Broadway musicals come in all different shapes and sizes. The small and cute, "You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown" and "Little Shop of Horrors;" the grand and extravagant, "Hello Dolly!" and "The King and I;" and the massive and epic, "The Phantom of the Opera," "Les Miserables," and "Ragtime." The latter, the most notable American addition to the list, opens at Marietta's Earl Strand Theatre in a production by the Atlanta Lyric Theatre on Friday. With a book by Terrence McNally, lyrics by Lynn Ahrens, and music by Stephen Flaherty, "Ragtime" opened on Broadway in 1998 and won, amongst others, the Tony Awards for Best Book and Score, and Audra McDonald won her third Tony for playing young-mother, Sarah. The show, set in 1902, combines the joy of a simpler time with the inevitable conflict associated with societal change.
Despite receiving 13 Tony nominations, and regularly playing to full-houses, the show closed after only two years, and many speculated that the show's massive technical requirements, including multiple sized sets of the same house, fireworks, and a working Model-T, led to the show being a financial disappointment. Since closing in 2000, many subsequent productions have looked to play down the technical aspect of the show, and focus instead on the story, based on the 1975 Pulitzer Prize-winning novel by E.L. Doctrow.
"We knew that we would have to really scale back, because we just don't have the space at the Strand," said "Ragtime" director
Alan Kilpatrick, a two-time
Suzi Award winner. "The special effects and smoke and mirrors are lovely, but we are just concentrating on trying to tell the stories."
The stories follow individuals from three different ethnic and social groups in New York City in the early 20th Century; white residents of New Rochelle, Eastern European immigrants, and African-Americans from Harlem. Mixed in amongst the fictional characters, are historical figures from the early 1900's; Emma Goldman,
Harry Houdini, J.P. Morgan, Evelyn Nesbit, and others. The original Broadway cast, like the sets, was impressively large, featuring 51 members and eight swings, a luxury the Lyric could not afford.
Kilpatrick knew that his production would have to be more creative with its casting. "I went with the absolutely bare minimum I could casting-wise," he said. "I have a cast of 25, and I don't see how you could do it with less."
Despite the cast being less than half the size of the original, the 25 cast members is considered large for a local production. Christy Baggett, a four-time Suzi-nominee, who plays Mother, the matriarch of the New Rochelle family, says that the exceptionally talented cast has worked hard to cover the size differences. "The show is truly an ensemble piece. If (cast members) aren't on stage, they are backstage getting into a completely different costume, or they are worrying about what set piece they have to bring on next."
Kilpatrick and Baggett both rave about the talent of the entire cast. "I could go through and name everyone in the show, and say something positive about them," Baggett said before adding, "and I would be genuine about it too."
Like many large musicals, "Ragtime" is nearly completely sung-through, which means that the show's songs far outnumber the scenes of dialogue. The score features songs in a variety of styles; Joplin-inspired ragtime, Jewish-style folk songs, and soaring traditional Broadway showtunes; and since the show contains minimal dialogue, the songs also convey much of the plot and character development. "It's one of the most gorgeous scores I've ever heard," Kilpatrick said, "and the story is told so well through this music."
The characters of "Ragtime" are witness to, and part of, the development of a new era in American history; an era that sees substantial changes coming to their established ways of life. Some of those changes are gained through hard work, and others through violence. Baggett believes that these changes are what are at the center of the show's appeal to audiences. "(We are) looking at three different cultures, three different types of families, and not whether they change, but how they change, and how they embrace the changing times."
In the wake of recent events, including the tragedy in Newtown, Conn., the show's themes of violence, family, and justice have especially resonated with Kilpatrick. "I think the lovely thing about this show is that (the social commentary) is there," he said, "but it's there to whatever degree you want to accept it being there."
Kilpatrick believes, despite the show being a massive undertaking for the cast and crew, that audiences will walk away from "Ragtime" thoroughly entertained. "It's been exhausting, because the piece is so epic," he said, "but (the audience is) going to enjoy one of the most incredible scores ever written, sung by a really talented cast."
In addition to Baggett, the all-star cast includes
Kevin Harry as Coalhouse Walker Jr.,
Jeanette Illidge as Sarah,
Ingrid Cole as Goldman,
Bryant Smith as Father,
Lyndsay Ricketson as Nesbit, Stanley Allyn Owen as Tateh, and
Matthew Kacergis as Younger Brother.
"Ragtime" at the Atlanta Lyric Theatre opens Friday, April 12th and runs through April 28th. To get tickets, call
404-377-9948, or visit their
website.
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