[NEohioPAL] Review of "Ragtime" at Mercury Summer Stock

[Bob Abelman]

Epic 'Ragtime' given soul and simplicity by Mercury Summer Stock

 

Bob Abelman

News-Herald, Chagrin Valley Times, Solon Times, Geauga Times Courier

Member, International Association of Theatre Critics 

 

This review will appear in the News-Herald on 7/12/13





 

When the musical "Ragtime" arrived on Broadway in 1998 it was praised as much for its epic size as its astounding storytelling about the American Dream at the dawn of the 20th century.  

 

"Opulent" said The New York Times.  "Sprawling" noted USA Today.  According to Talkin' Broadway, the show was a "return to the Broadway epics of yore, with its 50-person cast, sumptuous sets and costumes, and a prevailing sense of self-importance."   "Ragtime" featured planes, trains, a full-size Model T and on-stage fireworks to represent the invention and ostentation of the time.

 

Based on the acclaimed 1975 novel by E.L. Doctorow, with music by Stephen Flaherty and lyrics by Lynn Ahrens, Terrence McNally's "Ragtime" tells the multi-strand story of three groups of Americans in and around New York City in 1906.  Collectively, they signify the sweeping changes occurring at the turn of the century.  

 

The suburbanites are represented by Mother, the matriarch of a white, upper-class Victorian family in New Rochelle, who welcome a runaway and her baby into their home.  The African Americans are represented by Coalhouse Walker Jr., a Harlem jazz pianist who turns an injustice into a revolution. The immigrants are represented by Tateh, a Jew from Latvia who sells his silhouette portraits on the streets to survive the squalor of the Lower East Side. 

 

Their personal journeys, which intertwine in the course of the play, come alive as historic figures - including escape artist Harry Houdini, auto tycoon Henry Ford, educator Booker T. Washington, and infamous entertainer Evelyn Nesbit - offer diversion and perspective.   All this is seen through the awe-struck eyes of Edgar, Mother's young son. 

 

The 2009 Broadway revival of "Ragtime" was a slightly pared down version of the original, but the production currently on stage by Mercury Summer Stock and directed by Pierre-Jacques Brault is as bare-boned as it gets.   

 

Gone are the elaborate sets and multi-tiered staging, replaced with a wood plank, hand-painted American flag in the background and a naked stage bordered with high-back chairs, antique trunks and a handful of period costume pieces.

 

Gone are the planes, trains and automobiles, replaced with. nothing.  Even the piano at which Coalhouse Walker sits and plays is imaginary.

 

Gone is the enormous cast and massive orchestra, with only 23 actors and six musicians telling this story and filling the large stage by never leaving it.  Throughout the show, cast members are seated on the periphery when not otherwise engaged.   So, too, is music conductor/pianist Eddie Carney.

 

While the sheer size and scope of the Broadway production threatened to overpower the small stories about the three groups of Americans, this truncated Mercury production runs the risk of losing the play's essential sense of grandeur and weight.  Without the opulence, ostentation and volume, this production's smallness could very well undermine the show's oversized anthems and vital emotionalism. 

 

It does not.

 

The main reason is the cast.  While small in number, cast members are big-voiced and loaded with stage presence.  In the key roles of Mother, Coalhouse and Tateh, Dana Aber, Nicholas Bernard and Jonathan Bova, respectively, are superb.  These characters are warmly acted and beautifully sung, and these three performers need no theatrical accessorizing to move an audience to tears and showcase this show's many musical assets.

 

Coalhouse's duets with Sarah, the mother of his child, are particularly moving.  Nicole Sumlin, as Sarah, is a vocal powerhouse and brilliant performer.  So, too, is Sara Masterson as the showgirl Evelyn Nesbit and Julie Myers-Pruchenski as radical Emma Goldman. 

 

Also turning in a memorable performance is Sean Grandillo as Mother's rebellious younger brother, who leaves the security of his class to join a righteous cause.  Grandillo is a consistent and commanding presence.  

 

Although she says little, Madison Chaitoff as Tateh's young daughter is an absolute delight to watch.  She possesses a naturalism sometimes missing from Ryan Vincent's otherwise fine performance as young Edgar and Alexander Stevenson's portrayal of Father.  

 

Colleen Bloom's gorgeous period costuming plays a huge role in the success of this production by providing just enough ambiance to establish a sense of time, place and social order.

 

Size matters and is missed the most during the ensemble numbers where each of the three groups move in syncopated opposition with the others, and it is here where Brault's choreography stumbles, literally and artistically.  At all other times, this production's stage direction is fluid, effective and quite innovative.

 

Despite its limited size and scope, this rendition of "Ragtime" manages to stir the soul and soar.  Mercury Summer Stock's defining minimalism scores once more.

 

"Ragtime: The Musical" continues through July 20 at Regina Hall on the Notre Dame College campus, South Euclid.  For tickets, $15 to $18, call 216-771-5862 or visit http://tickets.ticketforce.com/
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