What's the deal with Rags?

[Theatreboy33]

Posted: 10/14/06 at 10:10am

So i picked up the Rags OBCR the other day for the first time and gave it a listen. For me, this is a far better score than Ragtime, which it seems to share many similarities with. So what's the story of the original production? Was it a failure? If so, why?

[ILUVTOMG]

Posted: 10/14/06 at 10:23am

i saw the final sat matinee of the original production. very odd show. at times it just soared but there were moments that were jaw-droppingly bad. the score is beautiful but, like CHESS, the book did it in. it's also the only time i've ever bought a ticket to a show hoping that the leading lady (teresa stratas) would be out so i could see her standby (christine andreas). it was revived maybe 14 yrs ago (?) at the American Jewish Theatre but that didn't work very well either.

[leefowler]

Posted: 10/14/06 at 10:27am

You're right about the score, but the show's a mess. I saw it on Broadway, where it ran less than a week, I think. It had huge ambitions, which it didn't even begin to fulfill, but my God, what a beautiful score!

[JamieMcG]

Posted: 10/14/06 at 11:07am

Hey there,

thought I'd chime in...what I've been told by some of the show's creators is that the show was a hit in it's Boston tryout. You couldn't get a ticket. But being that it was kind of a dark time for Broadway, the many producers didn't trust it and were afraid of the NY critics who would kill nearly everything. So they hired a lot of new staff to bring it into NYC. A lot of changes were made to a show that was already experiencing some good success and it killed it...too many cooks if you will.

I'm proud to say that the concert will be a premiere of a new book and a reworked score. They've gone through many versions of the show over the years, but the one we will be presenting seems to be the most focused and streamlined they have come to.

[ShuQ]

Posted: 10/14/06 at 12:44pm

Well the book that R&H has published is ghastly. The score definitely has some outstanding moments, some real greats, but others are just lackluster.

[notabb]

Posted: 10/14/06 at 1:37pm

Jaime ,when do tickets go on sale. glad you are at a new venue

[JamieMcG]

Posted: 10/14/06 at 4:12pm

Thanks. To be quite honest, I'm more glad about the venue change than you. To give a quick brief insight...this year, the Manhattan Center offered us the room again, BUT my whole audience...1200 people would have to enter through the new yorker hotel lobby, cram in small elevators and then walk endlessly down those nasty, dirty single-file hallways into the theater...I couldn't even THINK of doing that to people...then when we saw the Nokia and met the really kind, great people who run it, it seemed a perfect fit. The stage is smaller, but it's brand new, all state-of-the-art equipment. I think it's going to be good.

Anyway, tickets go on sale on Monday night (Oct 16th) at 5pm via ticketmaster or in person at the Nokia box office. We also have some exciting casting announcements coming this week :) I want to say, but I can't just yet...but I think you will all be as excited as I am.

[notabb]

Posted: 10/16/06 at 6:27pm

alright you RAGS fans, tickets are on sale at Ticketmaster now. See you there

[Caroline-Q-or-TBoo]

Posted: 10/16/06 at 6:38pm

I think I must be the one person who really doesn't like the Rags score.

Ragtime's is far superior in my opinion