Musical

Ragtime rises up onto the DC theatre scene. Ever since I grabbed my copy of the Toronto Premier Cast Recording and popped it in my CD player, I have been hooked on the music of Ragtime. For years I have awaited a revival of the classic musical by the team of Ahrens and Flaherty. I have fond memories of sitting in the Ford Center in New York as well as the Shubert Theatre in LA fully absorbed in the beauty and power that is this show. Perhaps if it wasn?t for the artful thievery of the original producer Garth Drabinsky and the tremendous splash of The Lion King, Ragtime would have received a better run on the Great White Way. So all of us poor fans rely on various You Tube and Cast recordings to fuel our lust for the show. It was with eager hands I shelled out the keys to my checking account and secured my airline and theatre tickets anticipating the approaching date like a child awaiting Christmas morning. And then it happened. Santa Claus disappeared. As the curtain arose, I became immediately aware that this version was to be stripped down in its presentation. This is something I have come to expect from today?s deteriorating economy and I have to hand it to Derek McLane, it looked pretty. The steel trussed landings and staircases gobble up plenty of space on the stage and help to reinforce the theme of industrialization which plays well into the strife of Tata and Emma Goldman?s story. Unfortunately, this narrowed the main stage playing area by approximately fifteen feet. Most of the time this was not a concern as it helped to shrink the massive stage to create an intimate playing space. However, it became an issue when cast members engaged in the infamous opening number. What is to be a tapestry of different cultures unable to matriculate, became a hodgepodge of people searching for their space, or its worst case, actors running across the hundreds of feet of platforming to find their space. You could tell the director had the intentions but the available stage space didn?t allow for it. While I love the reimagining of classical pieces, Cabaret, Chicago, these re-imaginations must not lose sight of the meaning of the original piece. It?s not so much about making it pretty as it is about making it functional. This lack of stage space was recovered because what the stage lost in width it blew up in height. Using no false proscenium, the massive set towers over the performers. One of the common complaints from the original Broadway design was that the scenery would hide the performers; this set doesn?t hide the cast as much as it devours it. Often throughout the show my eyes were unable to focus on the scene at hand as the directorial concept had the actors several feet above each other on the stage. When I say several feet I mean about twenty to thirty feet. I understand the importance of power conveyed through the multiple levels of staging. I get it, but does it have to go up to the top of the stage. Often the director chooses to leave the center elevations empty choosing to use the highest most point of the set. Which confused the viewer and had their eyes bouncing around like a Brittany Spears video. ?Fierce?. The directorial decisions of Marcia Milgrom Dodge did nothing to create characters and scenes that really mattered. I felt my eyes shifting high and low too often to become engrossed in any plot. The end of Act One, which still pushes me to tears in the confines of my car?s CD player, didn?t raise so much as a whimper or a shiver. The death of the leads, yes they die, was so contrived that I didn?t feel any pain for them. Perhaps I am desensitized to the powerful message of the strobe lights, drum beats, and center spots to indicate the assassination of the central characters, but as each character died I felt like I was at a cheap disco. These lame special effects do nothing to reinforce the power conveyed by the deaths of the main characters. You use live fire to shoot at the audience, but not at the characters that are killed on stage, Why? Were you aiming for me? As I left the theatre I came to the realization that I have been robbed of my memories. It is unfortunate that this presentation has replaced my fond memories of the show. The audience seemed luke warm to the show the stood and clapped but who doesn?t when they shell out $75.00 for a ticket. Conversation among audience members focused very little on the show that they viewed which was depressing, as Ragtime deserves better. On a lighter note, if you came for the music then you will definitely leave happy. The orchestra sounded beautiful under the artful direction of James Moore and all of the cast members handled the vocal material with the utmost care and precision.

rating: no rating  ·  posted on 4/19/2009 at 11:55 PM

Ragtime Merchandise

Magnet $9.95	Baseball Hat $19.95
Coffee Mug $14.95	Poster $19.95

 

 

 

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