Susan and I saw Ragtime at City Center on Nov 1, 2024. It originally opened on Broadway in 1998 - - it has music by Stephen Flaherty, lyrics by Lynn Ahrens, and a book by Terrence McNally, based on the novel by E. L. Doctrow. This current Encores! production starred Joshua Henry as Coalhouse Walker Jr, Cassie Levy as Mother, Nichelle Lewis as Sarah, Brandon Uranowitz as Tateh, and Shaina Taub as Emma Goldman.
I saw the show on tour in Baltimore sometime around 1999. My friend Nate Stampley was in the ensemble and was understudy for Coalhouse. I was impressed with the show than and was even more impressed this time. It's a powerful, emotional show. You know how I love to observe audience behavior - - the audience was NUTSO.
The songs border on what I call Showstopper Fatigue. Ordinarily so many showstopping songs would be tiresome but somehow that's not a worry in this show. I wonder how they managed that. One of the things that makes the songs so stirring is that they're written with a huge range - - the showstoppers have the National Anthem range of an octave and a fifth, or more. That's a lot to expect of a singer eight shows a week.
I was most looking forward to seeing Joshua Henry in the leading role of Colehouse Walker Jr. He's one of my favorite Broadway performers, I've seen him many times: The Scottsboro Boys, Violet, Shuffle Along, Porgy and Bess, and as Aaron Burr in the Chicago production of Hamilton. He has a beautiful voice and a strong presence. He was stellar as Colehouse, he was the standout in the cast.
I was not wild for Nichelle Lewis, who played his partner Sarah. She overloaded her songs with so much expression and vocal effects, it obscured both the music and the text. I had a hard time following the melody and the words. I sort of braced myself whenever it seemed she was going to do a song. It appears I was in the minority because the audience was crazy for her.
Here's a highlight reel. As expected I got all teary watching this three minute compilation. #pushover
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