“I hear America singing.” This phrase contains the essence of Frederick High School’s newest musical, Working. A show about the workers of America, and what their jobs are and what those jobs are like. It uses real experiences, though the names are changed for privacy reasons. This show has tons of catchy tunes and it’s interesting to watch what real people think of their jobs. 

This is a great show for high school students. High school (and sometimes a couple of years after that) is normally when most people decide what they want to do with the rest of their lives. However, not very many people have insight into what they want to do right out of high school. Working highlights many different job opportunities that graduating students could go into. Watching this musical can inspire those who don’t know what they want to do with their lives to finally find a spark and explore a career that could make them happy. 

For the adults looking for a quick laugh about a relatable lifestyle, I would recommend this show as well. This is a show about, well, working. While it talks about the jobs themselves, it’s more about how the workers themselves feel while working, and how having that job has affected them. So, say you’re a project manager with a stuck-up boss, you might find some comedic relief with the character that portrays that. Are you a trucker? You might enjoy the musical’s song that goes along with that segment of the play. Did you just retire, and are starting to feel a bit down about not being able to work? There’s a segment about a retired character, where he talks about his retirement, and what he’s done during that time. He sings a motivational song about how he’s kept himself from feeling down about his working status, and it was inspiring to hear what happens on the day of someone who may be retired.

The only audience that I wouldn’t recommend this to would be anyone below high school age. Yes, this is a good show for young people to gain inspiration to learn more about what they might want to do as a career, however, there are times where language more appropriate for a mature audience is used. It’s not full-on Deadpool, where there are swear words in every other sentence, but there are a couple sprinkled in there. Because of this, I would not recommend this show for children or preteens. 

So, now that we’ve got the appropriate audience, here’s what to expect at the in-person showing of Working. 

There are going to be assigned seats in the auditorium when you buy your tickets and for health safety reasons in regards to COVID, you aren’t going to be allowed to leave your seat in between intermissions. That being said, the show is going to be having two 30 minute intermissions every 30 minutes to allow the actors to have a mask break. During these intermissions, no one is allowed to be in the auditorium, therefore these are the times when you can go to the bathroom, stretch your legs, and grab a quick snack before the next act.

Speaking of snacks, you will not be allowed to take off your mask in the auditorium. Regardless of vaccination status, everyone in the auditorium is required to wear a mask during the show to keep it as safe as possible. So, if you’re going to bring snacks or drinks, you need to leave them in your bags because a violation of the rules put into place at the show can get you kicked out. You can only eat and drink outside the auditorium. 

The show starts with a projection/video showing the actors singing “I hear America singing” and we get to see the actors in their roles. The video looks similar to a Webex or Zoom call as well, which I feel makes it a bit more comforting to see that after being on Webex for about 70% of the school year. The video is only a couple of minutes long, and then the show starts. 

The show, despite all the restrictions, is extremely enjoyable to watch. My main critique is how still the characters were on stage when there were multiple people on the stage. It felt more like a choir concert with the amount of movement there was on the stage, however, it is understandable why this is with the COVID-19 regulations. This isn’t to say that there was no movement, because the actors danced in their places, however, it didn’t feel like a normal musical because the actors were standing in the same place when they were on stage.

Other than that, the rest of the musical was great. The pit sounded amazing and complimented the singing of the actors beautifully. Even though the portion of the musical that I got to watch was a rehearsal, these actors have spent a lot of time working on this project and the product that’s come out of it is amazing. 

Like I said, I definitely recommend this musical for teens and adults to watch. It’s a fun show to watch, and it needs the recognition that it deserves.