WHY PEOPLE CALL THE VERY FIRST RAGTIME OVERPRODUCED ? — Page 2

I adore Donna Bullock. The voice of an angel and a wonderful actress and comedienne. I'm always surprised she isn';t more well known.

Do you happen to know what's become of her? The last I remember hearing from her in NY was way back when she was in A Class Act.

With regards to casting in the original production, the Broadway replacement Coalhouse, Alton Fitzgerald White, was absolutely magnificent. A beautiful voice, and a truly fantastic performance. Definitely right up there with Stokes.

Darrington is excellent, particularly in act 2. He's improved tenfold since he played the role at Papermill, where he was something of a non-entity.

There is no question, however, that this is absolutely Noll's show. It's a towering performance, one that may well net her her first Tony. And yes, because of her performance, it does feel like Mother's show now. I was actually surprised that Mother didn't take the final bow (Coalhouse still does).

best12bars, I saw the current production down in DC and I went to the first preview on Friday night and both times I was blown away by Quentin Earl Darrington. His performance has grown by leaps and bounds even from DC to New York and he's doing a really fantastic job with the piece. He was definitely one of the standouts for me in the cast, along with Christiane Noll, Stephanie Umoh, and Bobby Steggert. There really is not a weak link in this cast though and they're all working as a cohesive company which was something I felt was missing in DC, much as I loved the show when I saw it there. The few casting changes they made between DC and New York have really helped them.

oldschool, to me the original and massive set design worked for The Ford Center, especially if you were sitting farther back in the theatre.

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There was also, I believe, a Vancouver production.

I liked reading everyone's responses, but WillRogers2008, did you have to yell?? Geez.

Well, considering Garth Drabinsky actually built the theater around the show, with the assumption it would be around a decade or two, yeah there is an argument about overproduction.

With RAGTIME, both the OBC and the non-eq tour, it seems WHO you saw as Coalhouse/Sarah and WHERE you sat in the theatre had quite a lot to do with one's impression of the show.

I saw the OBC with both Alton Fitzgerald White/LaChanze and again with Stokes/ Audra in the first 10 rows of the orch, and years later saw the non-equity tour (front row) and I must say that it is one of the only times I preferred the tour to the Broadway counterpart. AND I preferred both Alton/LaChanze to Stokes/Audra IN THE ROLES, though I am glad to have the latter on the cast album (though Alton and LaChanze are no slouches!). But, I must say, from the binoculars to the swing to the Houdini tricks to the crowd control choreography - it was just TOO much of a good thing. And I NEVER say that, but on Bway it was just... overproduced. And overproduced beyond what the sentimental book or mostly treacly (sorry!) music could handle... certainly beyond what MR.GALATI could handle at least (I think Graciela could have made it work better on her own).

And the cast of the non-eq tour was quite good, and I thought it was brilliant casting almost across the board. An actress of very short stature (well below 5 feet) played Sarah in a very demure and "scared" way and her Coalhoouse was a very imposing figure (maybe a bit too "nice", but that's ok) and it made their relationship work quite well - better than it had for me with Alton/LaChanze or Stokes/Audra. Both Audra and LaChanze were, as someone said before, too "Broadway" for the role.

And every time I see the show I want to gouge my eyes out whenever Tateh appears. SHEESH I hate that subplot, UGH! I think Rubinstein is probably the ONLY actor I can think of who MAY have been able to hold my attention. I HATE that material though and I think it REALLY hurts the show, even worse than the (cut for the tour) Nesbitt sections, which I actually missed.

Then again, I am one of those people that thinks RAGTIME could use some judicious cutting, particularly a bunch of the book scenes and chorus numbers (and, in a perfect world, the aforementioned deadly Tateh material).

I'm not a huge fan of the show, but I've seen it three times so I thought I'd add my two cents to the conversation and it seems I am the only one here who saw the non-eq tour so we at least have that!

P

The LA young boy was Blake Ewing who has turned into a very talented young man. Not mentioned from the LA company and who were terrific are Jason Graae as Houdini and Susan Wood as Evelyn. While I didn't find the show perfect, the LA production was just stellar.

bk---Blake Ewing was so terrific as the Young Boy. There was both an optimistic sincerity and an awkward sadness in his performance. And what a voice!

I didn't fully appreciate him until I saw others attempt the role. There was no comparison. He was leaps and bounds beyond the others.

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"What were the binoculars?"


I think Pgenre is referring to the giant stereoscope viewer at the beginning of the show.

(which I loved!)

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"Don't forget the Chicago sit-down!

Did anyone see Stephanie Mills as Sarah? I'm dying to know what it was like."

It was already mentioned. Stephanie Mills and John Davidson came into the show towards the end of the run, replacing LaChanze and Joseph Dellger, respectively. And she was horrendous.