Happy 10th anniversary, Ragtime- Page 2
Happy 10th anniversary, Ragtime
re: Happy 10th anniversary, Ragtime#25
Posted: 1/19/08 at 11:56amThe 3 groups interact with each other too much.
re: Happy 10th anniversary, Ragtime#26
Posted: 1/19/08 at 12:24pm
I saw this show just a few weeks after it opened in New York when I was 11. I distinctly remember even having to use a seat booster to see over the heads in front of me. I was too young to truly appreciate the show back then.
I saw it again about a year and a half later a few months before it close, and I knew the music much better, but remember that much of the spark and excitement had gone from the show, and also the audience. It still was quite good.
I always loved the show, and appreciated it immensely (even for all of its sometimes "overblown" big finishes to every song). But, about a month ago, I just decided to listen to the entire 2 Disc recording straight through, which I hadn't done in a while, and I was absolutely struck with the brilliance of the collaboration between the composers, writers, and actors. Especially now being a music student, it hit me with an even greater impact.
re: Happy 10th anniversary, Ragtime#27
Posted: 1/19/08 at 12:27pmI wish i hadnt seen the Chicago production at the Oriental, what a dull evening. Im sure the entire cast had phones in their hands!!!
re: Happy 10th anniversary, Ragtime#28
Posted: 1/19/08 at 12:31pm
I saw the OBC, this was my second broadway show, and to this day is still my favorite show of all time.
My only regret is that I was a newbie of sorts going into see the show. I wish I knew then what I know know about production values and theater in general. It probably would have been even more meaningful to me on an aesthetic level.
re: Happy 10th anniversary, Ragtime#29
Posted: 1/19/08 at 1:24pmI'll never forget it being the most moving theaterical experience of my life. It was the show that made me fall in love with Broadway. Seeing Mazzie, Stokes and McDonald at the age of 12 sitting in the last row of the orchestra at the then Ford Theater was beyond anything. I remember my mom having to tell me to be quiet because I was whispering "no, no, no" as Stokes was shot and tears streaming down my face as the last note of the epilogue was sung. It will always be one of my favorite musicals for those reasons alone. Happy 10th Anniversary Ragtime!
re: Happy 10th anniversary, Ragtime#30
Posted: 1/19/08 at 2:06pmCongratulations to Ragtime!
re: Happy 10th anniversary, Ragtime#31
Posted: 1/19/08 at 2:23pm
I actually found the 1st national tour to be a better production than the show I saw at the Ford Center. In a slightly smaller theatre, (Boston's Colonial), the connection between actors, orchestra and audience was more immediate. At the Ford Center, even from the orchestra, the cast seemed a million miles away. On tour, Rebecca Eichenberger was a brilliant mother, only eclipsed by Michael Rupert's Tateh.
The tour also retained, from what I remember about 97% of the spectacle that was on Broadway.
re: Happy 10th anniversary, Ragtime#32
Posted: 1/19/08 at 3:01pmI believe when Charlie Rose interviewed two critics, one of them said the same thing about Ragtime.
re: Happy 10th anniversary, Ragtime#33
Posted: 1/19/08 at 5:32pm
I first heard the CD of Ragtime on December 31st 1999 and found it overwhelming. The themes of national identity and cultural values relevant to the USA at the turn of the 20th century seemed equally relevant to the UK and the EU at the turn of the 21st, with the enormous implications of joining the single currency that were being debated at that time.
I cannot understand why the Broadway production didn't run longer. Ragtime seemed to combine the ambition and intellect of a Sondheim musical with the commercial appeal of Les Mis or Miss Saigon. The London production in 2003 had a good cast but was staged in a minimalist style, when the scope of the show deserves and requires a full physical production. The production photographs in the published score make the Broadway production look magnificent. I wish I could have seen it.
re: Happy 10th anniversary, Ragtime#34
Posted: 1/19/08 at 7:44pmThe Broadway production didn't run longer because of Garth Drabinsky.
Broadway Legend Joined: 6/27/05
re: Happy 10th anniversary, Ragtime#35
Posted: 1/19/08 at 8:13pm
Most shows close simply because audiences didn't come.
Lola "The Doctor Is Out" Delaney
In A Midwestern City
Updated On: 4/29/08 at 08:13 PM
re: Happy 10th anniversary, Ragtime#36
Posted: 1/19/08 at 10:32pmI was wondering how long it would take before TEH would show up. A 'Ragtime' post is like her crack. She always has to respond.
Broadway Legend Joined: 8/15/05
re: Happy 10th anniversary, Ragtime#37
Posted: 1/19/08 at 10:47pm
And the only memorable, stand-out tune, Wheels of a Dream
Are you kidding me? That's the only memorable tune from Ragtime?
Broadway Legend Joined: 6/27/05
re: Happy 10th anniversary, Ragtime#38
Posted: 1/19/08 at 11:24pm
"She always has to respond."
'She' must always be addressed as 'MADAME.' Thank you.
"Are you kidding me? That's the only memorable tune from Ragtime?"
MADAME never kids. MADAME knows best. ALWAYS.
Milt C. Okefenokee
Gator Country, Florida
Updated On: 1/19/08 at 11:24 PM
re: Happy 10th anniversary, Ragtime#39
Posted: 1/19/08 at 11:32pm
I was lucky enough to see the World Premier in my "Second City" of Toronto.
What an exciting event that was!
Times were different then...and so was I. Then I LOVED it!
I wonder what my reaction would be now?
Time to dig out that CD again and see what happens!
HAPPY ANNIVERSARY "RAGTIME"!!!
re: Happy 10th anniversary, Ragtime#40
Posted: 1/19/08 at 11:49pmRagtime <3 <3 <3
re: Happy 10th anniversary, Ragtime#41
Posted: 1/20/08 at 12:06am"Back to Before" is certainly a memorable tune, and when I saw Mazzie perform the song in November (a Ahrens and Flaherty musical revue) it just blew me away. That woman can sing!
re: Happy 10th anniversary, Ragtime#42
Posted: 1/20/08 at 12:07am
I saw a production of this magnificent show in 2004, and I've been in love with it ever since. I recently purchased the cast album (why didn't I do it sooner?!!?!), and I can't believe I never got the chance to see these fabulous vocalists perform the show live.
Ragtime forever <3
re: Happy 10th anniversary, Ragtime#43
Posted: 1/20/08 at 12:16am
While I admit only having the "Songs From Ragtime" disc (I know, blasphemy) I absolutely love the show (well, what is on the disc). Powerful, moving score.
Happy 10th!!!
re: Happy 10th anniversary, Ragtime#44
Posted: 1/20/08 at 12:33am
<---- Me as JP Morgan.
I don't think one can fully appreciate this show without performing in it for a long period of time. I still discover a new layer every time I listen to the score. It is now one of my favorite shows of all time. The score and story are so seamless I can never just listen to one song- I have to hear the whole thing! Happy (day after) anniversary to this incredible, brilliant show.
re: Happy 10th anniversary, Ragtime#45
Posted: 1/20/08 at 12:45am
I edited together most of the press clips from the "Creating Ragtime" PBS documentary, if anyone's interested:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dpxvSAWGcp4
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qy2xm2jwdcQ
It's a really great documentary about the creation of the show, if you can find it.
re: Happy 10th anniversary, Ragtime#46
Posted: 1/20/08 at 12:57am
I think it will be the last of the great "Epic" musicals. Yet when stripped of all the spectacle, the story and characters endure. I was at the gala opening in Toronto in 1996 and caught the show on Broadway two days before the 1998 Tony awards. The electricity in the crowd was palpable and the thunderous applause at the curtain calls gave me a possible link to what Broadway audiences were like in the glory days. Just when you thought the ovation couldn't get any bigger, Brian Stokes Mitchell cam out and the crowd tore the roof off the place.
I didn't think any subsequent cast could match the originals but the post-Broadway non-equity tour made a brief stop near here - it's second last booking - and even without the kinetic star power it played beautifully earning rave reviews from the local critics who claimed it to be the best touring production to come this way in many years.
I have seen two community productions and even if not every detail was perfect, it inspired tremendous commitment from both casts.
As to the question of CAROLINE, OR CHANGE I cannot comment as I only know the show through the cast album, although I will be seeing a production here later this year. That said, even if the show on stages is dazzling it does not have the accessibility of RAGTIME'S score. There is nothing in the CAROLINE score that comes close to matching RAGTIME's rich tapestry.
Cast albums are NOT "soundtracks."
Live theatre does not use a "soundtrack." If it did, it wouldn't be live theatre!
I host a weekly one-hour radio program featuring cast album selections as well as songs by cabaret, jazz and theatre artists. The program, FRONT ROW CENTRE is heard Sundays 9 to 10 am and also Saturdays from 8 to 9 am (eastern times) on www.proudfm.com
re: Happy 10th anniversary, Ragtime#47
Posted: 1/20/08 at 12:59am
I don't think one can fully appreciate this show without performing in it for a long period of time.
That's rather pretentious and totally inaccurate.
Wanting life but never knowing how
re: Happy 10th anniversary, Ragtime#48
Posted: 1/20/08 at 1:28am
"I don't think one can fully appreciate this show without performing in it for a long period of time.
That's rather pretentious and totally inaccurate."
I meant nothing "pretentious" by it, and I'm sorry if that offended you. I just meant that by rehearsing or performing it every day, one acquires an understanding of the piece that cannot be obtained from watching or listening to it any number of times. The act of participating in the action on stage puts one directly into the world of the show, rather than observing it. This is true for any show, but is especially applicable to a show as layered and deep as Ragtime.
re: Happy 10th anniversary, Ragtime#49
Posted: 1/20/08 at 1:29am
"and there were very few changes between Toronto and New York."
Most of the changes to the show came when the show premiered in Chicago (Director Frank Galati's hometown).
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