Why, oh why, has this show never taken the world by storm? This amazing opening number is such a thrilling experience, and the rest of the show matches it. It is such a huge company that opera companies will probably never afford to mount it, and the music requires that level of singing. It is disappointing to me that rubbish shows (and I won't name them to avoid a flame war) succeed, and Ragtime effectively vanished. And no, I am not American. I am from New Zealand, but had the pleasure of seeing the show at Diamond Head Theatre in Hawaii of all places. It was stunning!
Opera companies could never afford to mount it? They mount large and expensive productions all the time! This is nothing compared to Puccini's TURANDOT for example. I don't know about "taken the world by storm," but RAGTIME is quite a popular show in the US; it hasn't "effectively vanished." I was in college when it opened on Broadway, and I knew about it, though I was never able to get to New York to see it (I lived five hours south of NYC). As a violinist, my brother was in the orchestra pit for a university production of RAGTIME circa 2007, and circa 2016 Ford's Theatre here in Washington, DC mounted a memorable production of the show.
@@NYCJosh What do you mean "one power ballad after another"? The score isn't exclusively or even mostly ballads. I agree it's something of an episodic show, as musicals based on epic novels tend to be. I also think the reason RAGTIME doesn't stand out more is that it has the look and sometimes the sound of several other musicals that are classics: SHOW BOAT, PORGY AND BESS, FIDDLER ON THE ROOF, and MEET ME IN ST. LOUIS all come to mind.
Saw the pre Broadway production in Toronto and subsequent productions in New York and London and this is on a par-brilliant-well done- Ragtime enjoys the most dramatic opening of any musical I’ve seen in 60 years of theatre going!
Wow. Don't know who the director/choreographer was on this, but kudos to him/her. I've seen multiple productions of this show as well, and this is VERY well done!
@@BestOfElonMT Thanks for the info. And congratulations to all three, they should be extremely proud. I only wish that I could see the rest of this production. Based on the opening number, I'm sure that it was incredible.
