Bob Moore, left front, plays a senator bent on destroying labor unions.
Note to millennials who crave the so-called “gig economy,” the hipsters’ utopian future: Been there, done that, saw the show.
And now the show is back. Temps! The Musical!, one of Madison’s most successful original productions, returns June 8 for a new generation, and it’s perhaps more meaningful than ever.
“It’s surprisingly relevant,” says the librettist Catherine Capellaro, now arts and culture editor at Isthmus. “Little has changed for, really, the majority of workers.”
The musical was a sensation when Mercury Players Theatre premiered it in 1997 at a storefront venue in Schenk’s Corners, on the near east side. Its sell-out success at a subsequent Bartell Theatre run led to a reading in Manhattan and a tour to San Francisco and Berkeley, where it was reviewed as “a must-see” and “a butt-kickingly bitter musical satire” that was “grimly sparkling and professionally staged.”
Capellaro created the musical with her husband, composer Andrew Rohn. The two met while performing at Broom Street Theater. During the musical’s initial run at the Bartell, Capellaro played the role of a dominatrix — while in real life pregnant with twins.
The musical tells the story of five temporary workers who discover a plot to outlaw unions and replace the nation’s workforce with even more temps. It draws upon the experience of Capellaro, who grew up in New Glarus, and of Rohn, a Vermont native, when they lived in New York City.
“I think one of the most dehumanizing things about being a temp was just how people didn’t know who you were and they didn’t care,” says Capellaro. “They didn’t bother to learn your name. I could work for weeks or months at a job and feel almost completely anonymous.”
The show premiered as Temp Slave! The Musical! but the new production drops the reference to “slave” in its name. “We have the most multiracial group of actors we’ve ever had in Madison, and some of them wondered about the title, because the word ‘slave’ is charged for obvious reasons,” says Capellaro. “We thought about it, and learned that changing it was not just possible, but preferable.”
Two songs have been added since the premiere. ‘Not Just a Cracker’ references a late 1990s fat-substitute used in snack foods that had the unfortunate side-effect of causing diarrhea: “A young artist has to dress up like a chicken and hand out crackers made with olestra to passers-by,” says Capellaro.
“How Hard Can It Be?” is about a young journalist building her confidence before she tackles a temp assignment at a high-end investment firm.
One returning cast member is co-producer Marcy Weiland, who also produced the original show. Bonnie Balke is directing the Mercury Players Theatre’s production, which runs through June 23, and Rohn is the musical director.
Capellaro will not be on stage for the production, but is helping out behind the scenes. The show is turning into a reunion for her real and fictional families.
“My first college kid just came home from his first year of college,” she says. “Both of my twin sons, who are 18 now, are going to help build the set and paint the set. So the show is still a part of our family. But it feels like my role has changed from being a central character to being somebody watching this thing grow up and have a life of its own.
“It’s very satisfying.”
[Arts editor Catherine Capellaro was not involved in the writing or editing of this article.]
