BWW Q&A: Robert Mark Morgan on RAGTIME at STAGES St. Louis

At the dawn of a new century, everything is changing and anything is possible. A sweeping musical portrait of early twentieth-century America, RAGTIME, tells the story of three families united by courage, compassion, and a belief in not only the American dream, but the promise of tomorrow. Told through a dazzling array of musical styles from the era, this Tony Award-Winning musical is bursting with emotion and hope as the surprising interconnections of the heart are discovered and history’s timeless contradictions of wealth and poverty, freedom and prejudice, and hope and despair are confronted.

STAGES St. Louis is the region’s foremost not-for-profit company committed to preserving and advancing the art form of Musical Theatre through excellence in performance and education. In 2024, STAGES celebrates its 38th Season of producing Broadway-quality theatre, presenting 140 performances from June through October to nearly 50,000 patrons.

Rob is a speaker, professor and researcher on creativity and design at Washington University in St. Louis and author of “The Art of Scenic Design: A Practical Guide to the Creative Process.” He has designed for film, theme parks, and at major regional theatres including Denver Center for the Performing Arts, Old Globe, Repertory Theatre of St. Louis, Asolo Rep, Indiana Repertory Theatre, Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park, Studio Arena, Cleveland Play House, San Jose Repertory Theatre, MUNY, Alliance Theatre (Atlanta), Barrington Stage, Marin Theatre Company, Magic Theatre, and American Conservatory Theatre in San Francisco. www.morgansetdesign.com

What drew you to work on RAGTIME at STAGES St. Louis?

I was approached by Artistic Director Gayle Seay to design Ragtime and connected to Stages St. Louis via my good friend and colleague Sean Savoie who is a lighting designer and lit this production. As often happens in the theatre world, landing an opportunity to design this epic musical is as much about who you know as what you know how to do.

Can you share your interpretation of the story and themes of RAGTIME and how they influenced your set design?

We talked about the intersectionality of a train station as a potential volume for the piece and found ourselves drawn to Penn Station (constructed actually a bit later in 1910) which was a cathedral of soaring archways made of steel. Something about a train station seemed right as it is this intersectionality of that volume that is a microcosm of the intersectionality of New York City itself - a place where cultures mix and collide and where different races are forced to somehow find a balance between "fitting in" in this new world while also maintaining their individuality and fighting for what is right for them and their families.

How did the historical context of RAGTIME influence your design decisions?

The journey for the design began months ago and was a discussion stimulated by visual research. The wonderful director Deidre Goodwin and I culled nearly 500 images pulled from a variety of sources and landed about 40 of them that became 'touchstone' images. A visual theme that found its way into the design was the concept of silhouette. The Jewish immigrant Tateh cuts silhouettes and shadows and silhouettes permeate this early American world amidst the hustle and bustle of New York City. That silhouette thread influenced other design decisions from the Model T car to the boughs of the trees in the New Rochelle scenes.

How did you incorporate Aaron Douglas's artistic style into your scenic design for the production?

Aaron Douglas has long been a favorite painter of mine and this show seemed the perfect vehicle for paying homage to him and his art. Douglas was raised in Topeka, Kansas and became known through his art as one of the most influential Harlem Renaissance artists of his age. The broad and sweeping majestic arcs of color in his work seemed a perfect parallel to the sweeping architecture of Penn Station. With a big, beautiful Aaron Douglas scrim downstage of a beautifully painted Penn Station drop, we are able to blend and bleed from one to the other with light. It's gives us a great deal of flexibility of look in a very shallow stage space.

What were some of the challenges you encountered when designing the set for RAGTIME?

Driving a car onstage is always a challenge! In this instance, we modified a 1998 golf cart and embraced the silhouette idea by creating a silhouette Model T car. It's an important prop as an enormous source of pride for Coalhouse Walker, but a difficult one to modify for an indoor stage. It's impossible to drive a real car onstage due to fluids and exhaust issues. Every onstage car I've had to design is a challenge.

Why must audiences come and see the show?

As much as I am a fan of the visual world, the reason why audiences should see this piece is so they can HEAR this show. The voices are astounding. One beautiful and special thing about being a designer is that I (literally) get a front-row seat to see artists at the 'top of their game' do what they do. Starting with Tamar Greene as Coalhouse Walker and permeating every single character on the stage, the voices of Ragtime will give you chills and make you grateful to be alive in the "room-where-it-happens" to hear them. Deidre has assembled some of the most angelic and powerful voices onstage in one production. I have NEVER heard anything like it and may likely never again. You can't hear these voices in the images, but I wish you could.

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