Who actually saw RAGTIME?- Page 3

[Eastwickian]

Posted: 12/11/06 at 12:27pm

Double post Updated On: 12/11/06 at 12:27 PM

[Eastwickian]

Posted: 12/11/06 at 12:28pm

Stonewall - Ragtime in Concert was broadcast on UK television in 2002 with Maria Freidman heading (most of) the cast who later opened the show at the Piccadilly Theatre, London in 2003. It has never been commercially available.

Didn't one of the North American productions(Toronto/LA/Broadway) have a television making-of filmed?
Info on the London 'Ragtime'

[FrontRowCenter2]

Posted: 12/11/06 at 12:33pm

Saw the original cast on broadway and it is one of my all time favorites.

As far as I'm concerned, it is one of the most spectacular openings of any show, ever!

[nmartin]

Posted: 12/11/06 at 12:41pm

I can't express how much I loved this show. I saw the OBC with the exception of Evelyn Nesbit; however, the woman who played her was wonderful. I will never forget the number New Music. There was something about it that was very moving: the lights, the costumes, the set, the music and the staging...Magic.

[sweetestsiren]

Posted: 12/11/06 at 12:43pm

There was a making of of one of the North American productions (Toronto, perhaps?), Eastwickian. I remember seeing it before I saw the show, but I don't recall the specifics.

[James Sims]

Posted: 12/11/06 at 12:45pm

I have to agree with an earlier post that the Los Angeles cast (pre Broadway) was better than the OBC. I saw both casts, and there was something about the L.A. production at the now closed Shubert Theatre that struck a deeper emotional chord.

[Sant]

Posted: 12/11/06 at 12:52pm

I live on the other side of the world (North Europe) but was lucky enough to see this show. None of the OBC members were in, LaChanze was Sarah.

It was really powerful show which should still be on Broadway.

[avab802]

Posted: 12/11/06 at 1:32pm

I saw the OBC and I absolutely loved it. None of my friends wanted to go with me, so I decided to go alone because I wanted to see it that badly. Being a poor college student, I bought the cheapest ticket I could get in the very last row of the house. I was enthralled the entire time and by the end I was crying so hard I was shaking. It's definitely one of the best and most memorable experiences I've had in a theater, and it remains one of my favorite shows.

I also saw the replacement cast on Broadway not long before it closed, but nothing will ever beat that first time.

[GYPSY1527]

Posted: 12/11/06 at 2:38pm

I saw the OBC and it was the first broadway show I fell in love with. I had seen other shows before then but this was the first one I remember being completly in awe of. I have a very distinct memory of one of the last scenes when Coalhouse dies and I recall thingking to myself "please don't die" with tears stremming down my face. After the show I remember turning to my mother and asking her for the cd. I tell people that this show basically started my adoration for Broadway. Sure I had seen other shows before Ragtime but this did it in for me. I was won over after that!

[Jazzysuite82]

Posted: 12/11/06 at 3:31pm

I loved this show and personally I don't really like LaChanze's voice. It always sounds a little damaged to me. Anyway I remember being enthralled with this show. It really opened my eyes to Audra, Marin and Stokes. It was an emotional rollar coaster. I mean so many incredible moments. I will never forget after the curtain went down on the button of the First Act. There was literally a 5 sec gap before the audience got themselves together to clap. As an audience we were emotionally drained by what we had just seen. I will never forget that collective gasp after that act. People were crying and generally stunned. I love this show. I love the score, I loved the performances (I've seen 3 casts), I loved the spectacle.

[fiyero8132]

Posted: 12/11/06 at 3:41pm

Ragtime was my first Broadway show so, needless to say, it has a special place in my heart. The cast I saw included:
Alton Fitzgerald White as Coalhouse
Lachanze as Sarah
Donna Bullock as Mother
John Rubinstein as Tateh
John Dosset as Father
Janine LaManna as Evelyn Nesbit
Judy Kaye as Emma Goldman etc...
It was an incredible performance. Stephen Flaherty, Lynn Ahrens and Terrence McNally have given us one of the most beautiful shows of all time. I even had the great privelege of being in a production of it a few years ago...

[JohnPopa]

Posted: 12/11/06 at 4:14pm

I saw the original production but Marin Mazzie was out that night. I thought it was a great, polished and emotional show (and, believe me, I'm not normally a big Flaherty and Ahrens fan.) But I thought the performances, particularly Peter Friedman, were all top notch and they carried the story, as well as some of the weaker passages. It's not a perfect show but I think it's really good and the original production is one I'm happy I got to see.

[nobodyhome]

Posted: 12/11/06 at 4:17pm

There have been rumors that it's going to be done at City Opera, in the Papermill physical production but with as many of the original principals as they can get.

I saw the Broadway production twice, once in previews and once near the end of the run. I went a second time hoping I might like it more, but I didn't.

There is much that was good about it, but overall I felt it missed the boat as an adaptation of the novel (which I think is a source that could have made a great musical) in several ways. It tended to conventionalize the source material and it telescoped aspects of the novel in ways that trivialized some of the characters in order to allow more time for others, thus losing much of the collage effect. This might have been fine had the characters upon whom it focused most been better-written, but I find much of the writing for Coalhouse and Mother questionable. Choices were consistently made to reduce complexity. Yes, I know that the show could only be about two and a half hours, but I still think that too many questionable choices were made.

The trivialization of Evelyn Nesbitt's character was particularly damaging as it affected not only her but Younger Brother as well, making him ridiculous. What seemed to be a lack of clear thought about Coalhouse's terrorism was also a major problem. Mother's coming out and telling us about what she's gone through in "Back to Before" was boriing and ineffective dramatically. It really needed to be addressed more obliquely. The total loss of Tateh's wife as a character was also unfortunate.

Still, there were places where they got things really right. I particularly liked "Sarah Brown Eyes" and "He Wanted to Say" (the latter now inexplicably eiher gone altogether or optional). The baseball number was also effective and the Henry Ford number.

Of the closing cast, I actually preferred Alton Fitzgerald White's more reserved Coalhouse to Brian Stokes Mitchell's more overtly emotional one and Donna Bullock's more human Mother to Marin Mazzie's Mother-as-Superwoman performance. OTOH, Michael Rupert was miscast as Tateh.
Updated On: 12/11/06 at 04:17 PM

[Jud Faginsky]

Posted: 12/11/06 at 7:36pm

I have seen Ragtime twice. Sadly, not the Broadway or LA casts, though. I saw the national tour, which was fabulous and the best show I had ever seen (out of 150 or so professional shows). Then I saw it staged at the Sacramento Music Circus in the round. It was even better. The Sacramento Music Circus is fairly intimate, despite the fact that there are 2500 seats. But since it is in the round, there are only about 20 rows, so everyone has a great seat. This production was extremely emotional and powerful. The music is amazing, as I'm sure everyone responding to this thread would agree. But I think you get more emotional punch from a show where you can see the actor's expressions. So even though I didn't see the Broadway production, I would have to agree that any revival should be done in a smaller theater for more impact.

[WalkOn]

Posted: 12/11/06 at 7:47pm

I saw the original cast in Toronto and the orginal Los Angeles cast.

I thought the show as a whole was somewhat overproduced but the emotional whallop was devestating.

As much as I love Audra McDonald, I didn't believe her as an ignorant girl desperate enough to bury her baby. LaChanze, however, convinced me.

As for Mother, to me Marin Mazzie owns the role.

And while I adore Judy Kaye, I found Camille Saviola as Emma Goldman to be more focused and intense as I imangine the real Emma Goldman was.

[jewishboy]

Posted: 12/11/06 at 8:05pm

So I guess no one saw Heather Headley as Sarah. Oh well, she was probably wonderful.

[Danielm]

Posted: 12/11/06 at 8:12pm

I saw it and really loved it, despite the fact that there was a little girl sitting next to me who whined all through the first act. I finally shushed her--at the intermission her parents had the nerve to tell me I was rude. At the time it was rare for me to be able to see shows this expensive but I saved up and went without lunches for a few weeks.

I still loved the show and have seen some very good semi-professional and amateur productions it holds up well even when not done big.

[jennifer1221]

Posted: 12/11/06 at 8:42pm

i've never really "seen" it but i was in it. It was really a beautiful story. i loved being apart of it very much.

[Mr Roxy]

Posted: 12/11/06 at 8:44pm

Loved it from the first moment I heard the concept album

The show was great & deserved to win the Tony & have a much longer life. Strongest score in years & to me the last great American musical

One of my favorite cast albums

[frontrowcentre2]

Posted: 12/12/06 at 1:50pm

I'm curious, frontrowcentre2---How was the size of the theatre (both the house and the stage) in Toronto? Was the show swallowed up (a bit) by "distance" the way it was on Broadway?
I seem to sense that the show had slightly more impact in Toronto than it did in with the OBC... and with virtually the same cast. So that's why I'm curious.

The North York Performing Arts Centre was built in 1992 and opened in 1993 with the world premiere of Hal Prince's SHOW BOAT. It is a beautiful 1800 seat theater that even from the last row retains a fairly intimate feel. After SHOW BOAT, Livent did SUNSET BLVD there to terrible reviews (mine included) and poor business. Then came RAGTIME which redeemed them for SUNSET and then some. Most if not all the Toronto reviews were raves and although the nearly 3-hour show needed a bit of trimming, it was in excellent shape for a world premiere.

The theatre in New York was, I thought, comparable although my seats were row F. In Toronto (admittedly opening night) the show was fresh. In New York (three days before the 1998 Tony awards) it was even more confident yet almost too slick and smooth. Still both viewings were thoroughly enjoyable and the ovation at the end of the Broadway performance - particularly for Brian Stokes Mitchell - was deafening, the likes of which I have seldom heard.

Sadly the North York Performing Arts Centre (Later the Ford Centre and now the Toronto Centre for the Arts) was a victim of the collapse of Livent and today is sadly under-used. A few one-night concerts here and there, and every fall a Chinese Kung fu show plays a 2 week run.)

[JRybka]

Posted: 12/12/06 at 2:26pm

My dad paid poo loads of cash for me to see it when i went up to New York to see it. They had just been nominated on we saw it the VERY NEXT NIGHT. The whole cast was in it and I think the minute the opening number finished I was full of goose bumps and my tears where totally about to burst. It will go down as one of my top THREE moments in theater history EVER! After my dad suprised me with a backstage access to meet Brian Stokes, Marin and Audra... they were so nice. It was hands down the nicest thing my day ever did for me. (well okay there have been other things but it was one of the nicest things)

[JohnBoy2]

Posted: 12/12/06 at 2:38pm

Michael Rupert was miscast as Tateh.

Not in my opinion. I preferred him in the tour, to Peter Friedman, on Broadway.

[JRybka]

Posted: 12/12/06 at 2:59pm

I love Michael Rupert. I saw him on the tour and thought he was amazing.

[jmnpublications]

Posted: 12/12/06 at 3:30pm

I saw the Papermill and Boston (New Rep) productions, and both were magnificent examples of how a cast working as a true ensemble does service to the material. In each case, the actors stood out not because they were giving bravura performances but because they were living in the skin of their characters.

Here's a link to my review of the New Rep production:


New Rep Review

[tgrabon]

Posted: 12/12/06 at 4:22pm

One of my finest nights in a theatre was experiencing Ragtime on Bway in 1998. The original Broadway staging and cast were phenomenal. I saw Ragtime again in Chicago at the end of the tour. John Davidson played Father and Stephanie Mills was Sarah. They were both excellent. I would love to see Stephanie Mills on stage again. The Children Of Eden CD is one of my favorites because Miss Mills is on it.