I was re-listening to the OBC of Ragtime with the libretto recently and I thought it was so beautiful and timely on so many levels. Sadly, I never saw this live because the revival closed just before I got to town. In theory, the show seems like it might bite off more than it can chew in terms of themes but I thought it really did a great job in exploring femenism, how conservative attitudes can change over time and how people can learn, people from different backgrounds interacting, the way systemic racism can drive people to get in unfortunate situations, and kill innocent people, the negative AND positive aspects of capitalism. All of this wrapped up with some brilliant, brilliant heartbreaking and technically brilliant performances from Brian Stokes Mitchell & Marin Mazzie, Audra McDonald et al. it feels like the show is needed more than ever. I decided to go back and look at the NYTimes review and I was shocked at how dismissive it is.
Give me claws and a hunch, just away from this bunch.
Updated On: 7/7/20 at 06:38 AM