{Tateh (Leif Norby) and his daughter (Anna Bishop) get off the boat and greet their new Shtetl in Ragtime. Photo by Owen Carey.}

{Coalhouse (Gavin Gregory) gets the keys to a new car while Henry Ford (Todd A. Horman) extols the virtues of mass production in Ragtime. Photo by Owen Carey. }

{Susannah Mars in “What Kind of Woman.” Photo by Owen Carey.}

{The men of Ragtime share the profundity (and profanity) of a baseball game in the show stopping number “What a Game!” Photo by Owen Carey.}

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Moved onstage this afternoon.  A slooooow first session, what with trying to equalize 22 michrophones, and adjust to the period costumes, video monitors, audio monitors, sliding panels, and the general disorientation.

But also really fun to see what it’s going to look like.  Gavin (Coalhouse, above) is getting better at playing our imaginary piano, which is no small feat – while you’re trying to sing or deliver dialogue.

The period costume seemed to suddenly transform Danny Rothman (Younger Brother) into ‘a young man in search of his destiny.’  Why did people ever stop dressing like this?

Lacreta, who plays Sarah’s friend, was showing off her new hair.

While Tiffany (Evelyn Nesbitt) tried to figure out how to maneuver over a mountain of chairs in her new clothes.

Todd (Henry Ford) and Tom (JP Morgan) looked quite dapper themselves.

And Gavin (Coalhouse) and Rachael (Sarah) were starting to melt into their roles.

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Everything intensifies the week before we move onstage.  This week has been no exception.  Joel (our choreographer) worked with the guys on What a Game to try to keep the tempo for speeding out of control when the testosterone kicks in.  It’s a hilarious number, and comes as a much needed breath of humor in the second act.

Atlantic City is coming along nicely – though Joel and I are still wrapping our heads around the best way to link the scene prior to the number.  Houdini and Evelyn show up in the middle of a scene where Mother and Father are getting ready to leave New Rochelle – and we just want to make certain the storytelling is clear.

There are hats in this show.  Lots of them.  And shoes.  Even more.   And Barbara Casement is charged with making certain they all fit the actors in our company, and that they are rigged to accomodate the (sometimes) lightning fast costume changes required.

The set is simple, but huuuuuuge.  Looks like it took all nine of these guys to get this unit hoisted into the air.

But once its all standing, I think the show is going to look kind of stunning in the space.

Middle of our third week of Ragtime (can that be possible) and we should finish staging this evening.  It is a MOUNTAIN.  About four times more music than the other musicals we’ve tackled.  But it is also glorious.

The work has jumped back and forth between nitty gritty sessions with Rick Lewis on the music itself (has taken us far longer just to learn the music than in years past.  It almost feels like the piece was written as a huge choral piece – which in fact it was – so it takes alot longer to work out the intricate harmonies) – to choreography.  Gavin and Lacreta are seen rehearsing the Gettin Ready Rag above.

The Opening has taken a loooonnng time to build and finesse.  Joel Ferrell, our wonderful choreographer, is (thank God) creating that piece with the actors, so I just get to watch it unfold.  And – listen to the astounding sounds coming out of this group of 21 singers.  At times, I literally get goosebumps on my arms, which is far more rare in my seat than you might imagine.

Staging the ‘performance/film’ section of Atlantic City has been particularly fun.  I start the scene with Mother and Father packing back in New Rochelle, while Harry Houdini and Evelyn Nesbitt ‘invade’ their reality – then Joel takes over when they actually hit the boardwalks – then I come back in when its revealed that we’ve been watching the filming of a movie.  After working together on  West Side Story, Cabaret and Guys and Dolls,Joel and I have developed cement toes, and have no problem stepping all over each other.

Lief Norby plays Tateh, the Latvian Jew who immigrates to America in search of a better life, and Alex Thede plays ‘Little Boy’ – the clairvoyant kid whose life in New Rochelle is rocked by the events of the era.  We’ll work through Act Two tomorrow, Act One on Friday – and try for our first run through on Saturday.  Fingers crossed.

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Gavin Gregory plays Coalhouse Walker, Jr. – the brilliant Ragtime pianist who stands at the center of the show.  Gavin and I actually did a show together 12 years ago in Atlanta, and hadn’t crossed paths again until the auditions in NY.

Rachael Ferrera plays Sarah, the young washer woman who falls for Coalhouse and steals his heart.

The wonderful Susannah Mars plays Mother, the housewife in New Rochelle, NY who undergoes a big emotional journey through the course of the play.  Susannah is just coming off of a successful run of Evita at Broadway Rose Theater.  And of course, you’ve seen her here in Batboy: The Musical, and Gypsy.

Robert Mammana, who played Sky Masterson in Guys and Dolls, is back as Father, the patriarch of the New Rochelle family, who goes off exploring toward the North Pole, and returns to find that his family has undergone a dramatic transformation.

Alex Thede, plays ‘Little Boy’ – the precocious son of Mother and Father.

Danny Rothman, plays Mother’s Younger Brother, the restless soul who fall in love with Evelyn Nesbitt, and eventually becomes a devotee of the radical anarchist, Emma Goldman.

Steven Stein-Grainger plays Grandfather (and many other roles).

Jesse Means plays Booker T. Washington, the famous African American leader who counseled patience, education and non-violence on the road to progress.

Tiffany Haas plays Evelyn Nesbitt, the beautiful and infamous young woman who really become the first media star of the twentieth century.

Alicia Irving plays Emma Goldman, the radical anarchist, who fought for the rights of the common man.

Leif Norby, who played Benny Southstreet in Guys and Dolls, returns as Tateh, the enterprising Latvian Jewish immigrant, who struggles to support his young daughter, and eventually strikes it rich.

Anna Bishop plays Tateh’s little girl.

Lacreta Nicole plays Sarah’s friend, a woman of Harlem and several other roles.

Todd A. Horman, Nicely Nicely in Guys and Dolls, returns as Henry Ford, and Willie Conklin, the racist Fireman who incites the play’s principal conflict.

Dan Maceyek plays Harry Houdini.

Marty Austin Lamar plays a man of Harlem, and an attorney.

Tom Treadwell plays JP Morgan, a policeman, a fireman, and several others.

Sara Catherine Wheatley plays an immigrant, a woman of New Rochelle, a social worker, and many others.

Christine Lyons plays a woman of Harlem, and the Baron’s assistant.

Kent Zimmerman, who played Harry the Horse in Guys and Dolls is back as a man of New rochelle, a Fireman, Policeman and multitude of others.

Lawrence Street plays a man of Harlem.

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