Elon University's production of Ragtime, The Musical....just my opinion

Every time that I hear the opening notes to Ragtime, I get chills because I know what a wonderful score I'm about to be hearing.  When we sat in our seats last Saturday night in the McCrary Theatre at Elon University, the lights went down and the music started.  Once again, I got chills.  Little did I know at that moment what a wonderful journey I had just started.  By the end of the opening number, I was completely taken in by these characters and stayed that way for the next few hours.  Catherine McNeela assembled wonderful design team and an impeccable casts of students for this stellar production.

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

sleeve shirt underneath)  Lynne Formato's choreography was spot on brilliant the entire night, except for one distracting moment in the opening number.  When Younger Brother steps forward to tell his story, the choreography going on behind him was almost completely stealing his focus.  However these are all minute details that in no means take away from the evening.

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!

a ghost story

When I was little, before I entered elementary school, my Mom or my Grandmother or both would take me to Wingate, NC, to the family homestead to see my Aunt Sara and Aunt Mary Lee for the day.  I always enjoyed going and loved playing in that big old house.  My favorite thing was to go upstairs and play around the bedrooms by myself, as no one ever went up there anymore.  However, there was always something, or someone to be exact, standing in my way.

I would ask Aunt Sara's permission to go upstairs and, of course, was granted it.  But, everytime, as soon as I would hit the landing on the staircase and look up ahead, I would freeze in my tracks.  There was an old woman standing at the top of the stairs looking down at me.  In hindsight, she was probably more stern looking than mean, but to a three year old, she scared the crap out of me.  She wore a long, black plain Victorian era dress.  And her dark gray hair was pulled back into a very tight bun.  And we just stared at each other.  It always felt like an eternity, but it wouldn't have been more than a few moments at the most.

And I never made it up the stairs alone.  I would go back down into the kitchen, tell Grandmother what I had seen and ask her to take me up the stairs.  She would hold my hand and reassure me that there was no one there....but I knew differently.  And sure enough, we'd get to the stairs and no one would be there.  She took me upstairs and left me to play, which I did because once I was up there I wasn't afraid.  And I never saw the woman while I was playing, only when I tried to go up the stairs.

Fast forward about 12 years.  Both Aunt Sara and Mary Lee had passed away and the estate divided and the house sold.  Mom and I were driving somewhere, talking about all kinds of things, and the house in Wingate became the subject of conversation.  I told Mom about what I'd seen as a child in the house and it didn't phase her in the least.  She countered with her own story.

When she was 14 or 15, she would spend weeks of her summer vacation in Wingate especially when her cousin Margaret had come to visit.  Margaret was 30 years older than Mom but they were very close.  One particular visit, Margaret had brought Mom a St. Christopher's Medal to wear.  Mom loved it, but she would've loved anything Margaret gave her.  One night during this visit, Mom and Margaret were sleeping in one of the front bedrooms upstairs when Mom woke up to something strange.

There was a woman standing at the foot of her bed.  At first, she thought it was her Aunt Billie, who was also visiting, but the more she looked, she realized it wasn't her.  The woman didn't frighten her, she just didn't know what to think.  Same black dress, same gray hair in a bun.  Mom kept blinking her eyes and pinching herself to make sure she wasn't dreaming.  She eventually fell back asleep.

When she woke the next morning, something else strange had happened.  Her St. Christopher's Medal was no longer around her neck.  The chain was clutched in her hand, but the medal was gone.  She woke Margaret up in a panic and they turned that room upside down looking for the medal.  While they were searching, Mom relayed to Margaret about the woman she had seen during the night.

Margaret stopped searching for the medal and got one of the family photo albums.  She opened it up to a specific page, pointing to a picture and asking Mom if that was the woman she saw.  Mom told her it was and she was identified as their great grandmother, who had lived in the house and died there some 50 years prior.  Margaret told her that because they were a VERY Baptist family, she...the great grandmother...would never have allowed anything Catholic in her home so chances are she took the medal after Mom fell back asleep.

The medal was never seen again.  And just to be sure that Mom didn't swallow it in her sleep, because that thought had occured to them, they checked for a week to make sure Mom hadn't passed it lol

When we got home from wherever it was we had been going, Mom showed me a picture of my great great grandmother and sure enough, it was the woman I saw at the top of the stairs.

This isn't really a scary story, it's just interesting to me that the same woman appeared to both of us some 20 years apart.

Recipe of the week - grated apple pie

I just made this last Sunday, the first time i've made on of these pies in about 30 years!  Grandmother taught me how to make it and it's a great pie.  Hope you enjoy!

Grated Apple Pie

1 & 1/4 cups of sugar
3 Tbsp of all purpose flour
1/2 tsp of ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp of ground nutmeg
2 eggs, beaten
1/2 cup (1 stick) of melted butter
1 tsp of vanilla extract
3 cups of coarsely grated apples (i use Granny Smith)
1 9" deep dish pie crust

Preheat oven to 400
Combine sugar, flour, cinnamon and nutmeg.  Add eggs, butter and vanilla.  Fold in the grated apples.  Pour into the pie crust and bake for 10 min.
Reduce the temperature to 350 and bake for 60 min.
Cool and serve.

Mom's sunglasses

it's interesting to me how some things trigger memories, almost out of nowhere.  The other day, i was getting ready to leave work and i realized that i had some linens in the car that i needed to take into the building to restock for the next morning.  i turned off the car and got out and loaded up the linens in my arms.  After i put them away, i was walking back thru the kitchen at work and realized i still had my sunglasses on.  i thought to myself "That's odd.  Does anyone really wear sunglasses inside?  Oh well"

i got back into my car and started my drive home when i remembered i time when my Mom had her sunglasses on inside.  i was in the 5th grade and i had been selected to attend the SPEC camp the following summer.  In order to attend, i had to have a "junior" physical from my doctor.  Mom made the appointment and took me to see Dr. Perkins after school one day.  After Dr. Perkins did my physical and we were wrapping things up, Mom asked me to go and wait in the car as she needed to talk to Dr. Perkins.  i didn't really think anything of it, so went out and sat in the car til she came out.  We were parked right in front of the door to Dr. Perkins' office and when Mom came out, she already had her sunglasses on.  At the time it struck me as odd, because she normally waited til she was outside or in the car to put her glasses on.  Mom got in the car and i asked her what she needed to talk to Dr. Perkins about, and she told me she wasn't feeling well....it was probably a cold or something.  Little did i know at that moment that it wasn't a cold.  And little did i know that that night Mom would tell me and Bill the information that would forever change our family's life.

Anyway, it was just interesting to me that that memory came to me that day at work.  Of course, i cherish every memory i have of Mom....and she rocked some sunglasses!

a theatre memory - nailing an audition

Have you ever walked out of an audition and known you had just nailed it and landed that role?  That only happen to me one time in my college career.  That fall semester had a great season:  Candida, The Who's Tommy, Cat On a Hot Tin Roof, Fall Shorts and The Best Christmas Pageant Ever.  I would've been happy to have been in any of those shows.

I'd only gotten called back for two shows that semester, Cat and Fall Shorts.  The director of Christmas Pageant later told me she didn't call me back because, even though she would've liked to have worked with me, she knew I would bet getting a bigger, meatier role somewhere else.  I thought that was nice of her to tell me.  And I didn't sing that year at auditions because I didn't want to be in the chorus of Tommy, I really wanted to act.

Alan Cooke called me back to read for George in Necessities, one of the two one act plays in Fall Shorts.  A wonderful play written by Sally Holmes Meehan.  I really hope she writes another one!!  :)  Anyway, George is a great part, but I really thought it was out of my range because he was the leading man role, and I was always more supporting/character parts.

At the callbacks for the show, I read several times with different combinations of actresses.  There is a scene with George, Shelley (I hope I got that right, it's been awhile lol) and her mother.  I think I read it twice with different people.  I know I read with Donna Robinson at one point.  Well, after he'd read dozens of people on stage at Taylor Theater, he kept six of us back and paired us up to read the final scene of the play:  Me and Holly Parlatore, DH Johnson and Andrea Anthony, Josh Purvis and Amanda Spivey.  We were all COMPLETELY different types so there really was not much clue as to what Alan was looking for.

He gave us the sides for the scene and sent us off to read through a couple of times and then we each headed down to the studio theater to read.  Holly and I sat out in front of Taylor and read the scene several times.  We'd become fast friends the previous year but had never had the opportunity to work together.  The scene itself was pretty intense and I told Holly that I was going to go after her.  She said that wasn't a problem and to expect her to come right back at me.  We didn't really get into the scene that much when we were going over it because we knew we had the chemistry and needed to save that energy for our reading for Alan.

When we went down to read for Alan, it was magical.  Everything fell into place.  We barely had to look at the script, it was as if we already knew these people.  It was just such an incredible feeling to feel that safe with another actor that I could take myself where I needed to go with it.  I remember at one point throwing a chair across the stage, we got that riled up.  It's hard to explain why it worked, it just did.  And when it was over, Alan thanked us and we left.  Holly and I didn't speak much afterwards, but in my mind I knew we had just gotten ourselves cast in Necessities.

When the cast lists went up, lo and behold, there were our names.  Holly asked me if I was ok with getting George because she knew how much I wanted to play Gooper in Cat.  I told her hell yeah, I was ok with it.  It was one of the best acting experiences of my life and no regrets whatsoever.

Till the next theater memory :)

recipe of the week - stuffed squash

i made these the other week for Michael and myself.  Hadn't made them in years, but they turned out well, i think :)  My Grandmother use to make them all the time.  They were a staple at Sunday lunches and at many luncheon parties she hosted.  However, she didn't particularly care for them LOL  She would always put one on her plate and then not eat it.  Occasionally, she would take a bite, but not often.  Still, i loved them....still do!

4 whole squash
2 slices bread, crumbed
small onion, chopped
1-2 Tbsp margarine, melted
salt/pepper

Cook squash in water for 15-20 minutes.  When cool enough to handle, cut off neck of squash.  Slice off tops and scoop out squash, leaving a boat-like shell.

To scooped squash (and chopped squash necks) add bread crumbs, chopped onion, margarine, salt and pepper.  Fill squash shells with mixture.  Place in a baking dish.  Bake 15 to 20 minutes @ 350

Enjoy!

where i was 12 years ago

It seems like only yesterday that the images of 9/11 became permanently etched into my memory.  At the time, it really was more than i could emotionally handle, though i didn't realize it at the time.  When i was growing up, Mom would tell me stories of the Kennedy assassination and she remembered exactly where she was when she found out....in college, on the way to a history class.  In the back of my mind, i always feared that i would have one of those moments that was so nationally traumatic that i would remember every detail about it.  When i was in 5th grade, the Challenger blew up right after take off.  i was standing outside the cafeteria at Walter Bickett Elementary School when we found out.  i really thought that was going to be my moment that i'd always remember.  Little did i know what was to come.

Tuesday, September 11th, 2001 started out as another typical day at work.  i was in a particularly good mood that day, having just returned from the South Eastern Theatre Conference the weekend before.  i always enjoyed going to that and had actually talked to several companies in the northeast about potential jobs.  i was helping to get the day's deliveries ready....making tea in the wait station...the stereo in the kitchen at work was blasting 97.1, the Tom Joyner show.  Then the EBS alarm came across the radio.  Having heard it many times, i really didn't think much of it....it was only a test.  Then the news of the first plane hitting the tower came on.  At first, i thought it was a joke....like Welles's War Of The Worlds.  i didn't think anything like that could ever or would ever happen in my lifetime.  Soon after, i realized it was no joke and thought what a horrible accident that was.  Meredith came down from the office upstairs to see if we'd heard what had happened.  That's when the 2nd plane struck and we all knew this was no accident.  Then the reports from Washington and Pennsylvania started pouring in.

Needless to say, i just stood there...dazed...in shock.  i really could not believe what i was hearing.  This wasn't true.  Soon, i would wake up and this would not be true.  But, it was.  And i started to think about my college friends up in NYC, particularly Marcia and Jennifer.  Marcia worked near the towers.  Was she ok?  Who else did i know up there that might be affected by this?  My mind was racing.  And, of course, by that point trying to make a phone call to NYC was fruitless.  Almost no one could get through.

Work went on that day...what choice did we have.  Leslie went home and brought a small tv that she put up in the office so that we could watch what was going on.  Lunch deliveries came and went.  Everywhere i turned, there it was...the horrible reality of what was taking place.  Every tv channel, every radio station, every inch of my mind was consumed with it...i could not escape it.  After everything started to sink in for me, i pretty much put myself on autopilot...something that ended up lasting a lot longer than i expected it to.

i spent most of the next 14 months in a total haze.  my concept of reality had been thrown out the window.  i could hide it in social and family settings, but most of the time, i just was not focused, mentally or emotionally.  i truly thought this was the beginning of the end.  i no longer knew what to think.  My behavior spun out of control for awhile, simply because i did not know how to deal with what i was feeling.  Hell, i didn't really know what i was feeling to be honest....i had shut everything off and out.  i had no idea what i was doing half the time.

My snap back into reality came very suddenly and i'm glad it did, but that is a story for another time.  Now, years later, i can look back on myself and learn a lot from this tragic day.  i hope to God i never see anything like it again.

Other than the obvious things....all those innocent lives lost, the destruction, the fear....what makes me the saddest about that day is that it takes a national tragedy such as the 9/11 attacks for us to truly be the UNITED States of America.  And even that's short lived.