocal Director Ms. Emily Petty (alum) and a talented cast, put the show on for consecutive weekends starting March 14-15 and ending on March 21-22.  The cast, which consisted of 26 hard-working cast members, worked diligently to represent the lives of working adults in a wide array of professions and periods in their lives.  Of the directors’ selection of the piece, Ms. Perkins said, “It is always difficult to choose a show, particularly a musical, but we all feel this was the right show this year; it showcased several students and received nothing but positive feedback.”

            The show began with the whole cast scattered on the stage, each of different occupations and stories they began to share.  After the opening number, the first of 25 vignettes about working came onto the stage in the form of Ian Edge, who played iron worker Mike Dillard.   

The first monologue that really stood out was Meghan Fickett’s presentation of the flight attendant. In this piece, Meghan Fickett’s impressive accent and energy engaged the audience and portrayed that she loved the job she had.

Shortly after Fickett’s performance, Malakia Butler took the stage as Kate Rushton in the musical vignette “Just a Housewife.”  In this piece, which showcased Butler’s startling voice, she sang about the importance of being a housewife, as others don’t give housewives the much recognition that is deserved.

Donovan Parris then took the stage in the first of two roles.  He played Conrad Swibel, a UPS man. His humorous portrayal of an ordinary mailman amused the audience.

After Parris’ performance, the first act closed with four monologue vignettes and then Savannah Kunze’s portrayal of Grace Clements in “Mill Worker.”  At the end of this piece, Aaron Kassman performed a monologue about community organizing before being joined by the whole cast to close act 1.

In the second act, several performances stood out, including Missy Tucker’s portrayal of waitress Delores Dante in the musical number “It’s An Art.”  Tucker’s remarkable interpretation of a proud waitress showed that even the smallest jobs have their complexities and are worthy of acknowledgement.

After Tucker’s performance, Parris again took the stage as Joe Zutty, a retiree. Parris’s transformation from a youthful, energetic man to an elderly, retired man was incredible due to the makeup-team.  Parris’s animated character gave the old retiree life and caught many laughs from the audience.

Harry Pham as eldercare worker Utkarsh Trajillo and Victoria Kral as nanny Theresa Liu performed a beautiful duet vignette. Each of them sang part of the duet in a different language, which was very impressive as each conveyed the message that it is sad to care for others all day and miss out on one’s own family.

The show ended in parts.  First, an all-male cast, playing the roles of fathers and sons, expressed a desire to strive and succeed at a better life than did their fathers.  The final piece was an all-cast performance called “Something To Point To.”

The whole cast gathered on stage for the closing of this year’s theater season as the audience feted them with much-deserved applause.