Show Synopsis:
People from various professions describe what their work is and who they are in their jobs through songs and stories.	

Character:
Kate Rushton (Housewife), a middle-aged mother and wife who is tired of the anti-housewife sentiment of the women's liberation movement; she does not want to offend anyone or speak out of turn, but she also feels like the phrase "just a housewife" insults her and what she does.

Song Context:
When asked what her job is, Kate does not quite know how to respond, since people think that being a housewife is equivalent to not working or having any kind of job, but she knows that she works day in and day out. She also identifies with her mother in this way, since it is just what her mother did.	

Fun Facts:
1) This musical is based on Studs Terkel's sociology book Working, comprised of accounts and interviews he collected in the early 1970s. 
2) Stephen Schwartz gave the following pointers to the actors working to develop their various characters: " In the preface to the book, Studs tells about the telling gesture that illuminates character. See if you can find one or two for each of your people, a gesture or physical habit that grows out of their work or environment. Think about how they stand, how they sit, how they move, where their center of balance seems to be. Do they speak rapidly or haltingly? Are they shy or aggressive in speaking? How has their work affected them physically? I expect you to begin rehearsal with very definite choices made." 
3) Susan Bigelow made her Broadway debut playing Kate Rushton in the short-lived Broadway production of Working.