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Yahoo
09-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Theater review: Goodspeed Musicals' ‘Ragtime' mixes a peppy beat with high drama
Ragtime music is propulsive and infectious. It is sharp, direct and clear. It has sense, purpose and style. So does the Goodspeed Musicals' production of 'Ragtime.' It's an engrossing, involving and invigorating rendition of a show that's important to revisit right now. E.L. Doctorow's landmark novel was turned into a musical by playwright Terrence McNally, composer Stephen Flaherty and lyricist Lynn Ahrens — a trio beloved in Connecticut for selecting Hartford Stage as the venue for tryouts of their 'Anastasia' in 2016. The Goodspeed's 'Ragtime' is happening just as an unrelated New York production of the same musical that played off-Broadway last year has announced it will transfer to Broadway later this year. There's room for many 'Ragtime' musicals — it has had a previous Broadway revival in 2009, a couple of important London productions and some ingenious concert versions and the novel was also adapted for a 1981 film directed by Milos Forman. The Goodspeed 'Ragtime' has the advantage of being staged in a theater building that was built in the 1870s, ideal for a show set at the turn of the 20th century. The show starts calmly with the dapper musician Coalhouse Walker Jr. astride his piano bench, playing a gentle, lilting ragtime melody. As the music gets a bit louder and fiercer — pumped out by a band that lands sensibly between a raw jazz style and a more refined music theater showtune vibe — men in white suits and women in white dresses promenade down the Opera House aisles and onto the stage. We are introduced to the main characters, and there are many of them. The African-American community is represented by Coalhouse Walker Jr. and his followers in the Harlem music clubs. There's a Jewish immigrant named Tateh and his daughter. There's a well-to-do white suburban family (a father, mother and son plus the mother's rebellious brother) who have a fine home in New Rochelle just outside the city. There are other character help creates links among these disparate groups, namely a young mother named Sarah who we learn shares a past and a destiny with Coalhouse Walker Jr. and is befriended by the New Rochelle family. Theatrical window dressing and historical context are provided by some of the greatest celebrities of the early 20th century: Magician Harry Houdini, anarchist Emma Goldman, scandalous vaudeville star Evelyn Nesbit and the great orator/educator Booker T. Washington. These communities rub up against each other constantly and iterally since 'Ragtime' now holds the record for the largest cast ever assembled on the not very large Goodspeed Opera House stage with around 30 energetic performers, including several children. Christopher Betts, who has previously graced Connecticut stages with dynamic productions of Katori Hall's 'Hot Wing King' and Alice Childress' 'Trouble in Mind' at Hartford Stage and Tarell Alvin McCraney's 'Choir Boy' at Yale Repertory Theatre, carefully fits 'Ragtime' into the Goodspeed. The play bursts with a collective energy, but the actors don't get in each other's way. There's clarity and purpose in the movement, building momentum for a complex story of a still-young nation struck with new challenges. There are some false notes. Mia Gerachis doesn't evoke a credible vaudeville style as Nesbit, seeming out of place against the more resonant ragtime and parlor song routines. The other celebrity impersonations fit in better but have their own quirks. Blair Goldberg makes Goldman seem almost sexy while Jonathan Cobrda adds a creepiness to Houdini that brings to mind his Rooster Hannigan in a multi-year tour of 'Annie' around a decade ago. Director finds fresh relevance in 'Ragtime' in CT's Goodspeed Opera House season opener Casting the ensemble members in multiple roles may be necessary but it can also be distracting. The distinctive looking Stephen Tewksbury, for example, plays a goofy grandfather, a racist fireman and a guy enjoying a baseball game and is good at all three yet you can't get that evil fireman out of your head anytime Tewksbury is onstage. Edward Watts (Harold Hill in 'The Music Man' for Goodspeed in 2019) gives a curious portrayal of Father, the patriarch of the New Rochelle family who is also an amateur Arctic explorer. Father is certainly meant to be somewhat clueless and chauvinist and old-fashioned, oblivious to important cultural changes afoot in America, but Watts exaggerates this clean-cut pomposity into something that resembles a 'Dudley Do-Right' cartoon. It gets even more out of hand when Father returns from a North Pole expedition sporting a beard that looks more like he's glued a stiff broom to his face. Yet the size and scope and clarity of this musical overcome any issues you might have with any single performer. Besides, the performances that truly matter here — Michael Wordly as Coalhouse Walker Jr., Brennyn Lark as Sarah and Mamie Parris as Mother — are stellar. Worldly can shift from sweet to severe as needed, depending on whether he's holding a baby or standing up for his civil rights. His extraordinary singing voice is more than matched by Lark in their stirring duets. Betts stages the couple's romantic embrace, an interaction that's as important to 'Ragtime' as the balcony scene is to 'Romeo and Juliet' with suspenseful pacing and grand physicality, a swirling burst of poetry in motion that has the audience cheering and nearly stops the show. This one moment registers so strongly that it feels like the appropriate place to end the first act, though there's still several scenes and songs to come before intermission in this very full three-hour production. Parris expertly builds her character through numerous short exchanges with other characters that collectively show Mother's compassion and moral principles, making her culminating solo number 'Back to Before' that much stronger. Another character we see face adversity which maintaining a confident inner core is the Latvian immigrant Tateh. David R. Gordon gives Tateh a lightness and effervescence that helps balance the more soulful suffering of other characters. There is no lack of comic relief in this 'Ragtime,' including some well-timed quips from 12-year-old Sawyer Delaney in the critical youngest-generation role of Little Boy. Behr Marshall, a Hartt School grad who was a standout performer a few months ago in the Goodspeed Festival of New Musicals, is one of the more dour characters in 'Ragtime' as the insolent activist Little Brother, but his seriousness actually makes him a little funny. 'Ragtime' has a dramatic intensity and shadowy nuances that are rarely seen on the Goodspeed Opera House stage, though it could be argued that, with recent productions like 'Anne of Green Gables' and 'The 12,' there's a clear desire for the theater to be attempting deeper, more layered work in general. The musical is set over a century ago but speaks directly to contemporary issues without mincing words like 'racism,' 'immigration,' 'deportation,' 'terrorism' and 'revolution.' Characters exclaim 'What is wrong with the country?' and 'You have traveled everywhere and learned nothing.' Several worlds intersect onstage. The show itself covers a lot of artistic ground. It's a 1996 musical based on a 1975 bestselling novel with a singular clipped and crisp literary style, set in a turn-of-the-century time of endless exploration and imagination wrapped in coarse social realities. 'Ragtime' runs through June 15 at the Goodspeed Opera House, 6 Main St., East Haddam. Performances are on Wednesdays at 2 and 7:30 p.m., Thursdays at 7:30 p.m., Fridays at 8 p.m., Saturdays at 3 and 8 p.m. and Sundays at 2 and 6:30 p.m., plus 2 p.m. Thursday matinees on May 29, June 5 and 12. There are no Sunday evening performances on June 1, 8 and 15. $35-$114.
Daily Mail
30-04-2025
- Politics
- Daily Mail
Rocketing dud Sir Keir did well to answer the most boring man in Parliament, writes QUENTIN LETTS
Prime Minister's Questions began with news that a Houthi drone factory in Yemen had been destroyed by the RAF. But the drone factory at Westminster was still producing annoying devices – known by various names, most politely 'MPs' or 'backbenchers' – that are capable of doing terrible damage to the nation's morale. The Speaker, Sir Lindsay Hoyle, had just initiated proceedings when there came a mosquito-like whine. Old-timers ducked for safety. More innocent souls looked up, left and right, trying to locate the source of this irritating, doomful hum. Then they spotted it: a little chap on the Lib Dem benches, not much above 5ft, who was clutching his usual cue cards (few of the new intake have the wit to memorise their questions). Oh no, it was Wokingham's Clive Jones, the most boring man in Parliament! He makes even 'Bozo Bill' Esterson look a gifted raconteur. Mr Jones put his question. It was not a short one. They never are. What meagre energy the House had possessed was swiftly going down the plughole. MPs started talking over him. Mr Jones put his question. It was not a short one. They never are. Although I am sometimes critical of Sir Keir Starmer – himself a rocketing dud – it must be said that he did well to produce some sort of answer to Mr Jones, says Letts Mr Jones, oblivious to his shortcomings, seemed to imagine that the laughter was reward for his oratorical brilliance rather than in mockery of his E.L. Wisty dullness. Eventually Speaker Hoyle pulled out his Luger and shot Mr Jones out of the skies. Although I am sometimes critical of Sir Keir Starmer – himself a rocketing dud – it must be said that he did well to produce some sort of answer to Mr Jones. Few others in the chamber had a clue as to what the Wokingham wombat had been saying. Next up: Dan Tomlinson (Lab, Chipping Barnet). Drones sometimes go phut mid-flight. This happened to Tomlinson. Operator error. He made the mistake of trying to suck up to his whips by asking Sir Keir a patsy question about the opposition. You are supposed to ask the PM about government responsibilities. Sir Lindsay rightly told Mr Tomlinson to shut up. The Chipping Barnet stooge tried to finish his question but his microphone had been switched off. His final words went mercifully unheard as his rotor blades bit the turf and his mission ended in tinkling disaster. Little Sam Carling (Lab, NW Cambs) had a question. Mr Carling is aged about 14. As his moment approached he looked pale. Kept swallowing. Checked his flies. Tugged at his fringe. I thought he was going to be sick. His question turned out to be another whips special, imploring the PM to update Cambridgeshire residents on Labour's 'plan for change'. Young Carling sat down with a look of immense relief. Now he could go and have a can of pop at the tuck shop. Julie Minns (Lab, Carlisle and North Cumbria), listing villages that had breakfast clubs, also managed to say 'plan for change'. So did Josh Simons (Lab, Makerfield). The Chief Whip looked faintly disgusted. Whips never respect sycophants. Sir Bernard Jenkin (Con, Harwich and North Essex) gave a plug to a coming concert by the parliamentary choir. It seemed he might be about to list the entire programme. Sir Bernard, who once considered trying to become a professional tenor, could at least have sung his question. Mark Francois (Con, Rayleigh and Wickford) banged on about the late Dame Vera Lynn. A shameless pitch for the Gen Z vote. Nigel Farage (Reform, Clacton) asked about immigration but he was hard to hear in the chamber, either because his microphone was not working or because he lacks Sir Bernard's vocal projection. Sir Keir, having already had a tricky time with Kemi Badenoch, was snappy about both Reform and the Tories. The PM's best moment was when he joked about Robert Jenrick 'still running' after the London marathon. Lady Starmer was in an upstairs gallery. A rare visitor. During the ten minutes I watched her, she betrayed no emotion, not even when her husband did OK. An expressionless visage. She was not quite sad but lacked rapture. Perhaps she hates this place.
