Alright, well thanks to Rachel for letting us use the comps that had been set aside for the Axler family members that couldn’t make it. So also, thanks to the Axler family.

I like a lot that when Rachel told me that we’d be able to use the tickets, we were forewarned that the show is ‘dark.’ And it is, it really is - but compared to the crap I’m used to (seeing and performing in), this was a walk in the park. And an enjoyable and funny one, at that.

This dark comedy is about a husband and wife who have a baby. The sonogram reads as a ’smudge’ so they don’t get a real good view of the baby till she’s born, and it turns out the baby is a limbless cyclops, doomed to a life hooked up to tubes and respirators. It’s very sad. The play basically follows the life of the two parents (and the father’s brother) and how the crippled child impacts them as people and how she changes their lives.

I took it as a testament to how bad the American medical situation is. That no doctor noticed that their child was to be a hideous monster, and that they would have to live with it forever. It totally, although probably unintentionally, villainizes doctors.

Not a whole lot really happens. It’s mostly about really good writing of characters, and how this one event and new addition to their lives changes them. At first, the mother (Colby) is reluctant to even look at her “child” while the father (Nick) is more hopeful. As Colby begins to lose her mind a bit, staying home all the time to watch the child, gorging on Junior’s Cheesecakes, Nick goes back to work (at the census bureau) with his egotistical, obnoxious, alpha-male brother. The brother character provides a nice buffer for the other two to work off of (and through), and also provides a lot of much needed comic relief.

The performances are great. Cassie Beck as Colby manages to be funny, although a tragically sad character. You see her character arc strongly through the 90-minute show. Brian Sgambati as Pete is slimy as hell, and fully, physically embodies this really hateful but totally watchable dude. Greg Keller is appropriately sad and tragic as Nick. I didn’t feel as though his performance was quite as strong as the other two, though, most likely for the very specific reason that his voice just isn’t as strong. When he got emotional he had a tendency to strain his voice, and all I could think was that he needs to be doing his Linklater exercises before a show. Because that’s where my mind goes when I watch actors. Because I am a dork for a good technique. So sue me.

Rachel, I am going to assume that you are not going to read this. If you are reading this, then I don’t want you at all to think that I am being critical of your writing - and I’m not sure my criticisms are useful anyway, since the show is done, it’s up, it’s been produced. And it is really good. But I did have a couple things I would have liked to see differently. I will mention them here. Most would probably render the show un-produceable.
What I didn’t like:
1) The scene between Pete and Colby would have been better had their conversation not resulted in a kiss. I wish it had just hinted at one rather than fully realized one. Although the audience had clearly been waiting for it, because when it happened there was a wave of ‘oh-snap’ reactions from the people sitting around me. So clearly, Rachel, you knew what you were doing here but I found it to be a convention. Perhaps in all of your playwriting studies you have learned the value of commercialization? Leading us to the obvious conclusion because it’s what most of the audience expects and wants, making the play overall, more commercially viable? I think yes, indeed, you know how to do this.
2) When Colby is alone with the baby, it starts making weird noises out of it’s life-support machines, and eventually, plays music. I wish it had turned out that this was really happening, and that the baby did wield some supernatural power. Instead, we have a crazy mommy. Which makes it sadder, yes, but not as interesting. If the baby had had supernatural powers, we’d be in a totally separate category of play, here, but the second the baby started talking to her, all I could think was, “please don’t let this all be in her head.” So I was a little disappointed when I turned out to be right.
3) Quite heinous is the fact that the character of Colby eats cheesecake throughout the entire show, and pretty much all I wanted to do afterwards was eat cheesecake. This is just mean, for those of us on diets. So I compromised and ate nachos instead (not really a compromise.)
4) MOST HEINOUS. There was somebody talking throughout the show. A low, under the breath male voice, trying to be quiet, yet muttering the entire time. It was infuriatingly distracting. First I thought it might have been the stage manager, calling the cues. Then I thought it might have been a visually impaired person or group, and there might have been a narration situation going on. Could not see or figure out where the voice was coming from. Regardless, it was so distracting. And it happened more often when there were a lot of sound and light cues going on. So it could have been a SM or a narrator, either way, the theatre really needs to fix this. It was horrific.

What I did like:
1) the freaky baby cradle with the blood tubes like something out of a Sci-Fi monster movie.
2) pretty much everything else.

Totally good show.

Ok so does it mean you’re old, if Broadway is reviving a show that you were around to see the original production of? I think this is a sign of age. Or, of being a true “New Yorker.” Or just that you’ve been here for a really long time.

I saw the original production in 1998, not with the original cast but with it’s immediate replacement. LaChanze had replaced Audra McDonald at that point which was disappointing but other than that the cast and the production were wonderful, and Ragtime has remained for me, one of my all time favorite musicals. Which is really surprising, given the circumstances. First of all, the subject matter is so heavily historical on paper that it sounds dry as dirt. American race relations at the turn of the century? Snoozers. But somehow, not. Also, the music is very grand, sweeping, and majestic. Usually when this style is utilized you end of with a cheese-ball musical, ala Frank Wildhorn. Yet here, the music is just beautiful and brings tears to my eyes just to think on it. And finally, it’s probably one of the only musicals that I truly love that isn’t either 1) super dark or 2) a comedy. Neither of these elements are really present in Ragtime. It’s more uplifting and moving than silly, campy, or twisted. So - why do I love this show you ask? Because it is just that good.

The book by Terrance McNally, and the music by Steven Flaherty, lyrics, Lynn Ahrens, are all just so lovely. And what I found to be so interesting about this new production on Broadway is this - they really took into account how good the material is, when crafting this production. Ragtime doesn’t really need opulent sets and props and things flying around the stage, because that would be a distraction from what really matters here. That being the characters, and their stories told through songs. I loved how the Model-T was just the frame of one, and he pushed it around while walking. That’s a good example of the theme of this show. The visuals were somewhat skeletal, frame only - but the songs and the lives of the characters fill up the stage until you would swear it’s ready to burst.

Enough good, onto the bad and the sad. The ensemble cast here is very good. Aside from a few duds (I’m looking at you, Little Boy and Evelyn Nesbit), the cast is really solid. I was concerned a bit by how much the woman playing Sarah, Stephanie Umoh, looks like Audra McDonald. I mean, of course playing that role, she has the unfortunate circumstance of inevitably being constantly compared to Audra, so why not cast someone really different? Strange choice. But she was good. And Colehouse (Quentin Earl Darrington) was awesome, in his B’way debut. So was Tateh (Robert Petkoff, a friend of a friend, as it turns out.) The most improved from the original production was that of the role of Mother, here, played by Christiane Noll. She made Marin Mazzie’s version of the role seem cold and flat. Ms. Noll is such a superior actress, she really brought to life this somewhat flatly written character. Also exemplary was Bobby Steggart, as Mother’s Younger Brother. He was so biting and fiery, just an excellent version of this character.

What I don’t really want to talk about, but have to, is how this show pretty much represents the death of the modern American Musical. First of all, it’s about America, it’s modern, and it’s closing - therefore it pretty much represents this LITERALLY. Which is terrifying if you think about it that way. But more specifically, this show ran for I believe, 50-something performances before announcing that it was closing. At which point, the box office was flooded with oh-shit-hurry ticket buyers who were scrambling to see it before it was gone forever. So they decided to extend it - for another week. Horray. So there are enough New Yorkers who like good musicals to fill a show for one week. And that is just not enough to sustain a show.

Essentially the problem is this. Nowadays, for a show to do well on Broadway it has to 1) feature household-name movie stars or 2) be a show for children (Disney) or adolescents (Wicked). Ragtime represents neither camp. Add in it’s high budget and huge operating costs, and you’ve got a show doomed for failure. Had they cast more recognizable actors in the roles, we might have seen it run a while longer. But this cast, together, in that right combination of people, really is magical. And the way the show is constructed, there really is no “star.” They would have had to cast a whole slew of famous people, because it really is an ensemble cast, and no ’star’ wants to just be part of the ensemble. So they were powerless to cast this in any other way, but I wonder if that in and of itself, is the reason for the show’s demise?

Also at 3 hours, and the subject matter being very adult, it’s not a family show. So rich suburbanites are all still going to see Lion King. Which interestingly, opened the same year as the original production of Ragtime - and is still running.

I am just glad for the people that did get to see it. Because it takes a lot to move me to tears, and this show does it - over and over again, and probably always will.