EDSOSLO858 said: "Did anyone here catch John Clay III’s Coalhouse debut today?"
I saw Clay yesterday and he did a strong job. I personally wasn’t a huge fan of his very fast vibrato but his voice is full and resounding. It was sweet to see the cast support him (as well as David Jennings as Booker T) during curtain call.
I think I’ll always be on an island with Ragtime as I think it’s good, not great. The first act is bombastic: front loaded with rousing number after rousing number, and then Act II meanders a bit until it’s very rushed ending. Act II always feels like a bit of a letdown for me. I wish we spent less time at Atlantic City, say, and more in the moments leading up to “Make Them Hear You.” It’s also a show where no one is in it as much as I remember. I’d forgotten it takes almost half of Act I for Coalhouse to have a proper scene and how little Sarah is in it. It’s strange Evelyn Nesbit (a disappointment) gets a whole number and then just sort of disappears after a scene.
I thought Levy, Uranowitz, Ross and Taub were all great. Lewis, as someone mentioned earlier, is working a little too hard and her lyrics are nearly unintelligible, though I think there’s something interesting character wise about what she’s attempting. From my seat in the loge, the stage looked bare almost the entire time and the actors simply drowning in space unless the full company was on stage. Ultimately, I had a good afternoon hearing the score played by a beautiful, full orchestra even if I don’t get as much out of the show as other folks.