‘Ragtime’ stirs up America’s 1900s melting pot

Major musical drawn from Doctorow novel triumphantly returns to Broadway

BY MICHAEL SOMMERS

NEWJERSEYNEWSROOM.COM

BROADWAY REVIEW

Among the few truly great musicals created in living memory, "Ragtime" does more than just tell a story through songs. Brilliantly weaving history and fiction into a musical tapestry of epic scale, it conjures up a panoramic view of early 1900s America as immigrants, black people and the white elite seethe in a cultural melting pot.

Contrasting icons like tycoon J.P. Morgan, radical Emma Goldman and educator Booker T. Washington mingle into the fictional saga of Coalhouse Walker, a black musician warped by terrible racial injustice into terrorist acts. His tragedy forever changes the dynamics of a well-to-do white family. Meanwhile a poor but adaptable Jewish greenhorn grandly reinvents himself in the emerging film industry.

Wonderfully drawn from E.L. Doctorow's novel, this 1997 musical by Terrence McNally (book) and the team of Lynn Ahrens (lyrics) and Stephen Flaherty (music) now triumphantly returns to Broadway in a powerful new production that opened Sunday at the Neil Simon Theatre.

Marshalling a 40-member company, director-choreographer Marcia Milgrom Dodge swiftly and fluently stages the musical's interlocking stories upon a looming skeletal setting by Derek McLane that suggests both old Pennsylvania Station and Ellis Island while providing numerous levels for the action happening in New Rochelle, Harlem, Atlantic City and Manhattan.

Standing tallest amid the swirling masses is Quentin Earl Darrington as Coalhouse, whose genial nature darkens into rage with the death of his sweetheart Sarah (Stephanie Umoh). Handsomely embodying the genteel couple whose marriage erodes is Ron Bohmer and Christiane Noll, a personable twosome who act as expressively as they sing. Bobby Steggert makes a vividly funny-creepy impression as Noll's impulsive younger brother. Robert Petkoff's newly-minted movie-maker gleams with sudden success.

The intricate libretto and score have been trimmed a trifle, but Flaherty's music is gloriously rendered by a 28-piece orchestra. Soaring anthems such as "The Wheels of a Dream" and the surging title number are unforgettable stuff and the musicians and vocalists do them justice.

If this "Ragtime" does not match the visual opulence and the depth of talent boasted by the stunning original production, it comes darned close. Anyone who's never before seen "Ragtime" is likely to be blown away by the experience, while everybody else will thrill once more to the work's dramatic sweep and musical majesty.

"Ragtime" continues an open-end run at the Neil Simon Theatre, 250 W. 52nd St., New York. Call (212) 307-4100 or visit www.ragtimeonbroadway.com.