Anyone going to the first RAGTIME preview tonight (10/23)?- Page 3

[orangeskittles]

Posted: 10/24/09 at 1:20am

What!? The only thing cut in DC was the Harry Houdini dream opening to act 2. Everything else was intact! It ran under 3 hours with intermission in DC and there as no issue. Why would they take it out now?!

Updated On: 10/24/09 at 01:20 AM

[perfectlymarvelous]

Posted: 10/24/09 at 1:28am

They also deleted a verse from He Wanted to Say which bugged me...sort of an odd and unnecessary cut. They've also cut some small pieces of dialogue but nothing really major. The odd cuts from songs were the only things I had an issue with.

[everythingtaboo]

Posted: 10/24/09 at 1:38am

Seeing the show tomorrow, can't wait! All the reviews sound impressive, and I've already told my stepmom to bring tissues for she and I, because I know the waterworks will be starting from the downbeat for me.

Actually I don't think I'll might some missing verses. My one issue with the score was that the some of the songs felt a little too-fleshed by the time it got to Broadway, especially when compared to the concept album. (And I know it's sacrilege, but I wouldn't mind if Crime of the Century and Atlantic City, though great songs, had gotten cut from the final version.)

Updated On: 10/24/09 at 01:38 AM

[HeyJayNYC]

Posted: 10/24/09 at 8:34am

I have never seen the show so had nothing to compare it to. I have been to many shows here on Broadway and many first preview nights. I have never seen an audience react with such enthusiasm and love and appreciation! It was well deserved. This show is amazing! The cast is amazing. The few little technical snafus will be ironed out. The audience, myself incluced, was enraptured the entire time.
If you sit in the front row be prepared to be spit on though! Forceful singing emits forceful spit! That's not a bad thing though!
My only grip is that Emma Goldman's song "What He Said" didn't have a true ending so we couldn't give Donna Migliaccio the applause she so richly deserved. The audience cheered after EVERY NUMBER! The curtain call got a well deserved standing ovation even before the curtain went up for the bows.
AH MAY ZING!!!

[Oldschool]

Posted: 10/24/09 at 9:06am

Brian is right about tuning the system. Given a variety of responses about the sound in the posts, I suspect they probably are in need of adjusting the zones of the system.

As for the directing, I suppose its a matter of taste. I know one Broadway technical veteran who saw the show in DC felt it wasn't so much directed as staged. That being said, and with the caveat that I saw the show in DC and not yet in NY, I don't agree with the statement that everything was staged in one spot -- Journey On, Henry Ford, He wanted to say, Back to Before, Buffalo Nickle, are all staged differently and in different places on the stage -- not all use the entire stage, some use the set and show deck such as Henry Ford and He Wanted to Say while others were staged more centrally.

I'm really curious as to what was cut from the show and how it plays. I suspect they were trying to get it in under the 3 hour running time.

[Drunk Chita Rivera]

Posted: 10/24/09 at 9:33am

For those of you who saw both this show and the La Cage Aux Folles in London, which do you prefer?

[lynnetoomey]

Posted: 10/24/09 at 9:45am

Saw the show in DC, and was there last evening for the first preview. Simply said, this is a glorious revival. The intimacy of the Neil Simon pulls you into the action in a very powerful way. Stephanie Umoh is a huge improvement over the vocally weak actress who played Sarah in DC. There appears to have been quite a few casting changes in the ensemble, and that choice has also paid off big time. The audience last evening was unlike anything I have experienced. Granted, the first preview certainly brought out legions of Ragtime devotees (including me!), but the ovations throughout the evening were unbelievable.

[Drunk Chita Rivera]

Posted: 10/24/09 at 9:58am

Just and FYI, before the curtain went down there was a standing Ovation. Don't know if that will be every night but they will definitely get great responses.

[adamgreer]

Posted: 10/24/09 at 10:09am

Just and FYI, before the curtain went down there was a standing Ovation. Don't know if that will be every night but they will definitely get great responses.

There was no standing ovation in the orchestra. There was loud, long, extended applause when the curtain went up, for a good 15 seconds, but no one stood up. Did people in the mezz stand?

[dramamama611]

Posted: 10/24/09 at 10:14am

Thanks to all that put their thoughts here. I am even MORE excited to see this...I never had a chance to see the original run.

Now if I can just figure out WHEN!!!

[luvtheEmcee]

Posted: 10/24/09 at 10:16am

Wtf, the cuts don't make any sense. Put them back!

I want to hear more about Petkoff as Tateh!

[Drunk Chita Rivera]

Posted: 10/24/09 at 10:23am

"There was no standing ovation in the orchestra. There was loud, long, extended applause when the curtain went up, for a good 15 seconds, but no one stood up. Did people in the mezz stand?"

Yes there was an instant Standing Ovation in the Mezz.

[Dagobert]

Posted: 10/24/09 at 11:37am

The cuts were all made for time at the demand of the new producers.
As for the few (one person) slamming the director yet praising the performances...um, you do realize that those performances are a tribute to the Director--the performers I have spoken to all praise her directing--those perfomances are the way they are BECAUSE the director cast those actors, directed those actors towards those performances or chose to allow those actors to perform that way without directing them to be different- either way, it is all direction.
Not sure how a long list of regional credits proves anything one way or the other about whether she is the right person to direct this show. The list shows she has been working a lot for a long time in places other than Broadway: that is all it "proves." Sorry you did not care for her work here- apparently you are in the minority or at least, many others don't share your "taste." She was hand picked by Ahrens and Flaherty -- and Doctorow and McNally supposedly loved the DC version...but what do they know compared to LaCageauxFollesFan?

[wendilin622]

Posted: 10/24/09 at 11:52am

I'm debating giving RAGTIME a second try. I may be in the minority here, but I saw the original production and the touring production and want to love it so much, but failed both times. I am a huge history buff and always have been, but could not get into this show. And I wanted to, soooo badly. I found myself to be bored and I had a hard time getting connected to the story.

Ever since I heard its coming back I have been debating about going back to see it again. (I'm a high school history teacher and was hoping someone in our department would want to take a field trip that I could offer to chaperone...no such luck yet). After reading everyone's reviews I'm more inclined to try it again, yet I'm still hesitant.
Regardless, thanks for all your reviews everyone!

[colleen_lee]

Posted: 10/24/09 at 11:53am

adamgreer -

I don't think you and Chita are talking about the same moments.

Chita was referring to the standing ovation that occurred when the curtain fell after the Act II finale but before the curtain call began.

I was in Row J of the orchestra and I instantly was on my feet when the curtain went down as were the people directly behind me, next to me and in front of me. I am not terribly liberal with curtain calls, and I will stubbornly be the one person sitting in the house when I feel a show did not move me to stand. This show was one of the rare times I was truly moved to jump to my feet when the curtain fell.

I think you may be referring to the extended applause that occurred when the curtain went up at the top of the show.

[billyelliotfan123]

Posted: 10/24/09 at 12:05pm

is there merch yet??

[perfectlymarvelous]

Posted: 10/24/09 at 12:32pm

There's some...they are selling a window card, two shirts with the logo (one is yellow and one is white), a mug, a hoodie, the vocal selections, and the original book (I believe). I'm sure there will be more but they have a decent selection right now.

[Drunk Chita Rivera]

Posted: 10/24/09 at 12:34pm

I was referring to the Act II finale. There was some scattered Standing Ovations during the show in the Mezz though.

[perfectlymarvelous]

Posted: 10/24/09 at 12:36pm

A few people (including my dad hahaha) stood up in the mezz after Till We Reach That Day. There was an instant standing ovation after the curtain came down at the end of the show.

[luvtheEmcee]

Posted: 10/24/09 at 12:56pm

may be in the minority here, but I saw the original production and the touring production and want to love it so much, but failed both times. I am a huge history buff and always have been, but could not get into this show. And I wanted to, soooo badly. I found myself to be bored and I had a hard time getting connected to the story.

For what it's worth, I saw the original production, and had had the album for years, but could never get into the show. Granted, it's possible that when I saw the production I was simply too young to have appreciated it, but even listening to the CD years later, I could never really get into it. I, too, am a huge history buff, and always thought it was a show that, if I could see again, I would really, really love. This production made me a fan. It is glorious, in absolutely every way.

[ljay889]

Posted: 10/24/09 at 1:00pm

"For those of you who saw both this show and the La Cage Aux Folles in London, which do you prefer?"

That is such a random comparison, lol. NIGHT MUSIC will be compared to LA CAGE more, as they both are small productions being transferred from the same place.
Updated On: 10/24/09 at 01:00 PM

[luvtheEmcee]

Posted: 10/24/09 at 1:10pm

It's not all that random, considering that they'll all be put up against each other for the Tony.

[ljay889]

Posted: 10/24/09 at 1:12pm

Of course.
But at this point we have no idea that those two will be the frontrunners. Why not ask how Ragtime compares to Finian's, Night Music, AND La Cage? It just seemed random to only ask about La Cage.

[luvtheEmcee]

Posted: 10/24/09 at 1:13pm

Oh, no, I wasn't suggesting that they were. It's apples and oranges for sure, but that's the way it goes. I dunno, maybe Chita was just asking so s/he can decide what to see and has narrowed it that far?

[ljay889]

Posted: 10/24/09 at 1:17pm

I know you weren't, lol. I just did not understand the motivation behind his question.