Creede Wraps a Brilliant 61st Season
Photo by Brooke Ashlee Photography
by Judith Reynolds, special to the Durango Herald
Review: Creede wraps a brilliant 61st season – Performances of ‘Moriarty’ to run through next weekend
Remember your first job? Exhilaration, fear, a sense of independence?
In “Working: A Musical,” playing at Creede Repertory Theatre on Saturday, Freddy Gomez (the ebullient young actor Julian Ibarra) leaps into his first job as a delivery boy with all of the above. Freddy is the youngest character in the musical adaptation of Studs Terkel’s moving nonfiction book about American working men and women.
Published in 1974, the Chicago broadcaster’s compilations of his radio interviews with ordinary people quickly became a bestseller. In 1977, “Working” morphed into a musical adapted by Nina Faso and Stephen Schwartz and opened at Chicago’s Goodman Theatre. In 1978, a revised version opened on Broadway with Patti LuPone and Joe Mantegna. In 1982, PBS ran a 90-minute version on American Playhouse.
Since then, “Working: A Musical” has undergone a number of revisions, playing across America, touring Europe and Asia. New songs have been inserted by composers like James Taylor and Lin-Manuel Miranda. Over time, more characters from Terkel’s original book have been added, and theater companies have inquired about local references and characters. As a result, a “localizing contract” emerged. CRT opted for that, weaving in details that enhance the production. CRT’s six-actor cast brings 22 roles to life.
The spirit of young Freddy Gomez in Miranda’s high-energy song “Delivery” blooms in Ibarra’s performance. The actor also portrays a wistful elder-care worker singing, “I do work no one else will do.” He’s paired with the oldest character – retiree Joe Zutty (achingly portrayed by Richaun Stewart, who earlier delivers a smart, confident hedge-fund manager).
McKinley Carter seamlessly links past and present teachers by adding the conundrum of social media; Sidney Wilson’s turn as Delores Dante, a joyous waitress, illuminates what joie de vivre means; Maya Tanaka Allwardt quietly reveals a housewife’s unappreciated labor; and Clark Destin Jones vigorously defends long-haul truckers and stalwart firefighters.
Director Jenni Harbour and the CRT company fluidly move in and out of stories with inventive choreography by Brenda Perez de Tejada. Music Director Alec Steinhorn stealthily underpins storytelling and movement from an onstage electric piano. Sound, lighting and costume design support the contrast between expectations and reality in the world of work. The overall impression is brilliant, liquid storytelling, splendidly realized.
So is “Moriarty,” Ken Ludwig’s hilarious sendup of the Sherlock Holmes canon. Director Stephen Cole Hughes and his zany cast stand up to evil and question every tidbit along the way.
Five quicksilver actors sprint through a search for Holmes’ archrival Professor Moriarty. The versatile Graham Ward grounds the quirky Holmes. Zachary Chiero, known to Durango audiences for his many roles at Merely Players, imbues Watson with a knowing, smart-sauciness. Logan Ernstthal juggles multiple roles – butler, police officer, inspector, professor – with comic specificity. Noelia Antweiler confidently dissembles a smarty-pants Irene Adler and the inimitable Anne Faith Butler disappears into many parts, including a basset hound. Relish them all.
Actors, director and the whole creative team must have had a lot of fun shaping this farce. It shows, and last week’s Creede audience relished every bit, wink and whistle.
“Moriarty” has three more performances, Saturday, Sept. 12 and 13. If you can make that beautiful drive to Creede, go.
Judith Reynolds is an arts journalist and member of the American Theatre Critics Association.