For those of you who are unfamiliar with the musical, Ragtime is based on the 1975 E.L. Doctorow novel of the same name that tells the story of three different races of America in the early 20th century: African Americans, white upper-class suburbanites, and Eastern European immigrants.
The original Broadway production debuted in 1998 to some mixed critical reviews with complaints that the enormous physical production overshadowed the problems critics had with the script. Despite that, the production still received 13 Tony Award nominations (including Best Musical). While the big winner that year was The Lion King, Ragtime still did better than the original production of Chicago did when it was up against A Chorus Line by actually winning some Tonys of their own. While the original production was able to run two years on Broadway, it still ended up losing a lot of money. Though since then, Ragtime has been performed frequently by community and regional theatres all over the country. A revival which transferred from the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C. did open in the fall of 2009, but no one saw it (OK, maybe a few people did, but was not enough for it to last past January). Luckily, that production still received 6 Tony nominations (including Best Revival of a Musical). A 7th nomination was originally given for Best Costume Design of a Musical, but ended up being withdrawn due to Santo Loquasto’s designs being too similar to his from the original production.
While Ragtime still has yet to have a financially successful production on Broadway, it still has been performed as concerts in New York with Lincoln Center Theatre producing a concert in 2013 as well as a concert that took place on Ellis Island last night. This morning, it was reported that Suzanne Friedman who presented the concert is eyeing full, immersive production on Ellis Island next year.
All of this had me thinking about one thing: If I was a theatrical producer, how would I put together a Broadway revival of Ragtime. For one thing, I’d probably have it set up with a not-for-profit theatre organization so that there wouldn’t be as much of a concern about the production (potentially) losing money. Someone even suggested to Roundabout Theatre Company about producing it in a future season. Roundabout responded to the suggestion with:
“It’s a fantastic show, but having been revived already in 2010, we think it needs to wait several more years to come back to New York anew.”
Though I’d be very interested in seeing Lincoln Center Theater someday producing a Broadway revival. As for who would star in it, I’ve got some ideas...
Mother:
The one performer who I think is perfect for this role is Kelli O'Hara. For one, she has the voice to sing the magnificent score by Stephen Flaherty and Lynn Ahrens (her voice sounds like it came right out of the Golden Age of Broadway). She also has taken on some strong female characters in musicals before (the most recent one being Anna Leonowens in The King & I). It just seems to me that O’Hara and the character of Mother were truly made for each other.
Coalhouse Walker, Jr.:
In an interview with Broadway.com two years ago, Joshua Henry said that his dream role is Coalhouse Walker, Jr. in Ragtime. If I was putting together a revival, he’d definitely be my first choice for the role! Henry has certainly displayed his versatility in the past with his performances in American Idiot, The Scottsboro Boys, Porgy & Bess, Violet, and most recently in Shuffle Along… which he did with Brian Stokes Mitchell & Audra McDonald, the original Coalhouse & Sarah. Not to mention that he played opposite Brandon Victor Dixon who are soon about to be sharing three of the same characters on their resumes (the first two being Haywood Patterson in The Scottsboro Boys and Cotton Club Parade) as they will both be playing Aaron Burr in two separate productions of Hamilton. And Dixon just played Coalhouse in the Ellis Island concert last night. It just goes to show how everything’s connected.
Tateh:
The one performer who I can think of for this role is Danny Burstein. For one, he’s Jewish and that would be helpful in playing a Jewish immigrant. He also has of course proven to be a very successful character actor taking on different roles such as Aldolpho in The Drowsy Chaperone, Luther Billis in South Pacific, Buddy Plummer in Follies, Herr Schultz in Cabaret, and now Tevye in Fiddler on the Roof. I think the character of Tateh would be right up his alley.
Father:
I had a really hard time thinking about who could play this role, but the one performer I was finally able to settle on is Michael Cerveris. Another versatile musical theatre actor who has been a part of several other historical-based musicals before (Titanic, Assassins, Lovemusik, Evita, and Fun Home). I could definitely see him playing Father.
Mother's Younger Brother:
Ben Fankhauser is a performer who made his Broadway debut in Newsies (another musical set in New York during the Turn of the Century). I’ve been lucky enough to have seen two great performances from him last year. The first being Henry in North Carolina Theatre’s production of Next to Normal followed by Barry Mann in the national tour of Beautiful: The Carole King Musical. Not only is he such a talented performer, but he’s also someone I could totally see playing this part.
Sarah:
Ever since audiences were first introduced to Cynthia Erivo with her multiple award-winning performance in the current Broadway revival of The Color Purple, some have wondered about what other future role she could play. Sarah is the first one I thought of. When I saw her in The Color Purple last June, I could tell how she was really nailing the character of Celie. While the two characters may be similar in some cases, they’re still very different in others. I think she could nail the character of Sarah very well.
So what do you think of these ideas?
The original Broadway production debuted in 1998 to some mixed critical reviews with complaints that the enormous physical production overshadowed the problems critics had with the script. Despite that, the production still received 13 Tony Award nominations (including Best Musical). While the big winner that year was The Lion King, Ragtime still did better than the original production of Chicago did when it was up against A Chorus Line by actually winning some Tonys of their own. While the original production was able to run two years on Broadway, it still ended up losing a lot of money. Though since then, Ragtime has been performed frequently by community and regional theatres all over the country. A revival which transferred from the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C. did open in the fall of 2009, but no one saw it (OK, maybe a few people did, but was not enough for it to last past January). Luckily, that production still received 6 Tony nominations (including Best Revival of a Musical). A 7th nomination was originally given for Best Costume Design of a Musical, but ended up being withdrawn due to Santo Loquasto’s designs being too similar to his from the original production.
While Ragtime still has yet to have a financially successful production on Broadway, it still has been performed as concerts in New York with Lincoln Center Theatre producing a concert in 2013 as well as a concert that took place on Ellis Island last night. This morning, it was reported that Suzanne Friedman who presented the concert is eyeing full, immersive production on Ellis Island next year.
All of this had me thinking about one thing: If I was a theatrical producer, how would I put together a Broadway revival of Ragtime. For one thing, I’d probably have it set up with a not-for-profit theatre organization so that there wouldn’t be as much of a concern about the production (potentially) losing money. Someone even suggested to Roundabout Theatre Company about producing it in a future season. Roundabout responded to the suggestion with:
“It’s a fantastic show, but having been revived already in 2010, we think it needs to wait several more years to come back to New York anew.”
Though I’d be very interested in seeing Lincoln Center Theater someday producing a Broadway revival. As for who would star in it, I’ve got some ideas...
Mother:
The one performer who I think is perfect for this role is Kelli O'Hara. For one, she has the voice to sing the magnificent score by Stephen Flaherty and Lynn Ahrens (her voice sounds like it came right out of the Golden Age of Broadway). She also has taken on some strong female characters in musicals before (the most recent one being Anna Leonowens in The King & I). It just seems to me that O’Hara and the character of Mother were truly made for each other.
Coalhouse Walker, Jr.:
In an interview with Broadway.com two years ago, Joshua Henry said that his dream role is Coalhouse Walker, Jr. in Ragtime. If I was putting together a revival, he’d definitely be my first choice for the role! Henry has certainly displayed his versatility in the past with his performances in American Idiot, The Scottsboro Boys, Porgy & Bess, Violet, and most recently in Shuffle Along… which he did with Brian Stokes Mitchell & Audra McDonald, the original Coalhouse & Sarah. Not to mention that he played opposite Brandon Victor Dixon who are soon about to be sharing three of the same characters on their resumes (the first two being Haywood Patterson in The Scottsboro Boys and Cotton Club Parade) as they will both be playing Aaron Burr in two separate productions of Hamilton. And Dixon just played Coalhouse in the Ellis Island concert last night. It just goes to show how everything’s connected.
Tateh:
The one performer who I can think of for this role is Danny Burstein. For one, he’s Jewish and that would be helpful in playing a Jewish immigrant. He also has of course proven to be a very successful character actor taking on different roles such as Aldolpho in The Drowsy Chaperone, Luther Billis in South Pacific, Buddy Plummer in Follies, Herr Schultz in Cabaret, and now Tevye in Fiddler on the Roof. I think the character of Tateh would be right up his alley.
Father:
I had a really hard time thinking about who could play this role, but the one performer I was finally able to settle on is Michael Cerveris. Another versatile musical theatre actor who has been a part of several other historical-based musicals before (Titanic, Assassins, Lovemusik, Evita, and Fun Home). I could definitely see him playing Father.
Mother's Younger Brother:
Ben Fankhauser is a performer who made his Broadway debut in Newsies (another musical set in New York during the Turn of the Century). I’ve been lucky enough to have seen two great performances from him last year. The first being Henry in North Carolina Theatre’s production of Next to Normal followed by Barry Mann in the national tour of Beautiful: The Carole King Musical. Not only is he such a talented performer, but he’s also someone I could totally see playing this part.
Sarah:
Ever since audiences were first introduced to Cynthia Erivo with her multiple award-winning performance in the current Broadway revival of The Color Purple, some have wondered about what other future role she could play. Sarah is the first one I thought of. When I saw her in The Color Purple last June, I could tell how she was really nailing the character of Celie. While the two characters may be similar in some cases, they’re still very different in others. I think she could nail the character of Sarah very well.
So what do you think of these ideas?