that girl allison

It’s official.  It’s really happening.  YES.

But really…?  They’re even PONDERING replacing Tony Vincent?  He’s the only one in the cast should NOT be replaced.  I think the rest, though they rocked it in Berkeley, could probably be replaced.

(photo via drunkbrunch)

I missed Ragtime in its original incarnation back in 1998, though I owned a copy of the cast recording.  I didn’t know what I was missing until the fall of my senior year in college when I acted as wardrobe supervisor [as I usually did for big productions during my college years] for our production.  I fell in love with the music and story, as well as historical elements.  It is a long musical, by today’s standards - two hours and forty minutes, with a huge cast - forty cast members, and an extremely full orchestra by today’s standards - I believe there are around 35 musicians in the current production (most productions nowadays try to keep their orchestras/bands to under 20).  I bought our tickets about a month ago and our seats were perfect.  Mezzanine, row D, dead center.  This show was staged for our seats, not the orchestra.

Ragtime, based on the novel of the same name by E.L. Doctrow, tells the story of three extremely different families in the early 1900’s who all eventually become intertwined with each other as well as with historical figures like JP Morgan, Harry Houdini, and Emma Goldman. 

The opening number is epic in itself, being around 10 minutes long and it’s responsible for introducing a dozen characters.  The turn-table staging that is so well known was done slightly differently - they didn’t break into the three groups until right before the final verse.  The new staging works and is extremely effective.  The set (which is huge, and has three levels) is used to the fullest to present all of the characters as well as the ensemble.  And the lighting throughout the show works wonders. 

Since there is long, complicated story to tell, the second act is a bit cluttered with songs that do nothing to move the plot forward and are there simply for character development.  The music is beautiful though and when everything finally comes together and all of the characters are tied together, you breathe a sign of amazement (amazement that all of these characters have ACTUALLY been tied together).

The cast is outstanding, I thought they were all perfect.  John didn’t like Christopher Cox, who played the little boy, but I thought he was adorable and appropriate.  This cast was so interesting because for the most part, they’re all newcomers to Broadway.  Where has Quentin Early Darrington been all these years?  He was just amazing, as was Christian Noll (obviously), Rob Bohmer, and a personal favorite of mine was Bobby Steggert as Mother’s Younger Brother. 

An interesting directing choice that I noticed: At the end of the act one finale (Til We Reach That Day), everyone was singing except for the actors playing Henry Ford and JP Morgan.  Appropriate, I think, because they had already reached ‘that day’ and were happily making money off of their exploited workers.  The song would’ve been much more affective as the finale if Sumayya Ali (I think it was her), would’ve belted out that last note before the curtain more than she did.  It really needs to sound almost painful and be very dramatic. 

There are no words that can do justice to this production.  It’s a must-see for theatre-goers this season.

This past Tuesday night, I took in a preview performance of the new Lincoln Center play “In the Next Room (or the vibrator play).”  I knew nothing about this play beforehand, only that it’s cast included stage veterans like Laura Benanti and Michael Cerveris.  My friend and unofficial date for the night, Joey, explained that it was somewhat a history lesson of the first existing vibrators.  I was extremely intrigued.

In short, Cerveris played a doctor who would administer “electrical stimulation” (vibrations) to those who he diagnosed as “hysterical.”  His patients soon become obsessed with the treatment leading his wife (Benanti) to wonder what exactly he is doing in there.  Benanti is a new mother who is extremely lonely and a wife who’s husband refuses to see her as anything but his wife.  The final scene is outside of their house in the snow, with Benanti undressing Cerveris and trying to break through this wall.

All in all, I enjoyed the show.  The second act dragged though, a lot.  The way the first act played out, you would’ve thought that it was going to be a comedy all the way through, but how wrong you would be.  I wasn’t expecting the dramatic portion and in all honesty, I liked the comedic half of the show better.  The set was appropriate and like most Lincoln Center productions, it moves with ease (at the end), and the lighting (at the end) was most effective.  The cast was stellar throughout, though I believe Laura Benanti deserves special mention for her comedic timing and delivery.

Not a bad show to check out if you want to learn about the early lives of vibrators!

(Photo courtesy of Playbill.com)