So much in “Ragtime” played out differently for me because I saw it a week into its twelve-day run at New York City Center — after, rather than before, the results of the 2024 Presidential election.
“Certain men make a country great,” says J.P. Morgan, the richest man in the country in the early 1900s, one of the many historical figures who circle in and around the show’s three fictional protagonists, each meant to be representative of the era, in this musical adaptation of E.L. Doctorow’s novel about the cultural and political upheavals in turn-of-the-century New York,
There is Mother (Caissie Levy), living an affluent life in New Rochelle. At the start of the musical, she says (talking about herself in the third person) how she “often told herself how fortunate she was to be so protected and provided for by her husband,” a man who got rich by marketing patriotism (fireworks, bunting, etc.), and who is told by another historical figure, Admiral Peary: “It’s men like you who will keep [this country] great.” Mother is protected, as it turns out, whether she liked it or not, and, far before the end of the musical, she doesn’t like it. Her climactic song contains the refrain: “We can never go back to before.”
Then there is Tateh (Brandon Uranowitz), who arrives in America with his motherless daughter on a “rag ship” – which Admiral Peary explains is loaded with “immigrants from every cesspool in western and eastern Europe.”
Finally, there is Coalhouse Walker Jr. (Joshua Henry), who experiences a profound sense of loss – loss of respect, of justice; and the loss of the woman he planned to marry, who becomes a victim of violence: When seeking help on his behalf by approaching the President of the United States, she is mistaken for an enemy within.
These connections I made between what’s happening inside New York City Center and the world outside of it are neither a complete stretch, nor a coincidence. Director Lear deBessonet told the cast “this is the perfect piece for this time.” That the “future of America” was going to be decided during the short run of “Ragtime” was “not lost on anyone,” Joshua Henry says in an interview in the playbill. “It’s a perfect moment because the show speaks to America’s changing, and also challenges it to live up to its ideals.”
The election results may allow us to focus more on the resonant themes and messages of the musical, rather than just the quality of the production – which happens to be superb. Coalhouse is probably designed to be the heart and soul of the musical; he’s a pianist whose life changed after he discovered the music that gives “Ragtime” its title. But Henry’s impassioned performance gives special heft to the use of the “new music” of Ragtime as a metaphor for dislocation and disorientation — “an era exploding, a century spinning.” It’s shattering when he sings:
My law and my justice
In rhythm and rhyme!
Listen to that Ragtime!
Nichelle Lewis, who made her Broadway debut just recently in the Broadway revival of The Wiz, is a worthy partner to Henry, as Coalhouse’s partner Sarah, devastating in the role for which Audra McDonald won the third of her six Tonys.
All three central actors do complete justice to their roles, which feature some of the best songs composed by Stephen Flaherty for the musical, because each reflect the specific sounds of the character’s personality and culture. But it’s a major accomplishment of deBessonet’s direction that they aren’t swallowed up in the swirl of humanity – a cast of almost three dozen performers, alongside almost as many members of the orchestra, who are on stage in view of the audience. This of course is in the tradition of New York City Center’s Encores! concert series., but it’s hard to consider this “Ragtime” a concert. It’s true we don’t get actual fireworks, or a working 1910 Model T Ford as in the original Broadway production in 1998. But Linda Cho’s costumes are spot on, and set designer David Rockwell offers the front of a Model T, and the suggestion of ship’s mast, and of the Morgan Library, and that’s sufficient. The fireworks are in the performances.
For all its many characters, its sprawling and intersecting subplots, its almost three-hour length, I make no claim for “Ragtime” as an epic work of serious theater that will endure. There’s a pop culture vibe to it throughout – all the celebrities, many still familiar names (Houdini, Booker T. Washington, Henry Ford, and Emma Goldman — who, we’re told, is deported!), some unexplained, playful touches (the Little Boy, Mother’s son, being an oracle, without realizing it: “Warn the Duke”), a couple of character resolutions that would be implausible anyplace but in a Broadway musical. Several of the storylines, ably adapted by Terrence McNally from Doctorow’s 1975 book, strike me as more a reaction to the 1960s rather than an accurate depiction of the early 1900s.
But such strictly theatrical observations can feel besides the point. Joshua Henry inspires hope post-election, when he sings: Make them hear you/Make them hear you.
“Your sword can be a sermon
Or the power of the pen.
Teach every child to raise his voice…
Make them hear you…
“Ragtime” is at New York City through November 10.
Ragtime
Book by Terrence McNally
Music by Stephen Flaherty
Lyrics by Lynn Ahrens
Orchestrations by William David Brohn
Based on the novel Ragtime by E.L. Doctorow
Scenic Designer David Rockwell
Costume Designer Linda Cho
Lighting Designer Adam Honoré
Sound Designer Kai Harada
Production Stage Manager Cody Renard Richard
Casting by Craig Burns, CSA; The Telsey Office
Choreographer Ellenore Scott
Music Director James Moore
Director Lear deBessonet
Featuring John Clay III, Rodd Cyrus, Colin Donnell, Joshua Henry, Matthew Lamb, Tabitha Lawing, Nichelle Lewis, Caissie Levy, Ben Levi Ross, Stephanie Styles, Shaina Taub, Brandon Uranowitz
