{"id":12845,"date":"2017-04-27T17:55:27","date_gmt":"2017-04-27T21:55:27","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.portlandmonthly.com\/portmag\/?p=12845"},"modified":"2017-05-04T10:02:58","modified_gmt":"2017-05-04T14:02:58","slug":"wheels-of-a-dream","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.portlandmonthly.com\/portmag\/wheels-of-a-dream\/","title":{"rendered":"Wheels of a Dream"},"content":{"rendered":"

May 2017 | view this story as a .pdf<\/a><\/p>\n

Ogunquit Playhouse<\/strong> showcases the edgy Broadway hit Ragtime<\/em><\/strong>
\nas a sign of these times.<\/span><\/h3>\n

By Olivia Gunn<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"May-17-Wheels-of-a-Dream\"Once upon a time, summer theater was dismissed for rarely taking risks. This year, race, immigration, and class issues all take center stage at Ogunquit Playhouse<\/strong> in Ragtime: The Musical<\/em>, a story spanning 10 years of the early 20th century as the United States prepares to enter World War I. Three families, three different worlds, all-American. <\/span><\/p>\n

To better understand our national uneasiness in 2017, \u201cwe must examine how our country came together,\u201d says artistic director Brad Kenney<\/strong>. \u201cRagtime<\/em> shows the struggle laid out bare on the stage.\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n

Based on the 1975 novel by E.L. Doctorow, the musical first premiered at the Ford Centre for the Performing Arts in Toronto in 1996 before making its way to L.A. and finally to Broadway in 1998. The show is epic in its scope. Written by four-time Tony Award-winner and Pulitzer Prize-nominee Terrence McNally, Ragtime<\/em> follows the lives of three central characters from three very different backgrounds: Mother, an upper-class WASP from New Rochelle; Coalhouse Walker Jr., a black Harlem musician; and Tetah, a Jewish immigrant from Eastern Europe. Their lives merge in a force, generating one sweeping, tragic, triumphant version of the American tale. The story was produced in cinematic form in 1981, garnering a slew of Academy Award nominations. <\/span><\/p>\n

Tom Mikotowicz<\/strong>, author and Professor of Theatre at the University of Maine, says it\u2019s multiculturalism that makes shows like Ragtime: The Musical <\/em>and the recent hit Hamilton<\/em> so strikingly relevant today. \u201cThat is a real post-modern concept. Thirty years ago on Broadway, you weren\u2019t seeing shows like this. In Hamilton<\/em>, for example, the cast would have been made up of white males. That clash, using that post-modern casting concept, points out the discrepancies in our culture.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Doctorow, an Army veteran who once stated his politics were \u201cBiblical: you shouldn\u2019t murder, you shouldn\u2019t steal,\u201d couldn\u2019t avoid reflections on the Vietnam War while writing Ragtime<\/em> in the 1970s. So while it seems there\u2019s no coincidence that Ogunquit Playhouse has chosen to take on the show now, to feel more recent tensions and reverberations, Kenney is a deeper pattern-spotter. He\u2019s been mulling over the idea of presenting Ragtime<\/em> in Maine \u201cfor over five years.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Still, particularly this summer, \u201ctheater has a responsibility to give back to the community and culture,\u201d says Kenney. \u201cMembers of my own immediate family feel very differently about current affairs.\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n

From the exploits of Harry Houdini to a functioning Ford Model T on stage, Ragtime<\/em> isn\u2019t a walk in the park production-wise. \u201cIt\u2019s a lot to take on when you know you have foot the bill,\u201d Kenney says. \u201cBut we knew that regardless of how people feel about it politically, we must examine how this country came together and what we are. The president is the lead story every single day of our lives in this country. Most of our conversations harken back to these themes. I don\u2019t think there is a better piece that shows it\u2026and it\u2019s done in a fantastic Broadway fashion.\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n

L <\/span>ast summer, the theater performed The Hunchback of Notre Dame<\/em>, another epic undertaking. But it wasn\u2019t just the striking visuals and performances that hit audiences at their core. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cHunchback<\/em>, though it was based on the Disney version, takes more from the Victor Hugo novel,\u201d a much darker vision, explains Kenney. Charles Laughton\u2019s standout performance as Quasimodo in the 1939 film comes to mind. \u201cIn Hunchback<\/em>, one of the strongest themes is racial hatred.\u201d When it was staged last summer, \u201cwe were headed toward the [presidential] election. Audiences were sitting there with tears in their eyes.\u201d For all its distance and antiquity, Hunchback <\/em>\u201cshocked people. It was more than they expected.\u201d Cue Ragtime<\/em>. \u201cThe stakes don\u2019t get higher for people trying to survive, live in a new country, or keep their family together.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

For the past 85 seasons, Ogunquit Playhouse has brought works to its stage that expose audiences to a life beyond their own. In 2014, it was recognized for exceptional work with a listing on the National Register of Historic Places that touches on its cultural impact and role as one of the bastions of the small theater resurgence. <\/span><\/p>\n

Is art catching up with real life, or is it the other way around? \u201cPeople are gravitating out of the cities, L.A., Hollywood, and New York. Professional productions are moving into different regions.\u201d This August, they\u2019ll give us the stories of a Harlem musician, a Jewish immigrant, and a sheltered, upper-class housewife. Three varied American stories merge into one message of hope.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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