Ragtime — Page 2

What a Game obviously isn't a power ballad but you don't think its style is at all similar to Crime of the Century, Gettin' Ready Rag, Henry Ford, Night That Goldman Spoke at Union Square and Atlantic City?

Ragtime is genious. The music is so powerful, and the plot rivals it. I've always loved this musical, ever since I saw my friend in it, on the tour. It was honestly brilliant. I actually was fortunate enough to do it with a community theatre group two years ago. It calls for a huge cast, huge set, and huge props- the car. But it really can work nicely with any theatre group- given you have the space, and talent.

EvelynNesbit,

Just a quick question you might know...How old is Mother's Younger Brother supposed to be? Is it ever specified in the book? I would LOVE to play that role someday, and kind of want to know what my time limit is. I would love to see him played pretty young.

Akiva

I love Ragtime. It's the only Ahrens/Flaherty musical I can listen to without wanting to jump out a window, too. I got to see the student national cast last summer (they did it at my school before it went to festival) and it was absolutely amazing. It's so beautiful... the book is wonderful too, and I think the spirit of the book is really evident in the show with the use of the third person, etc. It works.

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Yay. I have quite a few years left in me to play this role. I would love to see Mother's Younger Brother played quite young. I think it would add an interestin dynamic between his generation and Father's.

Akiva

I also figure that Mother (who has her young son, maybe 10-ish?), was probably about 18-20 when she married, as most women were back then. That would put her at 28-30 in the story. If he's her "younger brother"... I would guess mid-20s (as I said before).

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i was listening to it and i couldnt really get into this show

Kass's latest post reminds me of Ragtime's brilliance and continued relevance. It really should have inspired more discussion than it did.
I read in the preface to EL Doctorow's THREE SCREENPLAYS that the musical was successful partially for the warm feelings brought about by the Clinton administration. In other words, it somehow feels dated with Bush in office. Milos Forman likewise said that it would be ridiculous to adapt Ragtime (the novel) for film today because its take on terrorism is so at odds with our current political situation. I don't know that I agree. After I saw the show with iflitifloat at Papermill last year, I thought it really poignant that our conversation in her car on the way back to Manhattan easily turned to 911. It's interesting to read Ragtime in different contexts - and to have seen the story presented in the Watergate era (the novel), in the Reagan era (the film) and in the Clinton era (the musical).

Updated On: 12/25/05 at 09:44 PM

It had a LOT of relevance as we headed into the millennium, as well. I remember thinking it was an amazing way to look back on the entire previous century and think about how far (or not) we've come as a country and as PEOPLE.

Now that it's 2005, I'm not sure that this "century overview" feeling still exists. I would love to visit Ragtime again now, and see how it resonates without it.

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Urban, am I the only one who knows how you feel about Beggars at the Feast? I can't make the corolation to What a Game. How do you feel about the numbers


PS Best12Bars, Mother doesn't decide to leave her marriage during Back to Before. Small but important plot correction.

Ragtime is the first professional production of a show that I had ever seen, and it's still one of my favorities.. I was 12 when I saw it, and our advanced English class read and discussed Doctorow's book and then went to see the musical as a field trip. It was fantastic, and because we had all read the book I think that we got a lot more out of it than seventh-graders typically would. Like others, I cried (during "Wheels of a Dream" and "'Til We Reach That Day").

I LOVE the score, but I do understand how its ballad-heaviness could be offputting to some people. It seems to me to fit the material, though, and there are certainly enough comic moments in the first act especially to balance out the weight of the ballads. "What A Game" does come across as pretty out of the blue, but I adore it and without it the second act would be completely unbalanced. Besides which, it is an important statement about the changing times and the fact that Father's Victorian ideals are becoming obsolete.

I love the way that the score is set up. Ahrens and Flaherty did a masterful job of communicating so much of the novel's plot in the musical. "Ragtime" is a perfect introduction to the characters and times, "Journey On" introduces Tateh and his fellow immigrants and also serves to show the beginning of the rift that opens between Father and Mother. "New Music," one of the show's best songs, again emphasizes the rise of the new era and shows so much about what's going on in the relationships (Father and Mother, Coalhouse and Sarah, Younger Brother's generation and that of his parents). I know that a lot of the brilliance of the interconnectedness of the plot and fictional and historical characters is owed to E.L. Doctorow's novel, but I'm always amazed at how it all intertwines so well in the score.

I think that the set is so, so important to this show that I don't know if I could handle a scaled-down version. The characterizations are of course hugely important, but the setting is the catalyst for absolutely everything that happens. I would just worry that a minimalist presentation of it wouldn't be as immersive, and consequently it would be harder to be in the frame of mind to understand the characters. A lot of the show is, and needs to be, spectacle because it takes place during spectacular times. Props like Evelyn's swing and Coalhouse's Model T seem indispensable to the plot. I'm sure that a scaled-down Ragtime can be played and enjoyed by many people, but I don't think that it would be as enjoyable for me.

Edit: If anything had to be cut from Act II, for me it would be "Sarah Brown Eyes." I love the song, but it's not essential to the plot. "Back to Before" is far too important to a character arc that had been set up the entire show, and "Make Them Hear You" isn't totally essential plot-wise, but it increases the emotional impact of Coalhouse's death. I like the show as is, though.

Updated On: 12/25/05 at 11:58 PM

Do I love Ragtime? Why yes, yes I do!!

That's backstage in DC with the tour. And no I'm not a ghost, it's just a very bright combination of lights coming at me from all angles.