Ragtime question (What a Game)

[gavrochegirl]

Posted: 11/12/05 at 4:10pm

I've read the libretto of Ragtime, and have read that during What A Game, The Little Boy catches a baseball during the song. Can anyone tell me how they did that? Thanks a bunch!

[best12bars]

Posted: 11/12/05 at 4:12pm

They had a trick glove. The ball was actually hidden inside of it and popped "out" appearing to be caught in the center of it. The chorus went into "slow motion" right before that.

It was fun and very effective.

[gavrochegirl]

Posted: 11/12/05 at 4:13pm

Thank you!

[Fosse76]

Posted: 11/12/05 at 10:48pm

I've always thought that song should have occurred later in ACt II, when the show gets really heavy.

[Jazzysuite82]

Posted: 11/12/05 at 11:06pm

It's kind of hard for that to happen. They go to Atlantic City soon after that number. There's no baseball games on the boardwalk. Also, father then leaves to deal with the situation in NY. I don't think he's worrying about baseball at that point. I think that song would be anti-climactic to happen in the middle of the thickening plot. I like the heaviness at the end. It's one of the reasons why ya leave the theatre so moved.

[Pasty]

Posted: 11/12/05 at 11:26pm

the way our school did it, we had everyone in the stands just "look" at a ball flying towards them, and their heads suddenly go to the boy's glove as if there actually was a ball in the air and fell into his glove. It looks very real.

[Fosse76]

Posted: 11/13/05 at 1:16pm

I wasn't talking in terms of plot. The show gets dragged down by the end of the first act because it gets too heavy-handed. After after six months of performances in Chicago, it can get very weary.

[The Distinctive Baritone]

Posted: 11/13/05 at 2:00pm

I played Father a little while ago...our Little Boy just mimed catching it...not quite as neat

[Jazzysuite82]

Posted: 11/13/05 at 3:21pm

Fosse, you've now confused me. HOw is if heavy-handed if you weren't talking about plot. What are you talking about being heavy handed. Secondly, What a game is at the beginning-middle of the second act. I still feel that both acts crescendo nicely to a climax.

[Urban]

Posted: 11/13/05 at 9:54pm

If anything I think "What A Game" happens to late in Act II. I think the song is much more of an Act I or very early Act II song.

[Fosse76]

Posted: 11/13/05 at 10:56pm

Ragtime has too many heavy songs as it gets closer to the finish of Act II. A light-hearted 'fun' song would have been greatly appreciated towards the end as opposed to the power ballads.

[sweetestsiren]

Posted: 11/13/05 at 11:09pm

I love this song. I love the placement, I think it's perfect. Actually, not gonna lie, I love everything about this show.

I think that it's a great number to have towards the middle of Act II. You can see that things are starting to spiral out of control and Father is trying to diffuse the tension and cling to his fading Victorian idealism. It's amazing comic relief, and yet a profound statement about the changing tides of society.

Placing it further into Act II would've really interfered with the pacing (and timeline) of the show. And it's not as though it's all powerful ballads from that point on--there are still "Buffalo Nickel Photoplay, Inc." and "Atlantic City," which are rather lighthearted numbers. I agree that both acts get darker as they go along and build to great climaxes.
Updated On: 11/13/05 at 11:09 PM

[Jazzysuite82]

Posted: 11/13/05 at 11:42pm

and as I said before, it wouldn't make sense for father to take his family to Atlantic City (to get away from everything) only to take his son away from AC to see a baseball game. The closet place they could go to is Philadelphia, which is at least an hour away from AC