An ensemble musical that tried to do for working people in general what
A Chorus Line
did for Broadway dancers, was based on a book by
Studs Terkel
that consisted of people talking about their jobs.
Stephen Schwartz
(
Godspell
) organized the project and was one of the six people, among them
James Taylor
(who contributed
"Millwork"
and "Brother Trucker"), credited with writing the songs. The cast featured
Bob Gunton
,
Patti LuPone
, and
Joe Mantegna
, all early in their careers. Inevitably, words like "promising" and "well-meant" crop up in any discussion of the show, if only because a lot of talented people were involved; it seemed like a good idea, and it didn't work. ~ William Ruhlmann