The show of the summer is Ragtime.
The musical opened last Friday at the
Springfield Muni Opera and runs through this Sunday, July 3. There
is not one weak performance in this production. In fact, this is
one of those times when every single part is absolutely right. Ragtime features
Mary Jo Curry, Tony D. Young, Duane Fant, Clarissa Williams, and
Stephan A. Kaplan, plus a large cast of singers, all bringing E.L.
Doctorow’s novel (and subsequent film) about
turn-of-the-century New York to life on the Muni stage. Not many
companies attempt this show because it is so big, has so many
characters, and is definitely not garden-variety summer-theater
fare.
Curry gives a touching performance as the
mother of a turn-of-the-century WASP family in New Rochelle. Young
commands the stage in every scene he performs as Coalhouse Walker
Jr., a black man who finds himself fighting for what seems to be a
lost cause. Cory Blissett delivers a strong performance as the
young brother of Curry’s character, and Rebecca L. Sykes
brings immense power to Emma Goldman. The same may be said of
Robert Ingram Jr. in the role of Booker T. Washington. Both Sykes
and Ingram make flesh-and-blood characters of these historical
figures from the past. The heart and soul of the show, though, is
Kaplan in the role of Tateh, the Jewish immigrant who finds himself
struggling to make his way in the new world. Kaplan gives a huge,
complex, thoughtful performance that includes everything from humor
to rage to musical-comedy numbers and plaintive ballads. He is
unforgettable.
Director Laurie O’Brien and
choreographer Kathy Wagner move this 62-member cast around the
stage to great effect. And vocal director Steve Rotello succeeds in
coaching his cast in the singing of several different styles of
music. This show is a chorus member’s dream — so many
big goosebump-inducing anthems throughout, as well as fun songs
such as the number sung by a group of men at a baseball game. Dia
Langellier’s orchestra couldn’t be better. Don’t
miss this one. For tickets, call 217-793-MUNI (6864).
On a sad note, Ragtime marked the final credit for local costume
designer Nancy Whalen, who died last week. On the costuming scene
for more than 40 years, she worked on most of the productions for
the Muni and Springfield Theatre Centre each season, which puts the
number of shows she’s costumed in the hundreds. She loved color and always made sure
there was plenty of it on our stages.
Illinois Shakespeare Festival’s
summer season begins this week with two of the three shows in
repertory beginning performances: Macbeth, one of Shakespeare’s most produced plays,
and Twelfth Night, the Bard’s humorous look at the follies of love.
Eric Thibodeaux-Thompson, director of theater at the University of
Illinois at Springfield, plays Duncan in Macbeth and will portray the
Lord Chamberlain in Henry VIII, which begins its run July 14. Call the Festival
box office at 309-438-8110 for tickets.
Fans of Broadway classics are invited
to take in a shortened version of Guys
& Dolls (titled Guys & Dolls Jr.!) at
Theatre in the Park at New Salem beginning this weekend. Derry
Dalby directs a cast of teens in the ’50s musical based on
Damon Runyon’s characters. The show runs July 1-3 and 7-10.
For tickets, call 800-710-9290.
And music of the 1930s and ’40s
continues with the final performances of Swing! in Sullivan at the
Little Theatre on the Square. All the standards are there —
“Blues in the Night” and “I’ll Be Seeing
You,” among others — presented by a young, talented
cast of singers and dancers. The show ends Sunday, and the Little
Theatre production of Beauty & the
Beast (one of the many
productions of the musical playing in the area this summer) starts
next week, running July 6-17. For tickets, call 888-261-9675.
For a somewhat different look at
acting, take a drive out to New Salem and see some of the
village’s “interpreters.” Historic-site
interpreters are the people at New Salem who wear 1830s clothing
and are found in the various houses throughout the reconstructed
village. To see Charlie Starling or Bob TeRonde as the local
schoolmaster is a lesson in acting itself. These professional staff
members completely transform themselves and take us back to another
time. Don Ferricks, Barbara Guinan, Phyllis Hitchcock, Barbra
Lagier, Deann Shelabarger, and Donna Waters are just a few of the
many who regale tourists with stories, many times becoming the
characters themselves. They seem to have perfected the art of
storytelling to the point that you do not even realize the work
involved. For information about the goings-on in the village at
Lincoln’s New Salem, call 217-632-4000.
This article appears in Jun 30 – Jul 6, 2005.
