Modern Day Ragtime

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Modern Day Ragtime

Posted: 10/10/14 at 1:19am

It'd be hard as hell to pull off, but how topical and great would a modern day Ragtime be? The 1%, police brutality, immigration, change, Ferguson, etc. Get rid of the super-specific period numbers, add some new songs, and I feel like you could have an Off-Broadway winner.

Modern Day Ragtime

Posted: 10/10/14 at 1:44am

Why not let audiences draw their own parallels?

Modern Day Ragtime

Posted: 10/10/14 at 7:28am

The last London revival placed the show after some sort of apocalypse that was due to America's money and racial disparity.

Modern Day Ragtime

Posted: 10/10/14 at 8:18am

This sounds like a stupid idea-kind of like the rap version of Cats.

What I loved about the revival (which I preferred to the original) was that they stripped it down to the themes and I was more invested in the characters and the themes themselves.

Modern Day Ragtime

Posted: 10/10/14 at 8:43am

Ragtime has a hard time engaging audiences in character as the show is told in an expository "story theatre" style (a device that probably was needed as the narrative was so dense) which somewhat distances you from the people who sometimes talk in the third person about themselves. The revelatory music helps you connect, but the music itself isn't always successful.

Modern Day Ragtime

Posted: 10/10/14 at 9:52am

"Get rid of the super-specific period numbers, add some new songs, and I feel like you could have an Off-Broadway winner."

So, take the ragtime out of Ragtime?

"...everyone finally shut up, and the audience could enjoy the beginning of the Anatevka Pogram in peace."

Modern Day Ragtime

Posted: 10/10/14 at 9:58am

^^^
My thoughts exactly. Why not just create a whole new show?

"You drank a charm to kill John Proctor's wife! You drank a charm to kill Goody Proctor!" - Betty Parris to Abigail Williams in Arthur Miller's The Crucible

Modern Day Ragtime

Posted: 10/10/14 at 10:10am

BECUZ ITS IMPORTANT 2 OUR TIME 2!!!!

Modern Day Ragtime

Posted: 10/10/14 at 10:16am

Get rid of the super-specific period numbers, add some new songs, and I feel like you could have an Off-Broadway winner.

Which numbers would you keep and why? What about all the super-specific period characters, plot, dialogue, style and title of the show? I'm really not sure why you feel the need to retain any elements of a show that was written quite specifically to be an adaptation of a popular historical novel. The period is the entire purpose of the story.

"What can you expect from a bunch of seitan worshippers?" - Reginald Tresilian

#10

Modern Day Ragtime

Posted: 10/10/14 at 10:19am

Get rid of the white people. That's for sure.

#11

Modern Day Ragtime

Posted: 10/10/14 at 10:19am

Why?

The very title refers to the time period, not to mention all of the historical characters.

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#12

Modern Day Ragtime

Posted: 10/10/14 at 10:26am

I'm all in favor of Doctorow writing another great novel about American multiculturalism and injustice circa 2014 using today's music as metaphor and to have it then be made into a great new musical.

#13

Modern Day Ragtime

Posted: 10/10/14 at 10:29am

Well, I did love American Idiot.

"What can you expect from a bunch of seitan worshippers?" - Reginald Tresilian

#14

Modern Day Ragtime

Posted: 10/10/14 at 11:46pm

Why don't we give audiences a little more credit? They've been empathizing with historical characters and responding to historical events for at least 2,500 years!

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