DO NOT MISS Ragtime at Drury Lane, OakBrook IL- Page 2

[chinkie azn jai]

Posted: 3/2/10 at 12:55pm

I found a picture of a model of the set on Kevin Depinet's website:

[Unknown User]

Posted: 3/2/10 at 1:45pm

Thanks Jai, that looks great!

I can't find the story now but I read somewhere they are also using the original Santo Loquasto costume designs from the original production.

[DottieD'Luscia]

Posted: 3/2/10 at 1:46pm

Nice picture. The "people" in the photo kind of look like pictures of Ron Bohmer and Christiane Noll from the recent Broadway production.

[Unknown User]

Posted: 3/19/10 at 5:49pm

Ragtime opens next week! Anyone catch a preview? I'll be there next Saturday!

To the west in Oakbrook Terrace, Drury Lane is said to be spending a fortune on a new production of “Ragtime” that will look like nothing you've ever seen in that venerable crystal palace.

The wheels of the dream start turning Wednesday. And there's a wonderfully sentimental story going around about how Quentin Earl Darrington arrived in Oakbrook Terrace earlier this month from New York (where he just played Colehouse in the Broadway revival). He walked into the Drury Lane, suitcases in hand, even as the cast was on stage rehearsing one of the show's vaunting anthems. Down went the luggage, up on stage jumped Darrington, like a road trooper of old. He was singing before his feet hit the deck. Not a dry eye in the building.
Theater Loop

[AwesomeDanny]

Posted: 3/19/10 at 7:04pm

I'm seeing it on Sunday and I'm really excited! I'll be sure to post a review once I get back. I've been counting down the days since I ordered my ticket. So excited!

[DottieD'Luscia]

Posted: 3/19/10 at 9:28pm

Quentin is just one of the reasons I saw the show several times both in DC and on Broadway. I can't wait to hear how he and this production are received.

[TT2]

Posted: 3/20/10 at 1:31am

I think that is a picture of the actual set itself. You can see the speakers that Drury Lane uses in the top of the picture. The set is in a word... Wow. Saw the first preview tonight. They pulled out all the stops on this one. I was supposed to see Thursday night's show... that was canceled since "they weren't ready". Reschedueled for tonight. The Artistic Director did a curtain speech about having automation issues. "They told me it would be push the button and it moves... well... it doesn't always work that way" And it didn't in the first scene (just before the Immigrants came on in the Prologue). 10 minutes later (and some vamping by the AD) it resumed. After that the automation seemed to work. Big sighs of relief from the cast during bows.

Artistically the show is in good shape. It's definately a quality show; definately NOT a copy of the original overblown Livent production.

[Unknown User]

Posted: 3/20/10 at 1:22pm

I don't think that is a photo of the set as on the date Jai posted it, that stage was still in use by Funny Girl.

But I am glad to hear your review- I cannot wait to see it myself!

[AwesomeDanny]

Posted: 3/22/10 at 12:19pm

I saw the show last night and it was amazing. Before the show, a man walked onstage and said that because of technical difficulties, they would have to run through all of the tricks in the show, which would take about ten minutes. Luckily, nothing went wrong during the show. The set was very elaborate for a regional production. There was a trapdoor/elevator that would sometimes rise with people on it. There was a giant swing like in the original production that was used in Crime of the Century and the scene where they find the baby buried in the ground. There was also a boardwalk in Atlantic City and Our Children. A staircase was used in the family's house.

Quentin Earl Darrington gave a great performance as Coalhouse. He had a strong, powerful voice and his acting was very good. The actress playing Sarah (I can't remember her name and I don't have the playbill with me) did a good job, but I felt like there wasn't very much material for her to use. Summer Naomi Smart (from the Chicago production of Wicked) played Evelyn Nesbit. She was also very good, and she got many laughs with her "wheeeeeeee"'s during the show. The actress playing Mother had a nice voice. In "Goodbye, My Love" I was wondering if she would be able to really belt/mix "Back to Before", but she delivered that song almost perfectly. Tateh and Emma Goldman were just as good, as was Younger Brother.

During intermission and after the show, you could hear many people saying that the show wasn't quite what they expected, but everybody seemed to still like it. A lot of people expected it to be a bright, upbeat show about the birth of Ragtime music, and they didn't expect it to be so deep. The show got a standing ovation at curtain call, although I know it doesn't mean much anymore. Everybody seemed to be generally please with the show.

[Unknown User]

Posted: 3/25/10 at 7:09pm

And the reviews are coming in:

"Every aspect of Rockwell’s production is first-class and executed superbly. From Kevin Depinet’s set design to Sage Marie Carter’s rear screen video projections (the best use of video I’ve ever seen on stage) to Jesse Klug’s stunning lighting with Garth Helm and Ray Nardelli’s sound design and Santo Loquastro’s early 20th Century costumes – Ragtime is stunning theatrical triumph."
http://chicagocritic.com/ragtime-the-musical/

[Unknown User]

Posted: 3/25/10 at 7:19pm

"Superlatives race to mind fast and furiously when trying to describe the astonishing beauty, grandeur and dazzle of this monumental revival (“revelation” almost seems more accurate). Suffice it to say that this production, helmed by director-choreographer Rachel Rockwell and musical director Roberta Duchak — is masterful on every level. It also suggests that this Tony Award-winning musical — with its exquisite, score by Stephen Flaherty and Lynn Ahrens (at once semi-operatic and awash in the popular sounds of pre-World War I America), and its wonderfully syncopated, intricately layered book by Terrence McNally (based on E.L. Doctorow’s groundbreaking 1975 novel) — is the single most underrated Broadway show of the past 50 years.

Bravos all around. And a note to Broadway in Chicago: If you’re smart, you will quickly add this show to next season’s lackluster downtown lineup."
Sun-times

[Unknown User]

Posted: 3/26/10 at 10:28am

"If, like me, you've seen this show many times before, you'll be struck by the power of many of Rockwell's new ideas. The transition from the Ford assembly line to the proud Coalhouse Walker, Jr. getting his car is eye-poppingly effective. Rockwell's barrier-strewn version of Ellis Island (hitherto a throwaway moment) becomes an emotional centerpiece, and designer Kevin Depinet's changing Atlantic City backdrop is a stunner.

Most revivals of this show — from the recent Broadway outing that sent two cast members, Quentin Earl Darrington (Coalhouse) and Valisia LeKae (Sarah) to this production, to the successful Porchlight Theatre revival in 2008 — have hung their hat on simpler, more minimalist stagings that Galati's original opus.

Not here. This show has a company of 40 actors — a deep, deep, union bench of such formidable Chicago talent as Michael Aaron Lindner and Catherine Lord — and a setting from Depinet that re-imagines the piece as mostly taking place within a theater. That device gives the show the cohesion it often seems to lack."
'four star' Ragtime

[Unknown User]

Posted: 3/28/10 at 7:30pm

Don't miss it! One of (if not THE) best evenings in the theater ever. Sterling performances across the board and a brilliantly designed and staged show.

The reviewers about are NOT overstating- easily the equal of a Broadway production and at about half the price.

[Unknown User]

Posted: 3/28/10 at 7:45pm

I highly doubt Broadway in Chicago would add this to the season.

[Unknown User]

Posted: 3/28/10 at 7:57pm

Oh no- I was just agreeing that it would certainly not be out of place there. It is as good as anything I've seen.

And it runs until May- last night was packed. Get tickets now!

[StephanietheStar]

Posted: 3/28/10 at 8:03pm

I got my ticket for $8.50...super excited. I love amazing theatre for cheap.

[Idinster87]

Posted: 3/28/10 at 8:43pm

Stephanie-- How'd you score such a cheap ticket? I definitely want to see this.

[Unknown User]

Posted: 3/29/10 at 11:21am

You can get discounted tickets through GoldStar for select performances.
Gold Star

[StephanietheStar]

Posted: 3/29/10 at 3:27pm

That's where I got mine (Goldstar)....Easter was the cheapest but the other prices aren't too bad either!

[lulu10]

Posted: 3/30/10 at 6:12pm

Saw this production over the weekend, and was blown away!! I've had hit or miss experiences with Drury Lane Oak Brook in the past...but I thought that this was incredibly well done, and would highly recommend the show. The set was scaled back from what I imagined it would be, but worked very well in the space. I kind of want to hire the actor who played Coalhouse to sing to me when I am in a bad mood... :)

[onedaymore]

Posted: 4/8/10 at 8:11pm

I just saw this show this afternoon-BRILLIANT!!

The direction, the sights of the stage were so brilliant. The only big technical thing going on was there is a square of the stage that raises and lowers, and it was used quite often. Other than that, it was just a simple show, in which I love. One thing I thought was brilliant was how at the very end of "Till We Reach That Day", Sarah's coffin was lowered on the "square" underneath the stage, like she was being buried.
One thing I didn't like was the lighting. It was very blah, but the biggest disappointment was during "Goodbye, My Love" where there was nothing but a center yellow light on Mother's backside throughout the entire piece. Her face could not be seen.

As far as talent goes, the Mother (forget her name) was PHENOMENAL-a thousand times better than Christianne Noll in the revival! Quentin Earl Darrington was fantastic, of course, and his character along with Tateh made me cry on numerous occasions. Speaking of Tateh, he was also brilliant. Younger Brother was also amazing-his confrontation/monologue thing to Father in Act II was really the time when his character came out of its shell.
The woman who played Sarah (don't remember her name either) was passable. She had some funny diction issues going on. Her acting was decent, her voice was decent, but nothing standing out from the rest. (Unfortunately because Audra had this role has since been undermined)
Summer Naomi Smart, Evelyn Nesbit, was god-awful in this role. First of all, she was flat the entire time. And for one thing, she was soooo DULL. And her face doesn't move! I was disappointed. I want to like Nesbit but not when she played it.

But I HIGHLY recommend this!! Go see it before May 10th (which I believe is it's last performance!!)