Depending on your history with Broadway musicals, this show is either a highlight of your experience...or a footnote. For a brief time it brought back the era of sweeping, interconnected stories on a grand scale that could only be truly appreciated in a live setting. It also propelled the career of Brian Stokes Mitchell to new heights, making him one of Broadway's most popular leading men almost overnight.
Ragtime opened on January 18, 1998 at the newly renovated Ford Center for the Performing Arts (now known as the Hilton Theatre.) Reviews for the show were diametric in nature, but equally strong in opinion. Rumors about the astonishing multi-billion dollar budget and ostentatious design of the new palace-like Ford Center plagued production, culminating when Garth Drabinsky--the head of Livent and Ragtime's producer--filed for bankruptcy amidst governmental investigation. A popular but financially fruitless musical, Ragtime gave its last Broadway performance two years later on January 16, 2000.
Nominated for 12 Tony awards, Ragtime was pitted against Disney's The Lion King--with understandably disappointing results. It did, however, manage to net the awards for Best Actress in a Musical (Audra McDonald), Best Book, Best Original Music Score and Best Orchestrations.
Based on the 1975 novel of the same name by E. L. Doctorow, the musical (set in 1906) explores the lives of three socially disparate, yet inextricably connected families: the wealthy WASP-like family, known only as "Father" and "Mother", straining to keep up outward appearances as they fall apart from within; the struggling black musician, Coalhouse Walker Jr., doing his best to keep his girlfriend and new baby in his life; and Tateh, the Jewish immigrant who has come to America with little more than his daughter and the clothes on his back. Fate and conscience war with the fires of a changing nation, forging a new definition of what is "socially acceptable" at the turn of the century.
Despite its rather large cast size, the show has quickly become a favorite for regional theatres and even high schools to perform. Because of this, I was thankfully able to include a few quality clips.
Prologue (lyrics): This is the original Broadway cast performing at the 52nd Annual Tony Awards, including remarkable choreography that I've rarely had the opportunity to witness.
Goodbye My Love/Journey On (lyrics) (more lyrics): Mother sees Father off on yet another expedition, secretly wishing for the same freedom. Father, meanwhile, catches sight of an immigrant ship on its way into the New York harbor. (Note: ignore the few rude audience members that ocasionally can be heard.)
Crime of the Century (lyrics): Adding a slice of history to the show, the bawdy and risque Evelyn Nesbit recounts the courtroom trial of her lover's murder as she struts on the vaudeville stage. Younger Brother mistakenly believes he's fallen in love.
Henry Ford (lyrics): Wanting to clean up his life and win his sweetheart back, Coalhouse approaches Henry Ford to purchase a new Model T. (Note: the quality isn't what I'd call perfect, but it is a clip of the Broadway production.)
Your Daddy's Son (lyrics): Sarah tries to explain to her infant son why she tried to kill him by burying him in Mother's flower garden. While I tried to find a clip of a live production, none seemed able to match Audra's powerful voice for this intense number, so I chose a montage clip that features this song on the CD.
Gliding (lyrics):Tateh tries to comfort his traumatized daughter by showing her his handmade picture book, discovering that others might be interested in them as well.
Till We Reach That Day (lyrics): In the Act One finale, everyone reacts to Sarah's murder.
What A Game! (lyrics): In a failed attempt to bring some normalcy back into his son's life, Father takes him to a baseball game...not realizing this "civilized pastime" has changed as well.
Coalhouse's Soliloquy (lyrics): In an eerie echo of Sarah's earlier solo, Coalhouse turns his eyes from rebuilding his family to revenge and a warped sense of justice. (Note: soft audio.)
Back to Before (lyrics): Mother finally comes to realize that she, too, has changed, and grown beyond the boundaries she once accepted.
Make Them Hear You (lyrics): Coalhouse disbands his deadly gang, telling them to continue the fight for equality with words instead of guns.
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