Anyone going to the first RAGTIME preview tonight (10/23)? — Page 7

Hmm. Act II. Coalhouse. Coalhouse doesn't spend all of Act II sulking because he's too busy blowing things up. We're introduced to his demands early in the Act, Younger Brother joins in, Booker T convinces him to choose another path. He changes from pure rage at the beginning of the act to a new and different resolve in "Make Them Hear You."

Tateh changes more subtly, particularly in his confession, juxtaposed against his self aggrandizement in Buffalo Nickel. "Our Children"is a wonderful tying together his and Mother's story.

Mother doesn't realize she's changed until her fight, an it is in its aftermath, like the time after a break up argument, that she realizes herself and where she has come to.

perfectlymarvelous, your explanation is perfectly fine. There is no story unless Sarah dies. All stories have plot devices and MacGuffins to propel them along. Her death is one of them. Particularly given that the US had two assassinations within 20 years -- 1881 and 1901, James Garfield and McKinley respectively -- the idea that they'd be cautious at a rally isn't out of the realm of possibility. Interestingly, it was a speech by Emma Goldman that set his assassin off. She would later compare the assassin to Marcus Brutus, and calling McKinley the ""president of the money kings and trust magnates."

I didn't find her lisp a distraction, and she's one of the few actors in the cast that can hit the back of the house without a mic. I find it interesting that someone would call it "community theatre-ish" given that no one has ever accused William Hurt of being community theatre-ish in his own vocal affecations, or for example Kenneth Brannagh, who has his own affectation of going into an almost falsetto for affect....

The DC audiences might have laughed in peculiar places, but they were some of the most enthusiastic audiences I have experienced in the nine years of attending theater in DC.

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sorry if it was already asked but what was the curtain like before the show

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Fosse76- I don't think you are the only one...definitely in the minority though...I do think you are the only one who has had anything bad to say about Steggert. I thought along with many others his was an amazingly intense performance.
You can't please everyone, but I do think this is an outstanding presentation of this show that many will enjoy.

Go ahead. Tell us about the car.

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Is that the point about the car? I thought it just looked cheap and silly. Something a little more substantial was definitely in order.

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Did they even make red Model Ts?

It wasn't the color that bothered me. It is just that the current representation of the car onstage looks silly and cheap, especially in comparison with the surprisingly elegant and effective see-through representation of the piano that they use.

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Having never been to the Neil Simon previously, where does the first row start at center orchestra? Would Row C provide a decent view of this mounting?

Re: The Car

The first thing I thought of when I saw Coalhouse get in the car was Fred Flintstone. I had to stifle a giggle, but after that initial scene I got past my problems with the car.

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Updated On: 10/27/09 at 05:49 PM

Fosse76-- I only saw the DC production, but I felt like Steggert was the standout of the show, despite his relatively small role.

But I agree, I didn't like the car. I did love the piano, though.

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About 2 hours 45 minutes.

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