RAGTIME sets a new standard for musical revivals — Page 3

I saw it again last night after seeing it on the first preview and it has improved greatly which I didn't think was possible. I enjoyed it so much more and I suggest that everyone goes back soon after Opening Night because it will be hard to get a ticket.

Artscallion,

Thank you so much for sharing that picture.

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How were the the actor's who played the "real life people" roles? I am particularly curious about Savannah Wise... I loved her in Rock of Ages and from the pictures she looks adorable!

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bwaylvsong - The Wonderful Town set was what it was because it transferred from City Center. And if you know anything about City Center you know they are fully staged concert productions. Some transfer the way they are and some transfer as larger scale productions with more of a set like Gypsy or Finian's Rainbow.

Drunk Chita Rivera - Yes, ALW is contracted to have the Neil Simon for LND. Get over it and move on. This won't be the first time this exact same thing has happened.

And while I really liked this production of Ragtime, I hardly think it has set a new standard for musical revivals.

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"bwaylvsong - The Wonderful Town set was what it was because it transferred from City Center. And if you know anything about City Center you know they are fully staged concert productions. Some transfer the way they are and some transfer as larger scale productions with more of a set like Gypsy or Finian's Rainbow."

I knew that, but
a.) obviously most of the audience didn't.
b.) that doesn't mean I have to approve of it. And for the record, I think minimal sets work for most of the shows I've seen with them. It just didn't work for Wonderful Town.

I am going on Wednesday! Cannot wait

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"Wrong. The producers of Ragtime are well aware that at some point in the near future they will have to close or re-locate. However, they have no real advance to speak of, so it may just close. My understanding is the show has to run through April to make back its money."

Actually, the show has a healthy advance of 3.5 million, so it's in pretty good shape to run for awhile even if they sell no more tickets... which, of course, they will.

I think that that is because that for many contemporary theatre goers, Ragtime is far more recognizable than Finian's Rainbow (which would, I think, be drawing a mostly older crowd).

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Wow; was it really?

Huh...

" Actually, the show has a healthy advance of 3.5 million, so it's in pretty good shape to run for awhile even if they sell no more tickets... which, of course, they will."

How nice of one of the producers to join the board and tell us this!

"Actually, the show has a healthy advance of 3.5 million, so it's in pretty good shape to run for awhile even if they sell no more tickets... which, of course, they will."

For an open-run show, and in this economy, that isn't healthy. However, what most people don't seem to realize, is that most sells don't actually sell out (the ones that do) until the day of the performance (or a few days before at most). Not even Wicked has all of its seat sold until the day of the performance.

Ragtime will run, but I wouldn't expect it to run long.

From the opening post:

"In short, this is easily the best revival of a musical that Broadway has seen since Doyle's Sweeney Todd."

Well, in my opinion at least, that's setting a fairly low bar...

I found this current production of Ragtime to be good, not great, with an amazingly uneven cast. The handful who really shown were quite amazing, the vast majority were adequate, and a few were just not ready for Broadway.

With a few notable exceptions (Mother, Father, Edgar, Booker, and moments for Coalhouse and Tateh) this cast would have been the outstanding university cast of the season. I can't tell you how many moments I heard the chorus woefully out of tune, especially in the end of Act I funeral scene. (the wailing solo that I heard was actually of of tune in several keys at the same time, an exceptional feat.. and the American Idol benumbed audience I was with ate it up.. sigh...)

I must say that both Sarah and Ms. Nesbit were both in way over their abilities to sing the roles. They were both attractive enough for the roles, and Sarah decently acted, but their singing left much to be desired.

I liked the set quite a lot, very useful and well used, though nothing compared to either the original B'way set or the First National Tour set. Santos' costumes were merely lost cost versions of the originals, including the same color pallets and basic shapes, all stunningly bland.

I really missed the projections and the Model T. They gave just a sparkling finish to the earlier productions.

The orchestrations were - well, bland. What happened to the distinct klezmer and ragtime influences in the various scenes? It all sounded the same, as if there was no musical heightening for the clash of cultures. And the cut scenes added a fair amount of depth to both the characters and relationships -

All in all this was, at best, a moderately good production, worth seeing if you haven't seen the original, or are in a forgivign mood.

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It's a different sound design team. The original and the Kennedy Center used Jonathan Deans (with Garth Helm at the Kennedy Center with Brian Hseh as Associate designer). Kevin McCollum likes Acme Sound Partners, so that's who got the gig on the transfer. It's a different and trimmed sound design.