RAGTIME: THE MUSICAL, Pioneer Theatre Company, U., through May 24 (581-6961). Running time: 2 hours, 45 minutes (one intermission).
The time is 1906. America's "melting pot" is percolating on the front burner. Life in New Rochelle, N.Y., will never be the same — at least for one WASPish family.
Just a few years removed from the dark days of slavery, blacks are making "a new kind of music." Immigrants are flooding through Ellis Island. The United States is awash with political, social and industrial change. Henry Ford's legendary Model-T is a central prop in "Ragtime: The Musical."
Fittingly, there's an assembly-line precision to the show itself, with Terence McNally, Stephen Flaherty and Lynn Ahrens each contributing their specific talents — respectively, a precisely tuned script (based on E.L. Doctorow's novel), richly textured music and story-driven lyrics.
As if he were driving his own Model-T, guest-director Larry Carpenter had the creators' well-defined road map, and his cast and design team journeys down all the twists and turns with nary a dent.
There's a huge cast, with many playing multiple roles, but some characters (and those who play them) definitely stand out.
Duane Martin Foster and Kenita R. Miller deliver knockout performances as Coalhouse Walker Jr., the Harlem ragtime pianist who changes his tune after his car — and his life — are ransacked, and Sarah, the girl he loves "wisely but not too well."
Alice Vienneau is superb as Mother, who dutifully stays put while Father (Tom Zemon) gives in to his global wanderlust, with Jamison Stern as her younger brother, an explosives expert constantly in search of a cause.
Leading the immigrant faction are Latvian artist Tateh and his daughter, "the Little Girl" — beautifully played by Jonathan Hammond and Alison Fidel.
The story itself is fictional, but there is a big assortment of true-life, historical characters that fit right into the time period — vaudeville star Evelyn Nesbitt (Rachel Hardin), illusionist Harry Houdini (Dann Fink), industrialist Henry Ford (Max Robinson), philanthropist J.P. Morgan (Bruce A. Bredeson), social activist Emma Goldman (Adrienne Doucette) and renowned black educator Booker T. Washington (Marc Cedric Smith). There are also brief appearances by architect Stanford White and explorer Admiral Peary (both played by Daniel Beck), and millionaire Harry K. Thaw (Kris Fitzgerald). They're all part of a large, virtually flawless ensemble.
James Prigmore's pit orchestra, K.L. Alberts' stunning costumes, Phillip Monat's intricate lighting, James Leonard Joy's superb scenery, Daniel Pelzig's terrific choreography and Joe Payne's excellent sound add immeasurably to the Broadway-caliber production.
Sensitivity rating: Staged violence and a small amount of adult subject matter.
PIONEER THEATRE Company's 11th annual Bravo! Award recipients, honored Wednesday, were Boyer Co. co-founders H. Roger Boyer and Kem C. Gardner.
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