Ragtime 2009 revival question

[jamiekennywicked]

Posted: 8/10/12 at 2:44pm

I was browsing on playbill vault and noticed that there were no understudies listed for characters such as Emma Goldman or Booker T. Washington. Curious to know, does anyone know who actually covered these roles? It seemed strange that quite nice sized roles (Goldman in particular) had no covers listed.

On a side note: What did people think of Mamie Parris as Mother?

[artscallion]

Posted: 8/10/12 at 3:00pm

I know the actress who played Goldman. I'll point her to this thread so she can answer if she has one.

[Kad]

Posted: 8/10/12 at 3:01pm

Did Mamie Parris ever even go on for Mother? It was such a short run.

[perfectlymarvelous]

Posted: 8/10/12 at 3:03pm

Mamie Parris did go on the final weekend (not sure if she went on any other times but she might have)...they were originally supposed to close January 3, 2010 and extended by a week to January 10 and Christiane had a prior commitment and could not be there. I saw Mamie at the final performance and she was wonderful, she sang beautifully and acted the role extremely well, if I hadn't known she was an understudy I never would have guessed.

[aasjb4ever]

Posted: 8/10/12 at 3:03pm

Mamie was amazing. How many new threads about your new obsession are you planning on posting? I want a guestimate for how many to avoid.

[Yero my Hero]

Posted: 8/10/12 at 3:03pm

Did she go on for the final week (added after the original closing announcement), when Christiane Noll was out because of a prior commitment?

[aasjb4ever]

Posted: 8/10/12 at 3:06pm

Mamie only went on for the final 3 performances. Christiane had already committed to some concerts well before the 2 closing notices were posted.

[DottieD'Luscia]

Posted: 8/10/12 at 3:36pm

Tracy Lynn Olivera understudied Emma Goldman and I believe she went on at least once during the run.

[mikem]

Posted: 8/10/12 at 4:41pm

The Ragtime revival Playbill is a bit odd. They only have understudies listed for 8 roles, while there are a lot more named roles. (The original production has about twice as many roles listed with understudies.)

I believe by Equity rules, all of those other roles also have to have understudies, so I'm not sure why they are not listed in the Playbill.

[mrsmig2]

Posted: 8/10/12 at 4:49pm

Hi, I'm Donna Migliaccio and I played Emma Goldman in the 2009 revival.

Tracy Lynn Olivera was, indeed, one of my understudies, but she never went on in the role. I missed two performances the week before we opened and swing Lisa Carlin went on for me (and did a dynamite job).

Unfortunately, I don't remember who covered the other "historicals" in the show, but I can tell you that the roles were, indeed, understudied. I think almost every major role in the show had double understudies.



Updated On: 8/10/12 at 04:49 PM

[WhizzerMarvin]

Posted: 8/10/12 at 5:22pm

Donna- You were outstanding as Emma Goldman, and I loved that revival as a whole so much. I believe I saw it nine times, and would gladly go back again today if I could. Thanks for the great memories- now get back to Broadway!! :)

[jamiekennywicked]

Posted: 8/10/12 at 5:33pm

Thank you so much Donna. I've heard nothing but great things about the 2009 Ragtime revival and am kicking myself I missed it. Closing night fell just days short of my arrival

[My Oh My]

Posted: 8/10/12 at 6:33pm

I wonder why they didn't tour the revival?

The original production never had a tour. At least not one that replicated it in its entirety that I know of. Not even a slimmer version. So you'd think with the huge number of people who haven't seen a production of it, they'd tour the revival which was not only critically acclaimed, I'd imagine it wouldn't be too costly to tour.

Besides, last time I saw it was centuries ago circa 1998 at the now-disappeared Shubert in L.A. I think it's time for a revisit!

[keb2]

Posted: 8/10/12 at 7:34pm

The timeline on this confuses me, but it looks like Ragtime did have a limited national tour, which played DC, Denver, and Minneapolis, in addition to the simultaneous non-tour that ran in L.A. and Vancouver. Members of both casts, including LaChanze, Darlesia Cearcy, Alton Fitzgerald White, John Rubinstein, and Michael Rupert played the same roles on Broadway.

Tour announcement: http://www.playbill.com/news/article/40208-Ragtime-on-the-Road-Tour-in-DC-To-Aug-7-Vancouver-Production-Closing-July-26

DC: http://articles.baltimoresun.com/1998-05-01/features/1998121059_1_ragtime-american-dream-family
It won some Helen Hayes Awards.

Denver: http://www.bizjournals.com/denver/stories/1998/08/31/smallb7.html?page=all

Minneapolis: http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1G1-62567439.html

Vancouver: http://community.seattletimes.nwsource.com/archive/?date=19980511&slug=2750004

The official tour came to a sudden end after the Minneapolis stop. It was supposed to play Seattle and Boston: http://www.playbill.com/news/article/42108-National-Tour-of-Ragtime-to-Shut-Down-Suddenly-Nov-21-in-MN-Livent-Files-Chap-11

I imagine it was related to the Livent Group, a producer, filing for bankruptcy and experiencing financial woes: http://www.nytimes.com/1998/11/30/nyregion/shaky-ragtime-producer-is-said-to-find-lenders.html

Fun fact: Andrew Keenan-Bolger was the Little Boy in L.A. and/or Vancouver! http://www.backstage.com/bso/content_display/news-and-features/e3i766469d22338b13bb8d442a5f5cbc903

[keb2]

Posted: 8/10/12 at 7:45pm

Another fun fact: I know this has been mentioned before, but I'm tickled by the fact that Ragtime played in three venues that were, at the time, named "Ford Center for the Performing Arts" (Toronto, NY, and Vancouver), especially since Henry Ford is a character in the show!

Though I guess Livent built/remodeled all the Ford Centers, including the Chicago one, so it's not exactly a coincidence. But still cool!

[My Oh My]

Posted: 8/10/12 at 9:14pm

That's fascinating! I had no idea the original production had an official national tour. Then again 1997-2000 was an um, crazy time for me and I became a bit distanced from theatre. I'm still amazed at the stuff I missed that occurred during that era because I usually know and am aware everything!

Did anyone here see that tour? How different was it from the sit-downs in Los Angeles and Vancouver? An article linked to above indicates it was lacking the side staircases but that everything else was intact. It must have been a monster to transport. I remember the Los Angeles production very clearly, which I got to see three times, and I can't imagine it touring without needing an assload of semi tractor trailers.

I miss the Livent days. They had a real great thing going there for Canada. I remember feeling really happy for them and all their homegrown revivals and top notch productions. Too bad greed did a number on the Canadian theatre community at the time. I can only imagine the number of jobs lost.

[DottieD'Luscia]

Posted: 8/10/12 at 9:27pm

Donna, thanks for the corrected info, my mistake.

I saw the tour based on the original production in Baltimore in either January/February of 2001. A friend of mine from NYC was in it.

Whizzer, I had no idea you saw the revival 9 times. So did I!

[AEA AGMA SM]

Posted: 8/10/12 at 9:34pm

The tour played a few other cities as well, I saw it in Cleveland, and I know it was not the non-Equity tour that NETworks later produced. It was scaled back a bit from the Broadway production, I seem to remember that the staircases that framed the proscenium at the Ford Center were eliminated. I also think that the Houdini sequence at the top of Act II had been cut for the tour, but I honestly don't remember for sure. I don't know if this would have been considered the First National, or if it was a second company, but I'm pretty sure it was still the original creative team mounting it and not a recreation by former assistants.