Reviewed by Tony Annicone
Welcome to the turn of the century with “Ragtime”, the closing musical of Trinity Rep’s season. This 1998 hit musical is based on E.L. Doctorow’s novel. Trinity begins the show in a contemporary room setting and from there we go back in time to 1905 with the epic sweep of this musical being captured in the opening prologue, a nine minute kaleidoscope of fictional characters mingling with historical figures from the early twentieth century. The cast is in current day costumes during most of Act 1 to reflect that what happened back then is happening now, too. As the story continues, we meet pianist Coalhouse Walker Jr. and his child’s mother, Sarah being taken in by a respectable WASP family in New Rochelle, NY. This family is ruled by “Father”, a patriarchal figure who dominates his household and submissive wife, “Mother” with his overbearing presence. Parallel storylines of the Jewish Latvian immigrant Tateh who unwittingly finds himself involved in the birth of the motion picture industry after inventing a flipbook for his young daughter as well as the real life entertainer, Evelyn Nesbit, the magician Harry Houdini, J.P. Morgan and the anarchist Emma Goldman eventually mingle and merge. This epic production boasts stellar performances from this talented cast with phenomenal insight and direction by Curt Columbus, Trinity’s artistic director, musical director, Michael Rice and choreographer, Sharon Jenkins as they capture the flavor and essence of the early 1900’s being comparable to current day happenings. Their combined expertise garners the entire cast a resounding standing ovation at the close of this breathtaking musical extravaganza.
Curt makes the scenes into stand out moments with the costumes, lighting and blocking with the three different groups of people moving about the theatre, the people of New Rochelle, the people of Harlem and the immigrants. He casts these roles superbly and obtains the best from his performers. Curt make the most of the comic and poignant moments, which bring you to laughter and tears in this well written script. This epic musical is reminiscent of an American “Les Miserables” with its emotional grandeur and glorious score. Michael and his 5 piece orchestra are marvelous from the opening moments to the finale with the rich and compelling Stephen Flaherty and Lynn Ahrens score with its mixture of marches, cakewalks, lilting ballads and of course, ragtime numbers. Andrew Smithson is the choral director who obtains splendid vocals from the cast with gorgeous harmonies in the group numbers. The choreography by Sharon enthralls the audience along the way and the costumes by Kara Harmon are breathtaking, too.
This cast is lead by Wilkie Fergusen as Coalhouse Walker Jr. who demands retribution when his car is vandalized by a bigoted Irish fireman. His magnificent baritone voice soars in his musical numbers as well as in his dialogue when he woos his love, Sarah or displays his anger to his oppressors. His songs include “Getting Ready Rag”, “Justice” and the powerful “Make Them Hear You” his anthem to right the wrongs of the world. Mia Ellis plays Sarah. Her fantastic portrayal of this role will leave you in tears at its brilliance. Her lullaby to her baby, “Your Daddy’s Son” is breathtaking as is her soaring duet with Wilkie called “Wheels of a Dream.” Her tragic death during the “President” number is gut wrenching. This song is reprised in the Epilogue and makes the tears flow profusely during it. The appearance of their son played by Antonio Michael Woodard at the end of the show will choke you up as Wilkie and Mia sing to him. Also poignant is the funeral ballad, Till We Reach That Day” at the end of Act 1 sung by Sarah’s friend played by Carla Martinez as Sarah climbs the stairway into heaven. Powerful performances by them indeed.
The adventuresome and wandering Father is played by Mauro Hantman. He rules his house with an iron fist and leaves specific instructions for his wife to follow. Mauro sings “Journey On” while on the ship headed to the North Pole. When he returns he blusters and bullies everyone around until Mother tells him to spend more time with his son. This leads to the funniest song in the show, “What a Game” which is about baseball. The boy learns some salty language from the crowd at the game, leading to the biggest laughs of the night. The kindhearted Mother is played by Rachael Warren who gives her the backbone to stand up to Father while he has been away. Her acting and singing of this role is superb and her solo of “Back to Before” will send chills up your spine as she refuses to be complacent anymore. Her duets with Tateh are heartfelt, too. Rachael always delivers the goods in all her roles and this one is among her best.
Another comic performer is Brian McEleneny as the Grandfather who spouts many comic one liners including the inappropriate “Play some coon music” which lead to gasps in the audience. Little Boy is played excellently by Evan Horowitz. He’s not only a fantastic actor but has an incredible voice, too. Evan is a hoot in the baseball song with his “Kiss My Ass” line and his comic one liners are splendid all night long. Younger Brother is played by Alexander De Vasconcelos Matos. He displays his strong acting prowess in this multilayered role as well as his powerful baritone voice. Alexander’s best moment comes when he tells Father off by not facing the race relations problem in New Rochelle while his funniest occurs with his lovesick scene with Evelyn Nesbit. He also leads “The Night That Emma Goldman Spoke at Union Square.
Another outstanding performance is by Charlie Thurston as Tateh. He displays the strong love this immigrant, Jewish widower has for his beloved daughter. Tateh gives up his artwork and moves to Lawrence, MA to work in a factory. He creates a moving picture book which propels him into the silent moves in the motion picture industry. He then becomes Baron Ashkenazy. Charlie excels in this role with acting prowess and powerful voice. Rachael and his duets of “Nothing Like the City” and “Children” are beautiful and show a warm relationship between two strangers in the first and between two friends in the latter. He also sings “Gliding” when he realizes how to make money with the movie books. The song is reminiscent of “Far From the Home I Love.” Olivia Miller plays his daughter who suffers and triumphs during their journey to America. She is a second year student of the Brown Trinity Rep MFA program and displays her strong soprano voice in this role.
The historical characters also receive they due in this show. Taavon Gamble is a tower of strength as Booker T. Washington who tries to guide Coalhouse’s journey back to redemption. His powerful voice sells his songs and his lines as this important historical figure. Janice Duclos is Emma Goldman who leads the strikers in their revolt and in her own humble way helps Tateh out of his woes in the factory in Lawrence. Rebecca Gibel, a pretty blonde, plays the seductive Evelyn Nesbit, the girl on the velvet swing. Her husband, Harry Thaw shoots her lover, Stanford White and the publicity gives her career a boost with the tabloids claiming it to be the Crime of the Century. It’s reminiscent of Roxie Hart in “Chicago” wanting her name up in lights. Rebecca’s first song “The Crime of the Century” is performed while she dances around with reporters holding their papers in the air. Her second is “Atlantic City” performed with Stephen Thorne playing Harry Houdini. He performs some magic feats with ease especially getting out of a straight jacket in the nick of time. The evil bigoted, hate spewing Irish fireman is well played by Fred Sullivan Jr. who also plays the pompous J.P. Morgan. So for a powerhouse musical, be sure to catch “Ragtime” at Trinity. It will definitely demonstrate that the more things change the more they stay the same especially about the unrest and turmoil in the USA now that was rampant back at the turn of the last century, too. Run do not walk to the box office before this show is completely sold out. Tell them Tony sent you.
RAGTIME (26 April to 27 May)
Trinity Repertory Company, 201 Washington Street, Providence, RI
