Theater News

Ricki Lake to be Featured in Reprise! Staged Reading of Working

Ricki Lake
Ricki Lake

Ricki Lake will be featured in Reprise! Broadway’s Best’s first event in its Marvelous Musical Monday series for the 2005/06 season: a staged reading of Working, based on the book by Studs Terkel, adapted by Stephen Schwartz and Nina Faso and featuring songs by Craig Carnelia, Micki Grant, Mary Rodgers and Susan Birkenhead, Stephen Schwartz, and James Taylor.

David Lee and Kevin Chamberlin will co-direct the reading, and Michael Orland will serve as musical director. The cast also includes Camryn Manheim, Kathy Najimy, Orson Bean, Wilson Cruz, Dan Finnerty, Chris Fitzgerald, Armelia McQueen, and Steven Weber.


Ricki Lake played Tracy Turnblad in the John Waters cult film Hairspray, upon which the hit Broadway musical is based. Lake has also appeared in Serial Mom, Mrs. Winterbourne, and Cecil B. Demented. Her TV talk show debuted in 1993 and ran for 11 seasons. Most recently, Lake has had a recurring role on the long-running CBS sitcom The King of Queens.


Based on Studs Terkel’s interviews with American workers, Working opened on Broadway in 1978. In the show, 23 workers — including a parking lot attendant, a corporate executive, a newsboy, a schoolteacher, a gas man, a housewife, a fireman, and a waitress — sing and talk about their jobs, their hopes, and their aspirations.


Working will be performed on Monday, September 26 at 8pm at UCLA’s Freud Playhouse. For tickets, call the UCLA Central Ticket Office at 310-825-2101.

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Working

Closed: September 26, 2005