SHOWS: Ragtime! Advice

[RWKSM]

Hi Guys!

I'm about to start the rehearsal process for Ragtime in about a month, and was wondering if you guys had any advice/precautions from a production you have already worked on. I've heard the WONDERFUL music a countless amount of times, but have yet to see the actual production live on stage. Is the show tech/prop heavy? Lots of scenery? Thanks in advance!! I'm really looking forward to getting started with this one...

- Ryan

[SMrose]

The show I did several years ago was boiled down to essential scenery (the facility had limited vertical flies and off stage storage).  The biggest special prop(s) were the 2 vehicles.  Coalhouses car was an actual period car (borrowed) and the TD/Designer had to build a fairly realistic (period) looking fire truck as both are on stage at the same time.
Of course, how realistic you go will depend on the oveall concept of your artistic staff.

[MatthewShiner]

Everything will depend on your designers and director's vision for the piece.  The origional Commerical Run was stylized, but had very specialized and tricked out scenic pieces and props, but some productions since then have been very simple.

[missliz]

The recent revival was very basic- all framework. Coalhouse's car, for example, was just the frame with seats and wheels. The piano was the same way. Don't know if that makes it any easier, but I imagine the frame of a car is simpler to work with than a full vintage car!

[Celeste_SM]

One prop issue I recall is having multiple "baby Coalhouse" dolls to represent him growing during the show (newborn for in the garden, then 2 or 3 larger dolls).  For us it was a pretty prop-heavy show and a very heavy sound show. Lots of mics, lots of sound cues.

I've seen versions that had far less "stuff" than the one I did though.

One thing that I thought was well done in my production: The director of my show was concerned about cast cohesion, because so much of the show happens within individual groups (New Rochelle ensemble, Immigrant ensemble, Negro ensemble) and would be rehearsed seperately. We made a particular effort to weave in rehearsals that involved the full cast on a regular basis so that everybody would get to know everybody. This may only be an issue at the community level, but I felt that it really helped create a supportive community within the full cast before we even got to run-thrus.

[brdwayluver]

I Set Design/TD a production a few years ago.  The biggest issue I had was the car.  I ended up finding a golf course that loaned me an electric golf cart for the run.  We built the car around he golf cart but couldn't attach anything to the golf cart (condition from the golf course) it turned out pretty awesome, I was very happy. 
I agree that this is also a prop heavy show.  It really depends on the designer/directors vision, but there are a lot of different locations in the show so it becomes a task making sure all of the locations are clearly depicted. I got a chance to see the recent revival in DC before it moved to NY.  I loved the framed set pieces concept.  It worked great!

[Cedes]

I PSM'd a production of Ragtime a couple of years ago. One of the biggest things we had was sound.  There were not enough body mics available, so we had to do a pack change during intermission! Also, the two sound designers were there at each performance live mixing.  We also had 6 mics backstage that the actors gathered around to sing when they were offstage to bolster the vocal quality. 

Another fun thing was Coalhouse's car.  We had rented one from a props company that was designed for stage use-aka, quiet, smaller, easy to operate, etc.  However, it was stalled more often than it worked, so we had to attach fishing line to the back of it and create a pull system to get it onstage and offstage if it did not work. 

Like in previous posts, it really depends on the vision of the designer and director as far as how complex the show will be.  Good luck to your production!