Stunning, moving, and beautiful. Go see it! I could just stop there, but I think that would be a boring post. But truth be told, it was simply stunning, moving, and beautiful and if you can, you should go see it.
I don’t really even want to name cast members and talk about how wonderful they were because the entire cast is just wonderful. The sound that is created as a group and as soloists is like sitting in heaven. They all can really sing! Man can they sing! I love great vocals in shows. I have seen many shows that I have liked and enjoyed but when a show has a cast with amazing vocals, it changes everything. You get caught up not in there words but in their emotions. Maybe it is similar to Opera in a foreign language, listening with your heart instead of your brain. Just superb!
Rachel Rockwell’s vision for this show is told through tight intentional staging, multi levels and pools of light, gliding set changes and actors crossing the stage. Projections of landscapes, buildings, and factors fill the back wall. Elevator lifts from the center stage bring cast members in and out (first preview the lift malfunctioned and the show stopped, but got moving shortly after).
What I loved was the conversation that started with the audience members around me before, at intermission, and at the end. People were excited to be there, to see, watch, and listen. People who have seen the show and some who have never. I think there will be a lot of return audience members to this show. I know that I will be one of them.
Ragtime plays at The Drury Lane Theatre in Oakbrook now through May 23rd, 2010.
www.drurylaneoakbrook.com
No comments:
Post a Comment