I saw Ragtime: In Concert presented by The Highland Park Players in Wilmette, Illinois after hearing about it on television. I was happy to know that it was not too far from home and I recalled Helen Keller’s words, “Life is either a daring adventure or nothing.” So, I immediately went online, purchased tickets for the Sunday matinee and ventured out for a new adventure.
I found the venue with a level of ease and had recently driven past the location as I was headed somewhere else. Upon arriving, I saw that the place was packed as people calmly chatted with each other and milled around before the musical started. I imagine it is a tightly-knitted community up on Chicago’s North Shore.
When the curtains were lifted, there was the Jam Orchestra seated towards the back of the stage and not in a pit. I could get a good look at them and even noted the large harp to the left of the stage. Behind them, there sat The Choir with their choir books. It was an interesting set up and the stage was still spacious enough for the actors to have plenty of room to move around and roll on their props towards the front of the floor.
Aaron Kaplan, the animated conductor, opened the play with music, the choir raised their voices in song and several players took the stage. There were three groups of people who were visibly separated. One was the wealthy white family of privilege, the newly-arrived immigrants who had probably been through Ellis Island and the marginalized black community. Each had its own stories and challenges as all sought to survive the American scene. The setting was around 1908 in New York City.
Through song, speeches, soliloquies and dance, the stories poured out and members of the three groups became intertwined. The wealthy Mother took in an abandoned black child and her mother (Sarah). Consequently, her lover, the musician Coalhouse Walker, Jr. showed up to try to woo her and he often played ragtime music on their piano to pass the time. When her husband, Father, returned from his expedition to the North Pole, needless to say, he was less than happy to see people of color in his home.
In the meantime, Tateh, a Jewish widower and single father of a daughter peddled his drawings and silhouettes. He became increasingly frustrated with his financial challenges as he searched for the American dream until his pictures finally began to sell. He, too, met Mother and her son, Little Boy, on a couple of occasions. Quite like a dance, the three groups’ lives intermingled as they all looked for ways to cope with life and its curve balls.
Famous icons who influenced society during that era dotted the stage featuring greats such as the activist Emma Goldman who constantly found herself on her soap box in the midst of protests. There was actress Evelyn Nesbitt Thaw, whose millionaire husband had killed architect Stanford White over his wife. It was laughingly called the ‘crime of the century,’ though they noted that the century still had over 90 years left in it. Henry Ford and his assembly line production was on the horizon along with Harry Houdini, Booker T. Washington and J.P. Morgan. All helped to reveal the social climate of the time as they shared their contributions.
The persecution of Coalhouse Walker, Jr. took center stage after his new T-Model Ford was vandalized and his beloved Sarah was mobbed while she sought help for him. As in life, some had bigger hearts than others but a growth in attitudes and perceptions in spite of cultural differences was the theme. The play was based on E.L. Doctorow’s novel of the same name and the musical was written by Playwright Terrence McNally.
The songs were great. The acting and dancing were superb and in the midst of pains and hardships, the audience left the play feeling uplifted. The long standing ovation, cat calls, whistles and bravos went on for a while at the end. All seemed to agree that it was a great way to spend a spring Sunday afternoon!
Lynn M.
April 7, 2024
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