Let me start by saying that every actor in this cast had wonderful moments in the show. Everyone, across the board, was excellent, including the chorus. To me, there were two overall stand out performances. Those would be Patrick Dinnsen as Mother's Younger Brother and John Barsoian as Tateh. Both of their acting, singing and movement/dance was at a high level throught the entire show. Strangely enough, when I listen to recordings of Ragtime, these are two characters that I really don't care about. These two men made me care about them and I was totally invested in their journeys. Patrick did a great job at portraying a young turn of the century man dealing with the conflicts of what his social class dictates and where his heart leads him. I only wish Younger Brother had been given more material to sing. John Barsoain's Tateh was charismatic, protective, loving, gentle and yet still a force to be reckoned with if anyone crossed his path. His performance of "Gliding" was a highlight of the show...I know I was not the only one in tears during that.
Nasia Thomas, in the role of Sarah, gave a powerful performance. I was so thrilled to see that her Sarah was not an emotional, weepy victim of her circumstances. Thomas's Sarah had strength in her and that came through, especially in her number "Your Daddy's Son" which was spine tingling. Coalhouse Walker, Jr., Sarah's love interest in the show, was portrayed by Patrick Clanton. Clanton has an amazingly beautiful singing voice, which is necessary in the role of Coalhouse and his duet with Sarah, "Wheels of a Dream" was another highlight. I did feel, however, that Clanton was more able to tap into the charming and seductive side of Coalhouse than in his anger. That, in no way, takes away from the power his climatic scene in which Clanton delivered "Make Them Hear You" with great determination.
There were other outstanding moments among the cast. Alex Stevenson sang the role of Father exquisitely and even though Father is not a comic role, Mr. Stevenson has nice comic timing that shone through in the "What a Game" number. Katie Zanca had a commanding presence and voice as Emma Goldman. Madison Johnson's Evelyn Nesbit was a burst of energy every time she appeared on stage. Aliyana Stewart gave a soul stirring solo in "Til We Reach That Day" that had the audience roaring as Act One ended. Bricen Bullis and McLaurin Hall as Little Boy and Little Girl were sweet, precocious and able to hold their own with their adult counterparts.
And now we come to the role of Mother. I will say upfront that if I sound more critical of Savannah Sprinkle in the role of Mother, it is NOT because she gave a bad performance. Quite the contrary. Mother just happens to be my favorite role in Ragtime and so I paid attention to everything Ms. Sprinkle did. Mother, to me is the emotional center of Ragtime and goes through the biggest transformation during the course of the show. Ms. Sprinkle handled the material with great depth and an enchanting, and at times, powerful singing voice. However, in the first act, her two solos were a little too stoic for me. In "Goodbye My Love" I never got the sense that she was actually going to miss Father while he was away on expedition. Now, this might have been a choice of Ms. Sprinkle's not to show much emotion because a woman in turn of the century America most likely would not have done that in public. I did appreciate the sense that Mother thinks life will go on as normal and she has nothing to worry about in Father's absence. Which leads me to her 2nd solo, "What Kind of Woman" when her life turns upside down after finding a buried child in her garden. I needed a little more urgency from her in this song. It was bubbling under the surface, but I would've liked to have seen her take it a few steps further. Having said that, her acting was wonderful throughout the entire production, especially in her scenes with Tateh. I could see, little by little, as the evening went on, that Mother knew the world was changing and she needed to change with it. By the time she got to her 2nd act solo, "Back To Before", Mother's transformation was going full steam. Needless to say, that is a favorite number of mine from the score and Ms. Sprinkle delivered an emotional, gut wrenching performance of this song that brought the house down. I found myself cheering, literally, when she finished....and I almost never vocally cheer during anything, least of all, theatre. Overall, I could not have asked for a better interpretation of Mother. Brava.
Catherine McNeela's direction is concise and well balanced. She was able to lead these actors to a place to tell these emotional, heartbreaking stories without being maudlin or weepy about it. Just when things seem to get too deep, something makes you laugh or smile. Her staging is fluid and handled with such ease that there are times when you don't realize that the entire cast is on stage, and it's a large cast, because not once did it look crowded. One of the highlights of the show is a number in the 2nd act, "Our Children", and I admit that I loved Ms. McNeela's interpretation of this song. I've seen many couples perform this number, singing about their children, and I've always found it a sweet song. But this was the first time, for me, that I really saw beneath the surface of this number. I found myself watching two people falling in love during the course of this song. Or, more precisely, watching two people trying to fight the feelings of falling in love with each other and yet, giving in to their hearts as much as the rules of society would allow them. When they clasped hands, tears welled up in my eyes and I had a lump in my throat. This was so much more satisfying than the clinical and polite renditions of the song I had encountered before. I cannot wait to see Ms. McNeela's next show!
There were a few things in the show, very minor, that I wish had been different. I wanted Henry Ford to have been aged some in his makeup. Jack King sang the role beautifully, but looked far too young. When Mother returns onstage for her part in "Journey On", she's carrying a picture frame that looked like it was recently purchased at Hobby Lobby and not something more turn of the century. Booker T. Washington's suit could've been more upper class and dignified (and it didn't look like he was wearing a long
This is a show not to be missed. Any professional theatre company would be envious of the quality of work that is Elon's Ragtime, The Musical. I highly recommend it. If I had the money, I'd go back and see it several more times!
