Ragtime

[XxVeGanChaPstickxX]

Posted: 1/9/05 at 7:23pm

I just saw the Illinios highschool allstate show RAGTIME, and it blew me away.

Does anyone know when this show is planning on getting revived?

[Jon]

Posted: 1/9/05 at 8:41pm

Well, since it only played on Broadway seven years ago, and was a huge financial flop ( despite wining a couple of Tonys), I don't see it being revived on Broadway any time soon. It requres a huge cast, which makes it a perfect show for community theatres and schools, but not for profesional groups.

[consultforfood]

Posted: 1/9/05 at 11:23pm

I agree that it's a great show and does demand a number of strong performances. Nonetheless, it did well in Toronto. Perhaps the Broadway audience was a bit too cynical.

[EvelynNesbit1906]

Posted: 1/10/05 at 12:22am

The show wasn't a failure on Broadway. It lasted a couple of years and what ushered its decline was controversy surrounding Livent, not that audiences never warmed up to it. The final blow was that the Model T was too expensive to maintain on the stage.

[spiderdj82]

Posted: 1/10/05 at 12:38am

LOVE!!

[EvelynNesbit1906]

Posted: 1/10/05 at 12:47am

I would love for the show to be filmed as a video like ZOOT SUIT, with additional sets added to give it a more cinematic feel.

[Justice]

Posted: 1/10/05 at 2:20am

What is with people and their obsession for revivals? Ragtime, Aida, Cats. Are they aware that shows don't get revived for YEARS after they close...twenty to thirty, etc.?

[CATSNYrevival]

Posted: 1/10/05 at 2:55am

Justice, allow me to introduce you to the speratic revivals of Peter Pan and Into the Woods... Updated On: 1/10/05 at 02:55 AM

[kissmycookie]

Posted: 1/10/05 at 12:15pm

I thought it doesn't require a huge cast anymore. Wasn't the London production much more pared down compared to the Broadway one?

[AndyHardy]

Posted: 1/10/05 at 12:21pm

Ragtime is being performed at The Paper Mill Playhouse June 8-July 17. Papermill is in Millburn New Jersey, they do great productions and is not too difficult to get to.

[Barihunk]

Posted: 1/10/05 at 12:46pm

For the record, the director of the Papermill production is Stafford Arima who helmed the London version. Hopefully he will repeat his "pared down" concept so we don't get a rehash of the Broadway production which Papermill often does. Looking forward to seeing it either way, myself.

[Jon]

Posted: 1/10/05 at 2:30pm

Yes, the Papermill version will be the "pared down" version done in London. In other words, there will be no Model T, no iron bridges, not much scenery at all.

[Unknown User]

Posted: 1/10/05 at 2:39pm

Okay please tell me if I am wrong but isn't the Model T a major part of the show? The whole reason Sarah gets beat to death is due to the destruction of Colehouse's Model T? The Model T is a major part of the show.


That would be like not having Elphaba Green.
Or The Chandelear not fall.

[Jon]

Posted: 1/10/05 at 5:41pm

The London version was done with nothing but chairs. The Model T was imaginary. The destruction was pantomimed.

[Unknown User]

Posted: 1/10/05 at 9:28pm

Probably one of the most thrilling theatrical experiences for me ever was seeing Ragtime--Is aw the Vancouver production with LaChanze as Sarah and Rubinstein as Tateh (i think).

Anyway it wasn't a flop--but it was a VERY expensive show to maintain (in typical Livent style). It ran as long as their Kiss of the Spiderwoman though I think--just under 1000 poerformances. It was frustrating to see it win best booka nd score Tonys but not show...

E

[erinrebecca]

Posted: 1/10/05 at 10:57pm

Speaking of Livent, the preliminary hearing for Garth Drabinsky began today. They should send his fraudulent butt to prison for a long, long time.

[chinkie azn jai]

Posted: 1/10/05 at 11:04pm

I'm still kicking myself that I missed seeing Ragtime when it was in town (one year after it opened on broadway). ahhhh! I've only listened to the cast recording while reading the script and I can just imagine how everything was staged. *cries*

[VeuveClicquot]

Posted: 1/10/05 at 11:53pm

"They should send his fraudulent butt to prison for a long, long time."

Wow, that's harsh, erinrebecca. Yes, Drabinsky screwed up with his creative accounting. But RAGTIME wouldn't exist without him. It was his idea. While I'm not condoning his lack of fiscal ethics, at least he committed his particular crime out of true love for musical theatre. He gambled that RAGTIME would be a big enough financial hit to cover his losses. Unfortunately, the idiotic LION KING trumped his ace.

For me, there's a difference between an Enron CEO bilking people out of millions of dollars to line his own pockets, and a Broadway producer who believes in a show he's created so much that he's willing to commit fraud to keep it running.

[EvelynNesbit1906]

Posted: 1/11/05 at 12:23am

"Unfortunately, the idiotic LION KING trumped his ace."

*snickers* Do you really hate it that much? I think it's a shame that it contributed to Ragtime's losses (financial and otherwise) but on an artistic level, it's no abomination.

I agree that fraud isn't a crime that should guarantee anyone life in prison. A penal system that punishes frauds in the same way that it would punish murderers is as inexcusable to me as a world in which people can actually die in car accidents. Totally unnecessary and a clear alternative is available. Updated On: 1/11/05 at 12:23 AM

[VeuveClicquot]

Posted: 1/11/05 at 12:50am

Yes, EvelynNesbit, I do rather despise THE LION KING. And I think Peter Filichia made an exceptionally eloquent argument today which I utterly agree with:

http://www.theatermania.com/content/news.cfm/story/5509

[EvelynNesbit1906]

Posted: 1/11/05 at 1:02am

I read the article, and while I wouldn't call The Lion King "stupid," it damn sure is forgettable. Most of the lines the journalist referenced completely slipped my mind.

Unfortunately, those of us who want a revival of Ragtime outside of small theaters are out of luck, since the New York terrorism plot is apparently so politically incorrect that Milos Forman talks at length about how "Ragtime" (in any incarnation, probably) wouldn't be a huge success today.

[Unknown User]

Posted: 1/11/05 at 1:47am

I lvoe that Ethan Mordden take on Ragtime as making a heroe out of a terrorist...

AGreed--Grath was sorta a modern Ziegfeld and while I'm not sure I always like that approach to theatre, with Livent they created some greatness--Ragtime, Kiss of the Spider Woman (which I don't think woulda gotten a second chance after its disastrous earlyw orkshops had it not been for Livent), and Parade (which was started at Livent) being some examples.

E

[sipos]

Posted: 1/11/05 at 2:02am

(Off subject, but still RAGTIME)
I saw the Chicago production and La Chanze was very powerful, Hinton Battle danced liked a loon through his scenes as Coalhouse, and Barbara Walsh should have been beat to death as Mother, not Sarah.
Though, it was a beautiful show regardless.
Rant. I really don't like her. I have very few Broadway actors on that list, but she's at the top. I first saw her in BIG, front row. And after her half-assed "Stop, Time", and her curtain call I saw her roll her eyes when she turned upstage. Maybe because it was a flop in the making, but that pissed me off. Never forget it. Then I saw her in HAIRSPRAY. ew. Again giving her usual 20%. I expected nothing less by that time. Anyone see her do great? FALSETTOS maybe?

AHHH. I'm going to have Barbara Walsh nightmares now. We can never go back to before her other career options.

[musicalfandukie]

Posted: 1/11/05 at 2:26am

i love ragtime great music and great story:) i would hardly call it a flop.

[EvelynNesbit1906]

Posted: 1/11/05 at 2:31am

"Barbara Walsh should have been beat to death as Mother, not Sarah."

LOL!

I saw the same production six years ago at Chicago's Ford. I remember enjoying Hinton Battle, but the real highlights for me were Michelle Dawson as Evelyn Nesbit and Mary Gutzi as Emma Goldman. Looking at old posts on google groups, I see that quite a few people agree with me on Dawson. It helped that she actually resembled the real Evelyn Nesbit.