KINGSTON, R.I. – Nov. 20, 2024 – A little Lin-Manuel Miranda is coming to Kingston this weekend.

No, it’s not Hamilton but a production by the University of Rhode Island’s Lyric Stage Workshop will make its way to the Fine Arts Center, as the University’s music department stages its first full-length musical this weekend. 

URI’s Lyric Stage Workshop is presenting Working: A Musical on Nov. 22 and 24 in the Concert Hall of URI’s Fine Arts Center. The production runs for two shows: Friday, Nov. 22, at 7 p.m. and Sunday, Nov. 24, at 3 p.m. 

Adjunct faculty member Rachel Hanauer, who began teaching at URI last year, is coordinating the production. Hanauer teaches voice and music at URI and the Community College of Rhode Island and is artistic director for Rhode Island’s Through the Glass Theatre Ensemble.

Hanauer brings a wide list of performing credits to URI, having performed across Europe and New England. She is soprano section leader at Central Congregational Church of Providence and a member of Collegium Ancora, the chamber choir in residence at Grace Church. Hanauer is an active music educator of voice, music theory and music history in New England. She is also the treasurer of the Rhode Island chapter of the National Association of Teachers of Singing. As a director and producer, she  has directed a number of local productions at the Arctic Playhouse, Contemporary Theater Company and Newport Children’s Theatre. 

The musical edition of Working is based on the book by composer Stephen Schwartz (Wicked, Godspell) and Nina Faso, with music and lyrics by Schwartz, Miranda, Craig Carnelia, Micki Grant, Mary Rodgers, James Taylor, and Susan Birkenhead. Working’s 2012 revised edition is based on the book by Studs Terkel and presented through special arrangement with Music Theatre International.

A strong ensemble cast from URI’s Lyric Stage Workshop teams up with a rock rhythm section to tell the stories of real Americans taken from the famous interviews that Terkel conducted in the 1970s. In fact, President Barack Obama’s campaign slogan “Yes, we can!” came directly from this Terkel compilation.

In 1974, Schwartz read the interview with a phone operator named Heather in Terkel’s Working: People Talk About What They Do All Day and How They Feel About What They Do. Quotes such as “It’s something to run into somebody who says, ‘It’s a nice day out, Operator. How’s your day, busy? Has it been a rough day?’” struck him. He called various composers to contribute, hoping to capture the essence of these real American people, and started working on the new musical. With changing job roles for operators and other workers, the production was updated in 2012.

This production is the first large collaboration between the music department’s amplified voice program and classical voice concentrations. 

Stage directing in the show is by Hanauer, who teaches URI’s Opera Workshop class, with additional choreography by Ayla Lapointe of CCRI and Victoria Cannon of Providence College. The production is music directed by Nathaniel Baker and Jayden Weichtman, with rhythm provided by URI students Carleton Fisher (bass), Colin Klampert (guitar) and Tristan Klampert (percussion). 

Working: A Musical runs Friday, Nov. 22 at 7 p.m. and Sunday, Nov. 24 at 3 p.m. at the Concert Hall in the Fine Arts Center, 105 Upper College Road, Kingston Campus. Tickets are $15 for the general public and $10 for senior citizens and URI students, faculty and staff. Tickets can be purchased in advance or at the door.