Work. Some love it, most need it, many wish they had a different type of it, and right now too many people are losing it involuntarily.

In 1974, American writer Studs Terkel published interviews with hundreds of “ordinary people” about their jobs and how they feel about them in his book Working. A 1978 musical based on that book had a brief Broadway run and garnered six Tony nominations.

The Old Globe Theatre presents a “re-imagined” version of the show, updating some of the occupations and including two new songs by wunderkind Lin-Manuel Miranda, composer of the music for the Broadway hit In the Heights. The Globe’s Working plays through April 12, directed by Gordon Greenberg.

Six actors portray 26 workers on the nine-cubicle grid of a set. Greenberg also gives walk-ons to the Globe’s stage crew, who can be seen doing their jobs as stage manager, dresser or production aide. In the update, obsolete jobs like switchboard operator and newsboy have been replaced by more current occupations such as hedge-fund manager (Adam Monley) and a hoot of a Verizon tech-support worker (Nehal Joshi), terrific Indian accent and all. Four musicians are placed on the third level of the grid.

Working is a quiet little show, with people like Kate (Danielle Lee Greaves) folding laundry and singing about the joys and sorrows of being “Just a Housewife,” and caregivers Utkarsh (Joshi) and Theresa (Marie-France Arcilla), doing “what no one wants to do.” Teacher Rose (Donna Lynne Champlin) bemoans the changes in her 30-plus years of teaching: “They tell me to stay up with the times, but nobody tells me how.”

Terkel (who died last year) was an American treasure who chronicled the American character and experience better than almost anyone. But he was not a playwright, and though one or another of these workers may speak to an individual playgoer, the aggregate does not add up to a play. Working is more revue than theater; there is no plot, and theatergoers looking for that are likely to leave the show with a shrug.

Working is unusual also in that the songs were written by committee: six composers — singer/songwriters Micki Grant and James Taylor in addition to four who regularly write for musical comedy. It makes for a bit of a disjointed whole.

Still, this is a talented cast, and the songs that work really do. One of my favorites is Schwartz’s jaunty “It’s An Art,” which brings us waitress Delores (Champlin) and her zenlike take on her job: “It’s an art to be a fine waitress.”

Many of us will identify with Joe, the retired guy (Wayne Duvall) who notes, “I think of something and I forget it immediately.” Miranda’s charming “Delivery” number gives Joshi a chance to escape the four walls of the fast-food joint and spread his wings. And Miranda’s touching “A Very Good Day” gives Joshi and Marie-France Arcilla an opportunity to shine as immigrant caregivers.

If you’re looking for the next Broadway blockbuster, Working is probably not it. But as a comment on the American worker, or at least some American workers, this will do just fine.

Working runs through April 12, 2009 at the Old Globe Theatre. Shows Sunday, Tuesday and Wednesday at 7 p.m.; Thursday through Saturday at 8 p.m.; matinées Saturday and Sunday at 2 p.m. For tickets, call 619-23-GLOBE or visit www.theoldglobe.org.