It’s Ragtime time
A-Team hit the Pleasance this week
Ragtime, the multi-genre musical set in early 20th century New York, opens at the Pleasance on Wednesday for a four-night run from A-Team Productions.
This is the second production from the local amateur youth musical company, who staged Sweeney Todd at the St Bride’s Centre last year.
Mostly sung-through, Ragtime the Musical is based on E. L. Doctorow’s 1975 novel. It has book by Terrence McNally, lyrics by Lynn Ahrens and music by Stephen Flaherty.
Director Katie Stephen gave Æ a taste of the show. She said: “Opening in 1902, at the dawn of a new century, anything is possible. Set in the melting pot of turn-of-the-century America, the lives of three families intertwine to confront history’s eternal struggle with poverty, prejudice, freedom and what it truly means to live in America.”
There are three families – African Americans, represented by Coalhouse Walker Jr., a Harlem musician; a white upper-class family in New Rochelle, New York; and Eastern European immigrants, represented by Tateh, a Jewish immigrant from Latvia. As it winds through time, historical characters as diverse as contortionist Harry Houdini, industrialist Henry Ford and feminist anarchist Emma Goldman are also introduced.
A cast of 30 has been rehearsing the show for the last four months, with a squad of 20 volunteers who have experience in the theatre industry working behind the scenes. Founded in 2013 by Sean Quinn, Hayley Gillies and Dominic Falconer, A-Team Productions offers young people ages 11-18 the chance to take part in a musical production.
emotional roller coaster
Sean Quinn, the company chair, said “Ragtime is an emotional roller coaster and the cast capture the characters, the narrative and the landscape perfectly.
“When I visit rehearsals I am astonished by what they can do. It is incredible how people of such a young age can replicate characters with such depth and historical significance.”
Speaking of the musical side of the production, Katie Stephen added: “The Tony Award-winning score is as varied as the characters. It ranges from Tin-Pan Alley to lyrical waltzes; Jewish klezmer music to bold anthems; and brass band marches to the iconic ragtime rhythms this musical is named after. The score is bursting with a range of incredible music, played by a live 21 piece orchestra, that is sure to inspire and excite the audience.”
Listings
Ragtime the Musical
Pleasance Theatre, Pleasance Courtyard, 60 Pleasance EH8 9TJ
Wedneday 18 – Saturday 21 February 2015
Evenings: 7.30pm; matinee Saturday: 2.30pm.
Tickets from https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/ragtime-tickets-15160921725
Event facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/events/837283652984914/
Purchase the OCR; vocal selections; or the original novel on Amazon:
ENDS