When the musical version of "Ragtime" opens its 2 1/2-week run in Pioneer Memorial Theatre, don't expect a replication of the original Broadway production — no regional-theater company in its right mind would attempt such a foolhardy endeavor.
The original was a hugely expensive, scenery-driven show. In fact, the elaborate scenery not only drove the show, it drove the Toronto-based production company Livent right into bankruptcy.
"This is not the Broadway show," said Larry Carpenter, a New York-based freelance stage director (his day job is as an Emmy-winning director of CBS's long-running "As the World Turns"). "It's a regional production and we're responding to it without any preconceived ideas."
He hasn't seen any previous versions of the show, and neither has choreographer Daniel Pelzig (who also did "The Adventures of Toad and Frog," which just opened on Broadway).
"It's a very complicated event," Carpenter said. "It's one of Pioneer Theatre Company's largest physical productions. There are 30 people in the cast — one of the largest casts we've ever had on this stage."
"Ragtime" is the fourth musical Carpenter has directed for PTC; he previously directed "Drood," "Kiss Me, Kate" and "The Pirates of Penzance." "It's huge, it's just huge, and we're coming at it from a little different angle."
The creative team includes people with whom Carpenter has worked before, such as New York scenery designer James Leonard Joy, who also designed the scenery for "Drood" — his 17th project with Carpenter.
With less than a month to get the show up and running, Carpenter said he had to work with people he knew. "We had to feel comfortable with this. We had to have a vocabulary between us that was recognizable and collaborative."
One major aspect of "Ragtime" that Carpenter finds exciting is that "it's surprisingly timely. The issues include the imperialist instinct, capitalism, ethnic intolerance and racism. They're all still here and still vitally important to resolve in the American society."
"It's a great way for we, as Americans, to take a look at it all — what's to learn from this? Is it possible to reassess what we're thinking and how we approach the world and determine a better way of going about how we're being Americans?" "Ragtime" — based on E.L. Doctrow's best-selling novel — is set in turn-of-the-century New York, when the United States was becoming the world's melting pot.
The plot involves three distinct cultural groups — a well-to-do family in New Rochelle, New York . . . "people of color" in Harlem (where Coalhouse Walker Jr. is entertaining crowds with a new style of music called ragtime) . . . and Jewish immigrants arriving at Ellis Island on "rag" ships from Eastern Europe.
Members of the family in New Rochelle are known only as Father, Mother, Younger Brother and Little Boy. "They have a traditional Victorian relationship, which doesn't work anymore on the cusp of the 20th century." Father is a dinosaur, while Mother is awakening to newly expanding roles of women. Father is never home — when he's not tending to his business, he's out exploring the world. "Society is evolving," notes Carpenter, "and Father can't make the adjustment."
One of the key elements in Doctrow's book is the inclusion of several true-life personalities from the period — industrialist Henry Ford, social activist Emma Goldman, philanthropist J.P. Morgan, illusionist Houdini and educator Booker T. Washington. Also, there's the infamous vaudeville star Evelyn Nesbit, known as "the girl in the red velvet swing," and the two men involved in what was then called "the crime of the century," architect Stanford White and her jealous husband, Harry K. Thaw.
"There are three, equally weighted stories of discovery," Carpenter said, "Mother's, Tateh (the immigrant) and Coalhouse's."
The score features music by Stephen Flaherty and lyrics by Lynn Ahrens, built around Terrence McNally's script. Other Flaherty-Ahrens collaborations include "Seussical: The Musical," "Once on This Island" and the musical version of "My Favorite Year."
Carpenter notes that the music in "Ragtime" is especially moving. "Music is a very powerful tool, especially when it's about passion. You don't have to say quite so many words if you can find the musical metaphor for the whole idea of what's going on." He added that "Ragtime" is "really a political piece. It's a political agitprop at its core. It does so by making the audience involve themselves in the stories of all the characters."
Half of Carpenter's cast is local; others come from New York, Seattle and Los Angeles. Both Jonathan Hammond (Tateh) and Alice Vienneau (Mother) appeared here previously in Drood. Local players in key roles include Alison Fidel as Little Girl (Tateh's daughter), Bruce Bredson as J.P. Morgan, Robert Peterson as Grandfather and Max Robinson as Henry Ford. An added benefit for this production is that the actress playing Sarah's Friend — Sondra M. Bonitto — was in the original New York company.
What: "Ragtime: The Musical"
Where: Simmons Pioneer Memorial Theatre, U.
When: May 7-24, various times
How much: $21-$49
Phone: 581-6961
Web site: www.ptc.utah.edu
Also: 4:30 p.m., May 17, post-matinee discussion
E-MAIL: ivan@desnews.com