Ragtime at 5th Avenue Theatre Seattle

[ashley0139]

Posted: 10/23/17 at 6:38pm

Has anyone seen this/planning on seeing it?  I saw it yesterday and I was blown away by how good it was.  The 2009 revival is my second favorite show of all time (after Grey Gardens) so I was not expecting it to be as great as it was.  The cast was uniformly excellent.  The only one I wasn't 100% sold on was the actor playing Coalhouse Walker Jr.  It is a huge role requiring a certain gravitas that I felt the actor lacked.  His voice was excellent though.  I thought Kendra was an amazing Mother, and it is hard to live up to Christiane Noll in my mind, but her Back to Before was breathtaking.  The other standouts were the actors playing Tateh and Mother's Younger Brother.  

The staging and direction was really incredible.  Very different from the revival, but equally as effective.  The cast was relatively small for this show, and I was amazed by how well used everyone was.  Everyone played many roles and was onstage almost all the time, including the leads playing in the ensemble when it was not their principal scene.  Watching this production definitely reminded me why I love the show so much and renewed my love of it.

I'd love to hear anyone else's thoughts if they are seeing it or planning on seeing it.  It was the first production I've seen at 5th Avenue and I was very impressed.  

Updated On: 10/23/17 at 06:38 PM

[greensgreens]

Posted: 10/24/17 at 9:17am

I saw this production at my little neighborhood theatre in Minneapolis last year. I believe the casts are different, but the direction and creative team are the same. It was excellent! Definitely recommended.