{"id":71,"date":"2012-05-21T22:11:41","date_gmt":"2012-05-21T22:11:41","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/niagaracottage.com\/niagaranews\/?p=71"},"modified":"2012-05-21T22:26:47","modified_gmt":"2012-05-21T22:26:47","slug":"71","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/niagaracottage.com\/niagaranews\/?p=71","title":{"rendered":"RAGTIME MUSICAL AT THE SHAW FESTIVAL THEATRE"},"content":{"rendered":"
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RAGTIME MUSICAL AT SHAW FESTIVAL THEATRE<\/p><\/div>\n

The Shaw Festival is pinning its hopes on Ragtime for the 2012 season. Early buzz and ticket sales are strong. PHOTO: Emily Cooper, Shaw Festival<\/p>\n

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NIAGARA-ON-THE-LAKE \u2013 Last year felt like a big party.<\/strong><\/p>\n

This year, it feels like a new era. Most of it by design, some of it by necessity. After a year-long celebration to mark its 50th season last year, Shaw Festival artistic director Jackie Maxwell knows there\u2019s potential for a letdown. There will be fewer galas this year, less hype, a tighter budget. And while the season offers its usual assortment of mirth, music and melodrama, Maxwell has one big gun in the holster:\u00a0Ragtime<\/em>.<\/p>\n

The Tony-winning musical based on the 1975 E.L. Doctorow book (and 1981 film) was a surprise when announced last year, but Maxwell feels the socially charged show fits the Shaw of 2012 perfectly.<\/p>\n

\u201cAfter last year and all the celebrations, I started to think of this year as the first of the next 50 years,\u201d she says. \u201cTo show we should be here for another 50 years and still maintain our relevancy.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI thought of\u00a0Ragtime<\/em>\u00a0as a real symbol of that, as our anchor of the season. It contains a conversation that we\u2019ve not had at The Shaw, the whole notion of America at the turn of the 20th century.\u201d<\/p>\n

Set in New York City, Doctorow\u2019s book examines the American experience from the perspective of three families: A white upper-middle class clan; a family of Jewish immigrants; and an African-American couple. A racial incident sets off events which eventually unite the families.<\/p>\n

The 1981 movie directed by Milos Foreman was nominated for eight Oscars, and was notable for being James Cagney\u2019s final film appearance.<\/p>\n

Funded by Garth Drabinsky and Livent Inc., the musical debuted in Toronto in 1996 before moving on to Broadway in 1998, where it ran for two years. Critics were lukewarm on the $11 million production, but it tallied 13 Tony nominations \u2013 the most of any show that year. It won four but lost Best Musical to\u00a0The Lion King<\/em>.<\/p>\n

The show hit London\u2019s West End for a three-month run in 2003, then returned to Broadway in 2009 (the first \u201890s musical to enjoy a Broadway revival). Despite better reviews than the original production, it closed after 65 performances because of its immense budget and moderate ticket sales.<\/p>\n

At seven months and 109 performances (including previews),\u00a0Ragtime<\/em>\u00a0will enjoy a longer run at Shaw than for its second stint on Broadway.<\/p>\n

Which is music to actress Patty Jamieson\u2019s ears. The 16-year Shaw veteran has provided solid support in shows like\u00a0The Women<\/em>, The Admirable Crichton<\/em>and last season\u2019s box office champ,\u00a0My Fair Lady<\/em>. This time, she gets the major role of Mother in a musical she loves.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen it was coming up last year I did a little lobbying with Jackie because I love this piece,\u201d she says. \u201cThe character of Mother \u2026 as I\u2019ve gotten older, I understand it (more). Fifteen years ago, I saw her as one of those ladies dressed in white. I didn\u2019t really understand what she was going on about. But I\u2019ve lived life, I have my own little person now, and I have more of a frame of reference.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Shaw\u2019s take on the musical has earned plenty of buzz in previews. It opens May 26 at the Festival Theatre, capping the company\u2019s opening week.<\/p>\n

Jamieson isn\u2019t surprised the show is already causing a stir: It was good then, it\u2019s better now.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe scope of the story is very large,\u201d she says. \u201cThe original production had problems because the story got lost in a swirl of lovely music and costumes and big sets. Jackie\u2019s forte is to clarify the story. You walk away feeling unsatisfied if you don\u2019t understand the story.\u201d<\/p>\n

The show\u2019s heavy American slant won\u2019t hurt the box office \u2013 42 percent of the Shaw\u2019s audience is from the U.S. But Maxwell feels Ragtime\u2019s themes still feel fresh.<\/p>\n

By John Law, Niagara Falls Review<\/p>\n

Looking for Accommodations? Call 905-980-0346 or 1-866-226-4730<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Shaw Festival is pinning its hopes on Ragtime for the 2012 season. Early buzz and ticket sales are strong. PHOTO: Emily Cooper, Shaw Festival   NIAGARA-ON-THE-LAKE \u2013 Last year felt like a big party. This year, it feels like … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[22],"tags":[17,8,88,87,13,14],"class_list":["post-71","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-niagara-on-the-lake-2","tag-canada","tag-niagara-on-the-lake","tag-ragtime-musical","tag-shaw-festival-theatre","tag-titanic-music","tag-whats-happening-in-niagara-on-the-lake"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/niagaracottage.com\/niagaranews\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/71","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/niagaracottage.com\/niagaranews\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/niagaracottage.com\/niagaranews\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/niagaracottage.com\/niagaranews\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/niagaracottage.com\/niagaranews\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=71"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/niagaracottage.com\/niagaranews\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/71\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":74,"href":"https:\/\/niagaracottage.com\/niagaranews\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/71\/revisions\/74"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/niagaracottage.com\/niagaranews\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=71"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/niagaracottage.com\/niagaranews\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=71"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/niagaracottage.com\/niagaranews\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=71"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}