What is the story behind the musical Ragtime?
Ragtime is a musical with music by Stephen Flaherty, lyrics by Lynn Ahrens, and a book by Terrence McNally. It is based on the 1975 novel of the same name by E.L. Doctorow .
Is there a silent film of ragtime?
For the silent film, see Ragtime (1927 film). Ragtime is a 1981 American drama film directed by Miloš Forman, based on the 1975 historical novel Ragtime by E.L. Doctorow. The film is set in and around turn-of-the-century New York City, New Rochelle, and Atlantic City, and includes fictionalized references to actual people and events of the time.
Where does ragtime rank in the 20th century?
In 1998, the Modern Library ranked Ragtime number 86 on its list of the 100 best English-language novels of the 20th century. Time magazine included the novel in its TIME 100 Best English-Language Novels from 1923 to 2005.
Is Ragtime a postmodern novel?
Fredric Jameson's 1991 book Postmodernism, or The Cultural Logic of Late Capitalism devotes five pages to Doctorow's Ragtime, to illustrate the crisis of historiography and a resistance to interpretation. The novel was adapted for an eponymous 1981 movie and 1998 musical . Morris, Christopher D. (1991).
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Was Coalhouse Walker Jr a real person?
The hero of "Ragtime," the musical and the novel, is the fictional piano-playing firebrand Coalhouse Walker Jr.
What is Ragtime based on?
Ragtime is a musical with music by Stephen Flaherty, lyrics by Lynn Ahrens, and a book by Terrence McNally. It is based on the 1975 novel of the same name by E.L. Doctorow.
Are the characters in Ragtime real?
“Ragtime” kicks off with the grisly aftermath of the real-life relationship between Evelyn Nesbit, a superstar ingénue, and Stanford White, a successful married architect. After a nearly yearlong affair, which started when Nesbit was just 16, a new suitor emerged for her in the volatile railroad scion Harry K. Thaw.
What does JP Morgan represent in Ragtime?
Morgan and Ford are two of the richest men in America, and they symbolize wealth and power.
Why does Sarah bury her baby in ragtime?
In Harlem, Coalhouse Walker fathered Sarah's child and still loves her, even though she ran away from him, and resolves to win her back. She gave birth alone, frightened, and with extreme difficulty, which led her to unthinkingly bury her child.
Why is it called ragtime?
Ragtime (the term apparently derives from "ragged time," or syncopation) evolved in the late 19th century in the playing of honky-tonk pianists along the Mississippi and Missouri Rivers.
What happens to Harry K Thaw in Ragtime?
Harry K. Thaw escapes to Canada, comes back to the U.S. and is captured. Meanwhile Harry Houdini mourns his mother, who has died while he was in Europe.
Is Ragtime The musical kid friendly?
Filled with compassion, courage, and America's great historical figures, Ragtime is an inspirational musical that displays the true portrait of America. This show contains mature themes, mild violence, and strong language including racial slurs.
Is Ragtime a black musical?
Ragtime music is truly African-American music. It combines rhythms that were brought to this country by slaves, with musical forms brought over to the United States from Europe. Ragtime uses syncopated rhythms — that is, the accents in the melody are shifted away from the strong beats in the bass line underneath.
Why was ragtime so important?
It emerged in its published form during the mid-1890s and quickly spread across the continent via published compositions. By the early 1900s ragtime flooded the music publishing industry. The popularity and demand for ragtime also boosted sale of pianos and greatly swelled the ranks of the recording industry.
What was ragtime usually written for?
pianoAlthough most ragtime was composed for piano, transcriptions for other instruments and ensembles are common, notably including Gunther Schuller's arrangements of Joplin's rags. Occasionally ragtime was originally scored for ensembles (particlularly dance bands and brass bands), or as songs.
What makes ragtime special?
Ragtime is a true American style of music usually featuring a syncopated melody over a marching beat. Syncopation occurs when the accented note in a measure falls between the main beats. This creates a unique offset sound that, when it first became popular, simultaneously excited and offended many people.
What are the main characteristics of ragtime?
Ragtime -- A genre of musical composition for the piano, generally in duple meter and containing a highly syncopated treble lead over a rhythmically steady bass. A ragtime composition is usually composed three or four contrasting sections or strains, each one being 16 or 32 measures in length.
What was ragtime usually written for?
pianoAlthough most ragtime was composed for piano, transcriptions for other instruments and ensembles are common, notably including Gunther Schuller's arrangements of Joplin's rags. Occasionally ragtime was originally scored for ensembles (particlularly dance bands and brass bands), or as songs.
What was ragtime written for?
Although most ragtime was composed for piano, transcriptions for other instruments and ensembles are common, notably including Gunther Schuller's arrangements of Joplin's rags. Ragtime guitar continued to be popular into the 1930s, usually in the form of songs accompanied by skilled guitar work.
What is the novel ragtime about?
Coalhouse Walker, Jr., is a successful and charming Harlem ragtime musician. He has lost his love, Sarah, as the play begins. He finds her at Mother's house in New Rochelle and learns she has given birth to their son. Full of hope, Coalhouse sets out to win back both Sarah and the child.
Who wrote Ragtime?
Ragtime. (musical) Ragtime is a musical with music by Stephen Flaherty, lyrics by Lynn Ahrens, and a book by Terrence McNally. It is based on the 1975 novel of the same name by E.L. Doctorow .
When did Ragtime come out?
The musical opened on Broadway in previews on December 26, 1997 followed by the official opening on January 18, 1998. It was the first production in the newly opened Ford Center for the Performing Arts. Directed by Frank Galati and choreographed by Graciela Daniele, Ragtime closed on January 16, 2000 after 834 performances and 27 previews.
What is the name of the group in Ragtime?
Set in the early 20th century, Ragtime tells the story of three groups in the United States: African Americans, represented by Coalhouse Walker Jr., a Harlem musician; upper-class suburbanites, represented by Mother, the matriarch of a white upper-class family in New Rochelle, New York; and Eastern European immigrants, represented by Tateh, a Jewish immigrant from Latvia. The show also incorporates historical figures such as Harry Houdini, Evelyn Nesbit, Booker T. Washington, J. P. Morgan, Henry Ford, Stanford White, Harry Kendall Thaw, Admiral Peary, Matthew Henson, and Emma Goldman .
How many Tony nominations did Ragtime have?
The New York Times also noted that "The season was an artistic success as well, creating one of the most competitive Tony contests in years, with a battle in almost every category capped by the titanic struggle for the best musical award between Ragtime with 13 nominations and The Lion King with 11.".
How many actors are in Ragtime?
It has a stripped-down cast of only 16 actors, whereby leading actors also portray the ensemble/chorus.
When is Ragtime playing in 2021?
The musical played in the Andrew Lloyd Webber Foundation Theatre from March 23 to March 26, 2021.
Who played Coalhouse Walker in Ragtime?
The role of Coalhouse Walker was played by Thom Allison, with Alana Hibbert as Sarah, Jay Turvey as Tateh, and Patty Jamieson as Mother.
When was Ragtime published?
Ragtime (novel) Ragtime. (novel) This article is about the 1975 novel. For other uses, see Ragtime (disambiguation). Ragtime is a novel by E. L. Doctorow, published in 1975. It is a work of historical fiction mainly set in the New York City area from 1902 until 1912.
How many pages are there in Doctorow's Ragtime?
Fredric Jameson's 1991 book Postmodernism, or The Cultural Logic of Late Capitalism devotes five pages to Doctorow's Ragtime, to illustrate the crisis of historiography and a resistance to interpretation.
What is the number 86 in Ragtime?
In 1998, the Modern Library ranked Ragtime number 86 on its list of the 100 best English-language novels of the 20th century. Time magazine included the novel in its TIME 100 Best English-Language Novels from 1923 to 2005.
What is Tateh's story about?
Interwoven with this story is a depiction of life in the tenement slums of New York city, focused on an Eastern European immigrant referred to as Tateh, who struggles to support himself and his daughter after driving her mother off for accepting money for sex with her employer.
Where does the family business take place in The Little Boy?
Plot summary. The novel centers on a wealthy family living in New Rochelle, New York, referred to as Father, Mother, Mother's Younger Brother, Grandfather, and 'the little boy', Father and Mother's young son. The family business is the manufacture of flags and fireworks, an easy source of wealth due to the national enthusiasm for patriotic displays.
Overview
Ragtime is a musical with music by Stephen Flaherty, lyrics by Lynn Ahrens, and a book by Terrence McNally. It is based on the 1975 novel of the same name by E.L. Doctorow.
Set in the early 20th century, Ragtime tells the story of three groups in the United States: African Americans, represented by Coalhouse Walker Jr., a Harlem musi…
Production history
The musical had its world premiere in Toronto, where it opened at the Ford Centre for the Performing Arts (later renamed the Toronto Centre for the Arts) on December 8, 1996, produced by Canadian impresario Garth Drabinsky and his Livent Inc., the Toronto-production company he headed.
The US premiere was at the Shubert Theatre, Los Angeles in June 1997.
Synopsis
Act One
Three social castes in turn-of-the-century New York introduce themselves to the audience: the first is an upper-class white family from New Rochelle— the Little Boy, Edgar, and his Father (who runs a fireworks factory), Mother, Mother's Younger Brother, and Grandfather—who live a genteel life and enjoy a lack of racial and ethnic diversity; the second is the Black residents of Harlem, in…
Instrumentation
The Tony Award-winning orchestration of Ragtime by William David Brohn is for twenty-six musicians:
• Reed I (Flute, Piccolo)
• Reed II (English horn, Oboe)
• Reed III (Clarinet, E-flat clarinet)
External links
• Ragtime at the Internet Broadway Database
• Ragtime Revival at the Internet Broadway Database
• Ragtime (Version 1 - Broadway) at the Music Theatre International website
Overview
- Ragtime is a novel by E. L. Doctorow, published in 1975. It is a work of historical fiction mainly set in the New York City area from 1902 until 1912. In 1998, the Modern Library ranked Ragtime number 86 on its list of the 100 best English-language novels of the 20th century. TIME included the novel in its TIME 100 Best English-Language Novels from...
Plot summary
- The novel centers on a wealthy family living in New Rochelle, New York, referred to as Father, Mother, Mother's Younger Brother, Grandfather, and 'the little boy', Father and Mother's young son. The family business is the manufacture of flags and fireworks, an easy source of wealth due to the national enthusiasm for patriotic displays. Father joins Robert Peary's expedition to the Nort…
Historical figures
- The novel is unusual for the irreverent way that historical figures and fictional characters are woven into the narrative, making for surprising connections and linking different events and trains of thought about fame and success, on the one hand, and poverty and racism on the other. Harry Houdini plays a prominent yet incidental part, reflecting on success and mortality. As his succes…
Influences
- The name Coalhouse Walker is a reference to Heinrich von Kleist's German novella Michael Kohlhaas. The part of the story involving Coalhouse's humiliation and his increasingly desperate search for a dignified resolution closely follow the plot and details of the earlier work by Kleist. The connection was acknowledged by Doctorow, but it is a matter of opinion among critics whet…
Literary significance
- The novel was a nominee for the Nebula Award for Best Novel and won the National Book Critics Circle Award for fiction in 1975, and the American Academy and Institute of Arts and Letters Award in 1976. Fredric Jameson's 1991 book Postmodernism, or The Cultural Logic of Late Capitalism devotes five pages to Doctorow's Ragtime, to illustrate the crisis of historiography an…
Film and theatrical adaptations
- The novel was adapted for an eponymous 1981 movie and 1998 musical.