Given its importance in American history and culture, exploring the history and impact of African American music is a key part of the mission of the National Museum of African American History and Culture. The music of African Americans is one of the most poetic and inescapable examples of the importance of the African American experience to the cultural heritage of all Americans, regardless of race or origin.
Their work songs, dance tunes, and religious music-and the syncopated, swung, remixed, rocked, and rapped music of their descendants-would become the lingua franca of American music, eventually influencing Americans of all racial and ethnic backgrounds. People of African descent were among the earliest non-indigenous settlers of what would become the United States, and the rich African musical heritage that they carried with them was part of the foundation of a new American musical culture that mixed African traditions with those of Europe and the Americas. African-American influences are so fundamental to American music that there would be no American music without them. Ultimately, however, it's only the doomed romance of Coalhouse and Sarah that really is done justice in this show about injustice that seems less syncopated than scattershot.Describing the African-American influence on American music in all of its glory and variety is an intimidating-if not impossible-task.
It's a pity his storyline is ended in such a cruel and convenient way. Jaimeson does find a poignant struggle within Mother, however, while Campbell's lost Father connects in his confusion. Meanwhile, Tateh's part of the tale comes across as a cartoon – though, perhaps that has to do with Turvey's lightweight stage presence. As Mother's Younger Brother, Evan Alexander Smith's turn towards anarchism certainly seems to go nowhere.
The allegorical nature of the non-black characters gives the show a white-gaze feel, even as it makes the white characters seem underdeveloped. The musical is yet another slice of history viewed through the prism of the 1960s – Coalhouse a kind of proto-Black Panther, while Mother, who has no name, seems to be suffering from Betty Friedan's "problem that has no name."
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Indeed, despite its colourful parade of turn-of-the-century figures – Kelly Wong is suitably magical as escape artists Houdini, while Kate Hennig is a perfect mix of fire and irony as anarchist Emma Goldman – the show's series of tableaux tell us very little about early 20th century or our own times. Ragtime's romantic portrayal of domestic terrorism and simplistic attempt to explain what we now call its "root causes" comes across as out-of-tune, however. Watching it 12 years into a 21st century that has proved to have an equally tumultuous beginning as the 20th, What thrills, however, is his smooth, rich voice – a tenor that sounds like a baritone – turned to some of Flaherty's best anthems, such asĪt his side, Hibbert's Sarah is acted with conviction, though her voice is a tad thin and wispy the numbers she should belt sound corseted. Priscilla: Queen of the Desert, paints a strong, proud portrait of Coalhouse his inherent likeability makes the character's dark turn into vigilantism terribly seductive. Washington had advised – hits a roadblock after Walker's beloved Model T is vandalized by a group of racist volunteer firemen and he is unable to find justice.Īllison, making a triumphant return from New York where he'd been playing a dancing cupcake in The couple's desire to rise up through "industry, thrift, intelligence and property" – as Booker T. (Thom Allison) and his baby's mother, Sarah (Alana Hibbert). The heart and soul of the show, however, belongs to a successful African-American ragtime pianist Coalhouse Walker Jr. Ragtime introduces us to a white, well-to-do family headed by adventurer Father (Benedict Campbell) and frustrated housewife Mother (Patty Jamieson), as well as a Jewish widower named Tateh (Jay Turvey) who immigrates from Latvia with his daughter to pursue the American Dream. What is revealed, alas, is a show somehow both sentimental and aloof that throughout strains a little too hard to be considered the Great American Musical. Maxwell's staging – crisp and clear and well-acted – allows an unobstructed view of the material. Despite a set that consists largely of cast-iron catwalks and projected images, it fills the Festival Theatre's stage in a way few Shaw show have of late. Jackie Maxwell's ambitious production is an impressive pageant about America, both the place and the idea.
Ragtime – has opened at the Shaw Festival, a short drive in your Model T from the musical's birthplace (unless you leave at rush hour). Following in their footsteps, a stripped down, all-Canadian version – Ontario's first genuine Maple Leaf
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