 Ragtime
A Musical in Two Acts, 18 Scenes, a Prologue and Epilogue. Book by
Terrence McNally. Based on the novel of the same name by E. L. Doctorow.
Music by Stephen Flaherty. Lyrics by Lynn Ahrens. Orchestrations by
William David Brohn. Dance music arranged by David Krane. Vocal arrangements
by Stephen Flaherty.
Opened 18 January 1998 at the Ford Center for the Performing Arts and
closed 16 January 2000 after 861 performances.
The Story
PROLOGUE:
On a scrim, twin photographic images appear: turn of the century
men and women, well-off, dignified, all in cream and white. A young
boy, called simply The Little Boy, picks up a stereopticon, raises
it before his eyes, and the two photo-graphic images merge and come
to life.
We are on the front lawn of a home in New Rochelle, New York as
The Little Boy, Mother, Father, Mother's Younger Brother, their family
and neighbours sing of a new era.
Soon their genteel life is interrupted by Negroes from Harlem, and
then by immigrants arriving from Eastern Europe: three distinct cultures
that now must live together.
On the dock in New York Harbour, Mother bids farewell to Father
as he boards the S.S. Roosevelt bound for the North Pole with Admiral
Peary. At sea, leaving the harbour, Father spots a "rag" ship
of immigrants heading to Ellis Island and wonders what these arriving
passengers are in for. On the "rag" ship, an immigrant
named Tateh and his motherless Little Girl see a flare light up the
sky and Father waving, and wonder why anyone would leave this America.
In a courtroom in Manhattan, Evelyn Nesbit testifies in the scandalous
murder trial of her husband, Harry K. Thaw, accused of shooting her
lover, the famous architect Stanford White.
Back in New Rochelle, Mother is planting in her garden when she
discovers a newborn Negro boy buried in the earth. Clutching the
child to her body she wonders "what kind of woman" would
do such a thing. She soon finds out - the police arrive with Sarah,
mute, scared, desperate. The police intend to press charges of attempted
murder, but Mother intercedes - she will take them both, Sarah and
the child, into her home.
At the Tempo Club in Harlem, a crowd gathers to listen to the new
piano playing style of one Coalhouse Walker Jr., a style called Ragtime.
The Coalhouse they find is a man with a broken heart. Sarah, the
woman he loves, has run out on him. But he's determined to change
his ways and win her back.
Once groomed and dressed up, Coalhouse needs only one more thing
to lure Sarah. Suddenly, like an apparition, Henry Ford appears along
with his assembly line. The auto magnate explains his theory of mass
production to Coalhouse and the dapper musician drives off in his
own Model T. But the joy of his new acquisition is soon dampened
when, on his search for Sarah, Coalhouse stops for directions at
the Emerald Isle Firehouse. There Chief Willie Conklin and his burly
buddies hurl racist abuse at Coalhouse and envy his fancy car.
In the attic room in Mother's house, Sarah, clutching her child,
tries to explain to the baby what inspired her act of desperation.
Coalhouse finally finds the house in New Rochelle. When Mother informs
Sarah of his arrival, Sarah asks that he be sent away. Coalhouse
leaves politely, pledging to return each Sunday. Mother is charmed
by the musician's romantic longing. On one Sunday, she invites him
in for tea, and to play on her old Aeolian piano.
Amidst this, Father arrives home unannounced from the North Pole
after a year away. He finds a wife who works, a son who seems all
grown up, Sarah and the baby living in the attic, and Coalhouse at
the piano. He wonders if he belongs here.
Attracted by the gorgeous sounds of Coalhouse's music, Sarah finally
comes down the stairs and falls into his waiting arms.
On a hill overlooking New Rochelle, Coalhouse polishes his Model
T and tells Sarah of new hope he has acquired from the teachings
of Booker T. Washington. Together Coalhouse and Sarah sing of the
promise for freedom the car represents for their son.
Tateh has now relocated to Lawrence, Massachusetts, where he works
at a loom 64 hours per week for $6 pay. Emma Goldman witnesses the
horrid working conditions in Lawrence, then describes them at a union
rally in lower Manhattan. Younger Brother shows up at the union hall
and finds himself inspired by the anarchist.
Back in Lawrence, the militia is called out to confront the strikers.
The frightened workers send their children off to safe foster homes.
As Tateh puts The Little Girl on the train, he is beaten to the ground.
He realises sending his daughter away is a mistake. He takes off,
running along the railroad track, towards safety. He takes a final
plunge up onto the train into his shaken daughter's arms. Tateh calms
her by giving her a flip book of silhouettes he has made, cut outs
of The Little Girl ice skating. The train conductor notices
Tateh demonstrating the flip book and buys it for his own daughter.
Tateh realizes he may have designed a valuable product. His life
is about to change,:
Driving home from their afternoon of leisure, Coalhouse and Sarah
are stopped and threatened by the firehouse gang on Emerald Isle.
Coalhouse sends Sarah off to safety and seeks a policeman to complain
to. Upon returning to his car, Coalhouse finds it has been trashed
by the firemen. A pile of human excrement has been deposited in the
back seat. In a rage, Coalhouse vows that, until this wrong is righted,
he cannot marry.
Sarah's heart is broken. She will resolve this for Coalhouse so
they can carry out their plans. As it happens the Vice Presidential
campaign train is making a whistle stop in town. Sarah attends the
rally. She pushes her way through the crowd to try to get to the
candidate, thinking he will answer her plea for help. But, with the
recent assassination of President McKinley fresh on their minds,
the guards fear any citizen and beat Sarah to the ground, and to
death.
Mourning for the innocent victim begins in Harlem with a funeral
procession, then spreads, via newspaper reports, all over the region.
To spend some time alone with his son, Father decides to take the
Little Boy to a baseball game between the Giants and the Braves at
the Polo Grounds. "It's a civilized pastime," Father assures
his son. But the stands and the field are filled with rowdy immigrants and
even Father can no longer ignore how his genteel society is vanishing.
At the Main Street Theatre in New Rochelle, the world famous illusionist
Harry Houdini performs his act of great escape, climaxing with an
explosion of smoke and fire. The Little Boy wakes up in bed. The
Houdini show has been a dream. He yells for his mother. "Something
bad is going to happen," he says. "It's Coalhouse."
From the darkness, a broken, ferocious Coalhouse Walker appears.
He publicly states his demands: that his car be restored and that
Willie Conklin be turned over to him to avenge his Sarah's death. Until
the demands are met, he vows to kill firemen and destroy firehouses.
A gang of devoted followers joins Coalhouse.
The tragedy reaches the home of Mother and Father. Father is highly
critical of Coalhouse's violent tactics. But Younger Brother sympathises
with the musician and despises Father's complacency. Younger
Brother storms out of the house and heads for Harlem in search of
Coalhouse. He is led to the revolutionary headquarters. Face-to-face
with Coalhouse, he has so much to say but finds himself speechless.
The young man is driven by the revolutionary spirit of Emma Goldman,
who appears at his side.
Mother and Father's home is surrounded by a swarm of reporters.
Father is fed up. He blames Mother for the disruption in their lives.
Their conflict demands some change. Atlantic City seems to be the
answer. There Mother will be safe with the baby, and it is close
enough so that Father can visit on weekends.
On the beach outside the Breakers Hotel in Atlantic City, Father,
Mother and the Little Boy see a moving picture play being filmed.
The director spots the family, is attracted by Mother's beauty, and
introduces himself as the Baron Ashkenazy.
The storm along the beach draws Mother and the Baron out looking
for their children. As the storm fades, they converse and the Baron
reveals he is no Baron at all. He is Tateh, a poor immigrant Jew
who got lucky in America. Affected by the revelation, Mother changes
the topic.
Evelyn Nesbit and Harry Houdini, both performing in a boardwalk
side show, meet during an intermission. The scandal is long behind
Evelyn now and she is having trouble attracting an audience. Houdini,
on the other hand, cannot keep them away.
Father approaches Mother on the beach, dressed in his suit and top
hat. He reports that Coalhouse and his men have taken over the Morgan
Library in Manhattan and have threatened to blow it up. Father feels
compelled to go there and volunteer to help negotiate. Once this
is over, Father insists to Mother, they can go back to their own
normal lives. But Mother disagrees. Outside the Morgan Library,
Conklin, under the watchful eye of N.Y. District Attorney Charles
S. Whitman, works on restoring Coalhouse's car. But that is not good
enough. Coalhouse wants Conklin.
Booker T. Washington enters the library to negotiate. He advises
Coalhouse that for the sake of his son, he must give himself up without
causing further destruction. Coalhouse secures freedom for his gang
and sends them off in the restored car. With his men safe
Coalhouse walks out the library door and to his fate.
EPILOGUE:
The Little Boy tells us that the era
of Ragtime has run out like a tune on a player piano. As a montage
of characters from the entire journey fills the stage, we hear once
again the promise of hope for the future.
Original Cast
(in order of appearance):
The Little Boy: Alex Strange.
Father: MARK JACOBY.
Mother: MARIN MAllIE.
Mother's younger brother: STEVEN SUTCLIFFE.
Grandfather: Conrad McLaren.
Coalhouse Walker: BRIAN STOKES MITCHELL.
Sarah: AUDRA MCDONALD.
Booker T. Washington: Tommy Hollis.
Tateh: PETER FRIEDMAN.
The Little Girl: Lea Michele.
Harry Houdini: Jim Corti.
J. P. Morgan: Mike O'Carroll.
Henry Ford: Larry Daggett.
Emma Goldman: JUDY KAYE.
Evelyn Nesbit: LYNNETTE PERRY.
Stanford White: Kevin Bogue.
Harry K. Thaw: Colton Green.
Admiral Peary: Rod Campbell.
Matthew Henson: Duane Martin Foster.
Judge: Mike O'Carroll.
Foreman: Conrad McLaren.
Reporter: Jeffrey Kuhn.
Kathleen: Anne Kanengeiser.
Policeman: Larry Dagget.
Doctor: Bruce Winant.
Dirty Old Man: Bruce Winant.
Policeman: Colton Green.
Sarah's Friend: Vanessa Townsell-Crisp.
Trolley Conductor: Gordon Stanley.
Willie Conklin: David Mucci.
Fireman: Jeffrey Kuhn.
Brigit: Anne. L. Nathan.
Conductor: Joe Locarro.
Town Hall Bureaucrat: Larry Dagget.
Second Bureaucrat: Anne Kanengeiser.
Clerk: Jeffrey Kuhn.
White Lawyer: Brce Winant.
Black Lawyer: Duane Martin Foster.
Reporters: Rod Campbell, Godon Stanley.
Welfare Official: Anne Kanengeiser.
Baron's Assistant: Anne L. Nathan.
Gang Member: Duane Martin Foster.
Pas de Deux: Monica L. Richards, Keith
LaMelle Thomas. Charles S. Whitman: Gordon Stanley. Little
Coalhouse:
The Ensemble:
Shaun Amyot, Darlene Bel Grayson, Kevin Bogue, Sondra M. Bonitto,
Jamie Chandler-Torns, Ralph Deaton, Rodrick Dixon, Bernard Dotson,
Donna Dunmire, Adam Dyer, Duane Martin Foster, Patty Goble, Colton
Green, Elisa Heinshohn, Anne Kanengeiser, Jeffrey Kuhn, Joe Langworth,
Joe Locarro, Anne L. Nathan, Pachali Null, Mimi Quillen, Monica L.
Richards, Orgena Rose, Gordon Stanley, Angela Teek, Keith LaMelle
Thomas, Allyson Tucker, Leon Williams, Bruce Winant. Swings: Karen
Andrew, John D. Baker, Mark Cassius, Dioni Michelle Collins, Mary
Sharon Dziedzic, Valerie Hawkins, Kennl Hobson, Todd Thurston.
|
