Louis "Studs" Terkel brings his kindred spirit and the Chicagoans he loved so dearly, to Santa Fe in the form of a stage adaptation.

Based on Working, his best seller in which his classic trademark, a great ear for listening, had a magnet for those ordinary working folks.

This musical adaptation sheds more light on his love for them. He started in life with a law degree, but chose another route, he later got involved in radio shows and revealed a creative personality for it.

In pursuing more and more radio shows and acting in plays, he had gotten his nickname, "Studs," from a character he had been reading in a play, Studs Lonigan from author James T. Farrell.

From then on, the name stuck.

It seems more than ironic for the name of a fictional character to be embedded on a man who dedicated his life to the non-fiction. The reality of the people.

He is most known for his oral account of certain decades and events during his time. Revisited from the 1974 Broadway musical, Working looks to give the younger generation at one of the most influential men in non-fiction and patriot for the working-class.

Working: Opens Oct. 4 and runs through Oct. 13, $24. Warehouse 21, 1614 Paseo de Peralta, 629-6517.