Ragtime - The Musical (1998 Original Broadway Cast)

Ragtime - The Musical (1998 Original Broadway Cast)

Ragtime - The Musical (1998 Original Broadway Cast)
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CD Details

Edition: Music CD
Audio: Spanish (Original Language)
Format: Cast Recording
CD Release Date: 1998-04-28
Music Label: RCA Victor Broadway
Soundtracks:
Music CD 1
  1. Prologue: Ragtime
  2. Goodbye, My Love
  3. The Crime of the Century
  4. What Kind of Woman
  5. A Shtetl Iz Amereke
  6. Success
  7. His Name Is Coalhouse Walker
  8. Getting' Ready Rag
  9. Henry Ford
  10. Nothing Like the City
  11. Your Daddy's Son
  12. The Courtship
  13. New Music
  14. Wheels of a Dream
  15. The Night That Goldman Spoke at Union Square
  16. Gliding
  17. The Trashing of the Car
  18. Justice
  19. President
  20. Till We Reach That Day
Music CD 2
  1. Entr'acte
  2. Harry Houdini, Master Escapist
  3. Coalhouse's Soliloquy
  4. Coalhouse Demands
  5. What a Game
  6. Fire in the City
  7. Atlantic City
  8. Buffalo Nickel Photoplay, Inc.
  9. Our Children
  10. Harlem Nightclub
  11. Sarah Brown Eyes
  12. He Wanted to Say
  13. Back to Before
  14. Look What You've Done
  15. Make Them Hear You
  16. Epilogue: Ragtime/Wheels of a Dream (reprise)
  17. The Ragtime Symphonic Suite

Music reviews of Ragtime - The Musical (1998 Original Broadway Cast)

Music Review: Theatrical Perfection.
Rating: 5 Stars

There are no words to describe what this production rouses in the listeners. Speaking as a musical theatre fan, I can say that there has never been a single show that I have heard that can compare to this. Even Sondheim's amazing "Sunday in the Park with George" pales in comparison because 'Sunday' is a selfish work of art for those involved in the arts, but Ragtime covers every economic class and every race and every creed in its influence.

E.L. Doctrow's novel, "Ragtime" is an amazing read, a sweeping epic, and this musical seems to hone into the characters and the situations even more, making them seem that much more real and believable, thus, their pain becomes ours, in songs like "Atlantic City", when father asks himself 'Say, when did they change the song?', you can hear the hopelessness of a man who doesn't know how to save his marriage, and in Coalhouse's "Make Them Hear You", you feel stirred to the very core of your soul to fight when he utters 'And I could not put down my sword when Justice was my RIGHT!', not to mention all the other great moments of this show.

There are three things that make this the greatest musical recording of our time: the music, the vocalists, and the relevance. First of all, the music is treated like various authentic pieces of music rather than interpretations, leading to a more authentic, down-to-earth feel, which is key for a show with such grand themes and stories. As well as that, just as there are themes in the story, there are themes in the music, there are certain pieces of music which will be heard more than once, bringing to you a richer emotional connection to the story-one of the best uses is the 'new music' music which creeps in every so often, bringing with it a sense of sorrow. As well as 'Ragtime', which shows up in the completely opposite sense in 'Coalhouse's Soliloquy', stirring rage and violence rather than awe and wonder as it was originally used in the opening song?

As for the vocalists are neither actors who sing, or singers who act, but rather both actors who use their voices to emote and singers who use their bodies to emote. With just their voices you know exactly who they are and what they want. Marin Mazzie as Mother is breathtaking, on songs like 'Goodbye My Love/Journey On', you can hear the trapped and confinement that many Victorian women were forced into and 'Back to Before' is one of the most gloriously delivered songs ever recorded, the CD is worth buying for this song alone, but she also has these hidden gems of performance, like at at the end of "What Kind of Woman". Audra McDonald (sp?) is glorious as Sarah, and though she only has a few songs, she delivers each note, making it count, and making Sarah seem like the young girl of 19/20 she's supposed to be as opposed to Audra McDonald's 25-ish at performance. Brian Stokes Mitchell's Coalhouse is the epitome of Male Lead. His voice is so strong and powerful; he is one of the few male leads in Broadway History who possesses a true stage presence, strong enough to hold his own against the powerhouse women he performs with, but still soft and pliable enough to strengthen and bring out the best of whomever he's singing with. On top of his showmanship as a vocalist, he also has the most amazing ability to portray Coalhouse as a lovesick man, a reformed sinner, and a justified vigilante all with a single note.

As for the relevance. This is the hardest part to write about, in modern times, with the US in the middle of a global tug-o-war, this show shows us just what gave America its strength and its character and its greatness and begs us not to forget it-while still showing us all the work we need to do with songs like "Till We Reach That Day" (Undoubtedly the best song of the entire CD), It's a powerful show, and it's not until the last notes of the show, with the entire cast singing "Well, when he is old enough, I will show him America, and he will ride, our son will ride, on the wheels of a dream!", that you grasp just how amazing North America is, forever going through tragedy and still possessing an optimism that's to be envied!

Listening to this CD, you are filled with so many emotions at once, and one of them comes from the fact that a show so amazing and relevant is lost admits the crowds of the Disney pre-packaged productions like "The Lion King" and "Aida". Ragtime is an epic, a TRUE epic, and so well crafted that it is in my eyes no longer a musical, but rather a straight play that uses music as another tool of expression.

Last Word: The Greatest Musical Ever Produced.

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