Ragtime book vs. musical

[Kimsus123]

Posted: 12/9/04 at 3:51pm

I was just cast in Ragtime and i wanted to get to know the story a little. i checked out the book from the library but im not sure how much the book will be like the musical. Anyone think reading the book will help understand the story a lot better? and how much different is the book from the show?
Thanks!

Kim

[CATSNYrevival]

Posted: 12/9/04 at 3:54pm

I'd just like to note that the little incident at the end of chapter eight is not in the musical and it's a damn good thing too cuz' then the show would be rated X...

[Jon]

Posted: 12/9/04 at 4:00pm

There's also the movie version, but it virtually eliminates the historical characters except Evelyn Nesbit.

[son_of_a_gunn_25]

Posted: 12/9/04 at 4:06pm

The book has much more detail that they could not fit into the musical. I think reading it would help you develop your character moreso than looking at the script alone. The script is not Ragtime's strongest point so you will want to look to sources outside the script to help develop your character.

[StickToPriest]

Posted: 12/9/04 at 4:07pm

CATS, is that the "closet" incident?

[Kimsus123]

Posted: 12/9/04 at 4:07pm

great thanks! i was cast as evelyn so maybe it will help me to get to know her better. i just heard that the book was COMPLETELY different and i didn't really want to waste my time reading it if it wasn't going to help at all. ya know?

Updated On: 12/9/04 at 04:07 PM

[cturtle]

Posted: 12/9/04 at 4:08pm

kim, what part did ya get?

[Kimsus123]

Posted: 12/9/04 at 4:15pm

I was cast as evelyn nesbit

[CATSNYrevival]

Posted: 12/9/04 at 4:18pm

haha, priest, wouldn't you like to know... ummm... yes. it is.

[Mister Matt]

Posted: 12/9/04 at 4:19pm

I was thinking about the closet part as well! LOL

The book is very unusual, but fascinating. After reading it, you'll probably be upset at the way the musical turned out (I found it frustrating). So many of the characters' relationships were dropped. For example: Emma Goldman and Evelyn Nesbitt, Evelyn Nesbitt and Tateh, Houdini and the family, Archduke Ferdinand and Houdini, etc.

[Mister Matt]

Posted: 12/9/04 at 4:19pm

I was thinking about the closet part as well! LOL

The book is very unusual, but fascinating. After reading it, you'll probably be upset at the way the musical turned out (I found it frustrating). So many of the characters' relationships were dropped. For example: Emma Goldman and Evelyn Nesbitt, Evelyn Nesbitt and Tateh, Houdini and the family, Archduke Ferdinand and Houdini, etc.

[marincrazy11]

Posted: 12/9/04 at 5:07pm

congratluations, first off. I think the book has a lot more detail than the show does, obviously. But I would highly recommend reading the book anyways, becuase it's a great book.

[Borstalboy]

Posted: 12/9/04 at 5:09pm

The book RAGTIME is one of my favorites. I have avoided the musical like the plague.

[EvelynNesbit1906]

Posted: 12/9/04 at 5:43pm

You may want to watch Marilyn Monroe perform "Diamonds Are a Girl's Best Friends" in the movie GENTLEMEN PREFER BLONDES to understand the character of Evelyn Nesbit as she is written for the musical Ragtime. LOL.

I think it would be interesting if you tried to play Nesbit closer to how she's written in the novel, but of course even that is just an interpretation of the real woman. It leaves out major details of her life for the purpose of making her a more sympathetic character -- such as that by the time she had run off to become a ragtime dancer, she had a child (allegedly by Harry Thaw, who vehemently denied paternity) and was beginning to exploit him as the costar in her Fox films, which were typically some variation on her affair with Stanford White or the murder that predated her son's existence. The novel understands her more as a wife in the same sense of Mother, except wealthier and suddenly making headline news for her role in a murder trial. The musical understands her as a freak act without much consideration of the role that she played in high society before Willie Hammerstein signed her to perform at the Victoria. For that reason, I think you may be better off doing an interpretation of her that more closely resembles Lynette Perry's than trying to play the real Nesbit, or even Nesbit as written in the novel.

The scene at the end of Chapter 8 is the cut scene on the newly released DVD of Milos Forman's film, btw.

I don't think Kimsus would be upset about how the musical turned out after reading the book. I'm possibly Ragtime's biggest fan and certainly the biggest fan of Evelyn Nesbit (perhaps tied with Paula Uruburu, who's biography of her was supposed to be forthcoming NINE YEARS AGO!). But I enjoy watching all of the portraits of her, even Elizabeth McGovern's inaccurate take on her as daffy and unaware of the seriousness of her situation in the movie Ragtime. I know people in Hollywood and even theater won't have the same passion for this woman as I do, but nonetheless, I'm happy that her story is being shared at all. It's such a fun, sordid piece of forgotten history. If people want to know the truth about her or about the novel Ragtime after seeing the musical, then they can pursue that.

But in the meantime, I can't sympathize with those who refuse to see adaptations! You don't know what you're missing out on...

[Mister Matt]

Posted: 12/9/04 at 5:59pm

Evelyn's appearance in the musical is so brief, it wouldn't make much sense to try and add much depth to her. She has her number in the beginning and then you see her at the end, but everything else, she's mostly chorus. In the book, she was far more fascinating and sympathetic. Her obsession with Tateh and his daughter was really interesting and the scene with her and Emma (which climaxes in the infamous "closet scene") is quite touching.

Updated On: 12/9/04 at 05:59 PM

[Borstalboy]

Posted: 12/9/04 at 6:02pm

"...like tickertape."

[EvelynNesbit1906]

Posted: 12/9/04 at 6:10pm

I'm still pushing to get the novel adapted into a miniseries, preferably for HBO. There was some talk by people in the entertainment industry about presenting it as a dramatic miniseries in the late '70s and as a musical miniseries (based on Ahrens and Flaherty's show) in the late '90s. Many fans still seem to think that the project has a lot of merit either way. I'm going to E-mail one of the professors in my department (Frank Galati, director of the Broadway version) and see what he knows about the rights. For all we know, there may already be some adaptations in the works. Updated On: 12/9/04 at 06:10 PM

[CATSNYrevival]

Posted: 12/9/04 at 6:14pm

oh, gosh... please oh please include the closet scene! and I want it just as it is in the book... flying outwards in an arch and exploding with a moan or something like that...

[LittleFish8386]

Posted: 12/9/04 at 7:12pm

Cats, is that picture in your icon you?

[Kimsus123]

Posted: 12/9/04 at 7:27pm

thanks for all the info guys! so is evelyn a pretty well sized part? i'm kinda confused about it because Mister Matt said that she is really only seen in crime of the century and then later towards the end. I know the show is pretty much all music, but doesn't she have a little bit of a speaking role? sorry about all the questions but i really know NOTHING about this show.. all i know is the music and it is absolutely AMAZINGGGGG

[EvelynNesbit1906]

Posted: 12/9/04 at 7:36pm

This is the extent of Evelyn Nesbit's role in Ragtime:

1) "Prologue" -- the narration of the shooting at Madison Square Garden and its three principal players
2) "Crime of the Century"
3) Hounded by the press after her performance of "Crime of the Century" over the details of the shooting -- only to be saved by Younger Brother, whom she dismisses for being too nice, too poor, etc.
4) "Atlantic City" in Act 2
5) Brief squabble with Tateh in Act 2 over her acting skills
6) Line in the epilogue.

She's also mentioned by Tateh and Emma Goldman in the songs "Success" and "Night That Goldman Spoke at Union Square," as well as by The Little Boy, who asks, "Is Evelyn Nesbit the harlot of Babylon?"

It is a small role in relation to Mother, Coalhouse and even Younger Brother.

[Kimsus123]

Posted: 12/9/04 at 7:51pm

damnn i have to hand it to ya! you konw EVERYTHING about her! thanks SOO much for all the help

[EvelynNesbit1906]

Posted: 12/9/04 at 10:33pm

I know another BroadwayWorld.com poster who played Evelyn Nesbit in a recent production of Ragtime. Her interpretation (even in terms of appearance) almost completely diverged from what the novel and the Broadway production tell us about the character. The good thing about this role is that spectators tend to go into the show knowing very little if anything about Nesbit, whereas Henry Ford, JP Morgan, Booker T. Washington, etc. are familiar names. You can play off their unfamiliarity. Have fun with the role.

Posted: 12/9/04 at 11:25pm

There's actually a line in one of the Ragtime songs refering to the brother masturbating, but I can't remember it exactly.

I think Ragtime is a *great* musical-McNally did an amazing job adapting an impossible to adapt book.

E

[SallyBrown]

Posted: 12/9/04 at 11:29pm

I'm reading it now, and erm I just got past Chapter 8..heh erm..i just hope my mom doesnt see that, I'm gonna keep going with the book tho

and i should hope that part is not in the musical..lol

and that part about Houdini and the Barnum and Bailey circus is weird too..thats freaky! lol

but i do like the book so far, I've never really had a listen to the musical, maybe I should, I will