Working - Stephen Schwartz - Southwark Playhouse

Another big thumbs up for this. Excellent cast, and specially for me great to see Krysten Cummings on stage again. I saw her many times as Mimi at The Shaftesbury and I always thought there was something very special about this girl as a performer.
Sir Trevor Nunn in the audience tonight, he seemed to love it.

I'll add to the chorus of love for the show. It had my beaming like a goon and crying like a baby. i actually liked it's revue-like style it felt appropriate for the stories it was telling, very democratic

He was indeed! He must be the easiest person in the world to buy a present for. When in doubt, go for denim.

I really wanted to like this, perhaps it was the heat that zapped my focus but I found it dull. Endless tales of work with very little depth and psychology apart from the final 10 minutes. Although I did find the fireman’s speech moving but would i if it wasn’t in the shadow of Grenfell Tower?

I thought the cast were all very good especially Gillian Bevan & Dean Chisnall and also the band sounded great – go Alex Parker! But it’s a meh from me

Third visit of the year to Southwark Playhouse last night to see Working. It's funny that the show I was most anticipating seeing in Southwark in 2017 was Promises Promises, followed by The Life, and then the current production. In terms of how much I enjoyed actually watching the shows, the reverse order would apply.

While Promises Promises, despite two nice performances from the leads, felt over long and a bit of a mess, Working seemed to be judged to perfection in every regard, from the concept and format, through to the running time, staging and score. I was riveted by every word.

All The Livelong Day makes for such a vibrant opening and to follow that up with Lin-Manuel Miranda's Delivery, a song that would have slotted perfectly into In The Heights, and the bar was immediately set high. That standard was more than maintained throughout (and then the bar literally got raised for the finale!).

Dean Chisnall as a 19 year old golfer - brilliant! I loved the sentiment in the closing song, Something To Point To, while the poignancy of the firefighter's story was particularly affecting following recent events. Peter Polycarpou was utterly captivating in every character he portrayed but it feels churlish in a way to pick out individuals when the whole ensemble are so slick. There isn't a weak link among the cast and that includes the six graduates who all did an excellent job. Nicola Espallardo in particular had great stage presence.

I really hope the cast recording sees the light of day - it would be a travesty for this cast and production not to be saved for posterity. Can't wait to see what Southwark Playhouse have in store for us as their next musical offering in the autumn!

Now that Working has ended its run it feels like it should be celebrated for the huge artistic success that it was. Director Luke Sheppard brought a conceptual cohesion to the piece that I dare say - from reading reviews of other productions - it has never quite had before. His idea of adding an ensemble of six young actors to reflect and respond to whatever the main cast was doing was a brilliant one. In the end when the principals turned over their time cards to their inheritors, the next generation, I was totally undone.

Surely this production will now be the template for future mountings of Working. I certainly hope so. And the fact that Stephen Schwartz came to London and saw it gives me some backing for that hope. Schwartz will never see a better cast for his little show, of that I am sure. So, bravo to all concerned but especially to Sheppard. We have seen many great things in recent seasons at the Southwark Playhouse but, for me, none was greater than this.

Did anything materialise from those rumours of a cast recording from this? Would love to be able to re-live those incredible performances.

Looking forward to it!

Cast recording to be released on March 2nd.