SITE GUIDE
SEARCH
REVIEWS
REVIEW ARCHIVES
ADVERTISING AT CURTAINUP
FEATURES
NEWS
Etcetera and
Short Term Listings
LISTINGS
Broadway
Off-Broadway
NYC Restaurants
BOOKS and CDs
OTHER PLACES
Berkshires
London
California
New Jersey
DC
Connecticut
Philadelphia
Elsewhere
QUOTES
TKTS
PLAYWRIGHTS' ALBUMS
LETTERS TO EDITOR
FILM
LINKS
MISCELLANEOUS
Free Updates
Masthead
Writing for Us
A CurtainUp 
London Review
London ReviewRagtime
by Sebastian King
|
Anyone can get lucky in America. I remind myself of this every day. — Tateh
|
Cast in Ragtime (Photo: Johan Persson) |
When Father (David Birrell) sets out to explore the North Pole, Mother (Rosalie Craig) takes in a mute black girl, Sarah (Claudia Kariuki) and her newborn baby, as the baby's father, jazz musician Coalhouse Walker (Rolan Bell), tries to win Sarah back with the promise of a better future. Meanwhile, Latvian artist Tateh (John Marquez) and his young daughter arrive in America to begin a new life.
Seemingly not content with the existing complexities of a show that spans 17 years, has various plots and subplots, and a cast of 28, director Timothy Sheader overlays this production with his own concept, which sadly only seems to confuse matters further. Those telling Ragtime's stories are now a group of survivors of some unnamed apocalyptic disaster, living in a dystopian vision of America. Jon Bausor's impressive set sees a burnt poster of Obama, with the caption "Dare To Dream" presiding over a stage awash with fragments of Americana and capitalist detritus: Starbucks, McDonalds, Disney and Coca Cola - the villains and victims of the American Dream.
For inexplicable reasons, Sheader's concept also utilises colour blind and gender blind casting. Those unfamiliar with the piece will no doubt be waiting for the moment when we discover how the grandfather of a white family is black. Of course, no moment comes - it is merely a case of a black actor 'playing white'. And despite Sophia Nomvete's stirring performance, I'm still struggling to fathom why she was cast as the legendary (male) educator Booker T. Washington.
As Coalhouse, Rolan Bell is incredibly charismatic, but unfortunately he is simply not up to the job vocally, and his big songs suffer from pitching issues. Recent drama school graduate Claudia Kariuki is similarly likeable as Coalhouse's tragic lover Sarah but her lack of experience shows in a performance that is vocally underpowered (Audra McDonald's sublime performance on the Original Broadway Cast recording is an unenviable act to follow).
These niggles withstanding, this is actually a very strong production and a worthy addition to Sheader's recent string of Open Air hits. There is strong support from Harry Hepple, Tamsin Carroll and Katie Brayben in the woefully under utilised roles of Younger Brother, Emma Goldman and Evelyn Nesbit. Hats off too to Stephane Anelli who, as Harry Houdini, not only sings and dances, but performs a genuinely thrilling escapism stunt onstage. In the vast ensemble, Sandra Marvin stands out, particularly with her spine tingling solo in the Act 1 finale, which, had the theatre had a roof, would have blown it off. But it is Rosalie Craig as Mother who steals the show, giving a touching performance with emotional depth and vocal excellence. Her 11 o' clock number "Back To Before" was truly sensational and well worth waiting for.
As Ahrens and Flaherty wrote it, Ragtime, like the Doctorow novel on which it is based, ends on the promise of hope and equality. The message of Sheader's bold production seems to be that this hope is futile, and that the dream was always destined to become a nightmare. Pessism aside, what remains is a brilliant score, fusing traditional Broadway ballads with electrifying jazz numbers, delivered by a stunning cast, making this another Open Air production not to be missed.
|
Subscribe to our FREE email updates with a note from editor Elyse Sommer about additions to the website -- with main page hot links to the latest features posted at our numerous locations. To subscribe,
E-mail: esommer@curtainup.comesommer@curtainup.com
put SUBSCRIBE CURTAINUP EMAIL UPDATE in the subject line and your full name and email address in the body of the message -- if you can spare a minute, tell us how you came to CurtainUp and from what part of the country. |
| Ragtime
Book by Terrence McNally based on the novel by E. L. Doctorow Music by Stephen Flaherty Lyrics by Lynn Ahrens Directed by Timothy Sheader Starring: Rosalie Craig, David Birrell, Harry Hepple, John Marquez, Rolan Bell, Claudia Kariuki, Katie Brayben, Tamsin Carroll, Sophia Nomvete, Jo Servi With: Jamal Andreas, Stephane Anelli, Louise Bowden, Lily Burgering, Anthony Clegg, Rory Fraser, Hayley Gallivan, Shimi Goodman, Ewan Harris, Lila Heller, Waylon Jacobs, Kurt Kansley, Joshua Lacey, Mireia Mambo-Bokele, Sandra Marvin, Oriana Pooles, Corinna Powlesland, Caroline Rovina, Carl Sanderson, Lucy St Louis, Tom Woods Set Design: Jon Bausor Costume Design: Laura Hopkins Choreography: Javier de Frutos Lighting: James Farncombe Musical Director: Nigel Lilley Sound Design: Nick Lidster for Autograph Orchestrations: Chris Walker Running time: Two hours 50 minutes including interval Box Office: 0844 826 4242 Booking to 8th September 2012 Reviewed by Sebastian King based on 29th May performance at the Open Air Theatre, Inner Circle, Regent’s Park, London, NW1 4NU (Tube: Baker Street/Regent’s Park) |
|
REVIEW FEEDBACK Highlight one of the responses below and click "copy" or"CTRL+C"
Paste the highlighted text into the subject line (CTRL+ V): Feel free to add detailed comments in the body of the email . . . also the names and emails of any friends to whom you'd like us to forward a copy of this review. |
