Actors Fund RAGTIME Concert Officially Happening March 27th! (& in Movie Theaters March 2024!) — Page 5

Hate to say I am one of those people who ‘heard’ the concert but it sounded absolutely magical. We will be so lucky if it is streamed. Kelli’s voice sounds a lot stronger than I thought it would. She doesn’t quite have the bite and belt that Marin has, but it is more than made up with her glowing beautiful timbre that is subtlety different from Marin’s.

The Quality of the video looks very good.

Ragtime Reunion Concert for the Entertainment Community Fund excerpts.

March 27, 2023 - Our most heartfelt thanks to everyone involved in bringing the one-night-only benefit performance of RAGTIME In Concert to life at the Minskoff Theatre! Original Broadway company members Audra McDonald, Brian Stokes Mitchell and Peter Friedman, with Kelli O’Hara in the role originally performed by the late Marin Mazzie, led the company through an emotional evening of song and storytelling that, 25 years after it first debuted on Broadway, is sadly still deeply relevant today.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W8fR_CKzVpg

Updated On: 3/30/23 at 02:49 PM

I just don’t think Kelli has the belt Marin has. She has a lovely voice, in many ways more pure and magical sounding than Marin. But ultimately even she does not have Marin’s exceptionally unusual voice.

Well...okay then.

I mean, I figured she'd sing it with great care and all, but...yeah, I guess I wanted to hear that strength at the end that Marin brought to it.

Makes me less sad to have missed the concert, in a way. So...when are they releasing the whole video?

Kelli sang Back to Before her way - though all of us there Monday of course wanted Marin's version (which I saw twice in person and have watched 100x on video)... But when Kelli hit those last few lines, as differently sung and phrased as they were, i thought it worked... it really did - and it was thrilling in the Minskoff - and I consciously thought '"wow, she did it..." as I and the others leapt to our feet.

I love Kelli O'Hara, but I wondered why they chose to put a new person in the role, instead of trying to bring in one or both original understudies to play the role.

Oh, I have no issue with Kelli doing it as well. I just thought that to continue the 25 anniversary thread, someone connected to the original company might be asked. No one will ever replace Marin in the role, but Kelli sounded like a beautiful addition

This article mentions the filming of the event, and its future release:

https://observer.com/2023/04/broadway-team-lynn-ahrens-and-stephen-flaherty-on-40-years-and-counting-of-musicals/

"Their 40th anniversary as a songwriting team coincides with the 25th anniversary of their biggest hit, Ragtime. That was just celebrated March 27 as a benefit for the Entertainment Community Fund (nee The Actors Fund). 'They filmed it,' Ahrens is proud, and relieved, to report. 'So you’ll get to see it, thank goodness. I just want the world to see it. It was magnificent. Magical. I’ve never experienced anything like it. It was like lightning in a bottle—you know, an explosion of joy.'"

ErmengardeStopSniveling said: "Listener said: "I really wanted to hear Back To Before (can't seem to find it online anywhere though) to find out if Kelli belted the ending like Marin did so brilliantly.

From that brief clip, it seems like she mixed, which is....fine, I suppose, but more gentle than the moment seems to call for.

For those who were there, how was it in person?"


She did not belt or mix the ending at all. She used her soprano voice. In that sense, knowing Marin's voice, Kelli's didn't have quite as much weight and probably should have been transposed up even higher for her soprano to really ring & shine. But it was still beautifully performed.

The beginning, non-belted, part was as beautiful as any rendition of the song I've ever heard."

No, she mixes the end- the top note is a D. Click on this to see an example of a D in her soprano voice when singing the word ''me'': https://youtu.be/apnHOwWuTkQ?t=271

Updated On: 4/12/23 at 12:22 PM

Full audio from the symphonic concert starring Elizabeth Stanley and Nikki Renée Daniels that played in Boston last weekend is available to stream here:

https://www.classicalwcrb.org/show/upcoming-in-concert-broadcasts/2023-05-15/ragtime-at-the-pops

Jordan Catalano said: "Regal Cinemas Has The Concert Listed As Screening March 13th and 17th this year!"

Fantastic....... thanks so much for the heads-up jordan!

Soaring29 said: "binau said: "I just don’t think Kelli has the belt Marin has. She has a lovely voice, in many ways more pure and magical sounding than Marin. But ultimately even she does not have Marin’s exceptionally unusual voice."

I think Marin has an amazing voice but I wouldn't call it exceptionally unusual in terms of it's sound- I would say that for someone like Merman, Janis Joplin, etc. Not necessarily better singers than most, just a unique sound.

"

I don't personally know anyone else who has Marin's classical technique AND ability to belt to the rafters, it's usually one (Kelli) or the other (Merman) but not both. And her wild vibrato when belting is also not something that I could easily place in someone else's voice.

Theatrical release cancelled - team "hope(s) to share this one-night-only event with wider audiences in the future"