Customer Reviews

Songs from Ragtime - The Musical (1996 Concept Album)

5 star:		(162)
4 star:		(15)
3 star:		(6)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

The wonderful thing about this recording is that nearly the entire show is captured on disc. Often with cast recordings, so much occurs between the songs that the essence of the show is diluted. Here, you really get a sense of the operatic scope of the production.
All the other reviews justly laud the performers...they sing while acting amazingly well. I don't have much to add there. Believe the hype...they're awesome.
I'd like to compare this to the previous iteration of the show. "Ragtime" was originally released as a "highlights" style single disc. The opening song was edited, as was the closer. It appeared a year or so earlier, and the performances are different. The latter disc is NOT an edited version of the former.
The "songs only" version is interesting in that those versions work just fine. The edited 'Ragtime' intro plays better as a song when it's edited. It just loses a ton in exposition and drama. When you have the urge to hear a song, like "New Music" or "Wheels Of A Dream", the former one is actually a tad better. But only when you consider the songs OUT of context.
Listening to this longer version, the performers tell a story. It flows from beginning to end; the songs meld together effortlessly. The story of "Ragtime" is phenomenally well told, and it's a crime that so much was excised previously. I mean, how could you really appreciate this musical without "Sarah Brown Eyes"? That's one of the many songs absent on the "highlights" version.
So, if you only have the first, you NEED the full CD.
If you have the complete version, you're missing something, but not much.

In 1997, Canadian theatrical producer brought out a musical based on E.L. Doctorow's 1975 hit novel, Ragtime. This hit play tells several stories simultaneously, but largely revolves around one complacent white family coming to terms with the issues of race and class in early 20th century America. The 38(!) songs on this two CD set walk the listener through the play, giving you a wonderful familiarity with the story.

The songs on these CDs are wonderfully written and performed, and are truly each a work of art. I have enjoyed hours of listening to the songs over and over again. Indeed, closing your eyes, you can listen to these songs and feel as if you have seen the play; the songs are that compelling! Overall I enjoyed these CDs and highly recommend them to everyone.

I have already reviewed this disc, but that was a long time ago, right after it came out. I just recently realized again how much I love the score to Ragtime and thought I would share my thoughts again. I only wish I could get to New York to see it again, especially now that most of the leads are those from the L.A. production I saw in 1997. Every performance on the CD is amazing and Brian Stokes Mitchell is fantastic, and feel so fortunate to have been able to see him. Audra McDonald's voice is amazing as is Marin Mazzie. I get goosebumps when I hear them. I especially love the bonus track that is the orchestral suite at the end of the CD. Lynn Ahrens and Stephen Flaherty are so amazing and I can't wait for their next show to open. If anyone is debating whether or not to buy this cast recording, you should be able to tell that's it's wonderful by all the five star ratings.

There are no words to describe what this production rouses in the listeners. Speaking as a musical theatre fan, I can say that there has never been a single show that I have heard that can compare to this. Even Sondheim's amazing "Sunday in the Park with George" pales in comparison because 'Sunday' is a selfish work of art for those involved in the arts, but Ragtime covers every economic class and every race and every creed in its influence.

E.L. Doctrow's novel, "Ragtime" is an amazing read, a sweeping epic, and this musical seems to hone into the characters and the situations even more, making them seem that much more real and believable, thus, their pain becomes ours, in songs like "Atlantic City", when father asks himself 'Say, when did they change the song?', you can hear the hopelessness of a man who doesn't know how to save his marriage, and in Coalhouse's "Make Them Hear You", you feel stirred to the very core of your soul to fight when he utters 'And I could not put down my sword when Justice was my RIGHT!', not to mention all the other great moments of this show.

There are three things that make this the greatest musical recording of our time: the music, the vocalists, and the relevance. First of all, the music is treated like various authentic pieces of music rather than interpretations, leading to a more authentic, down-to-earth feel, which is key for a show with such grand themes and stories. As well as that, just as there are themes in the story, there are themes in the music, there are certain pieces of music which will be heard more than once, bringing to you a richer emotional connection to the story-one of the best uses is the 'new music' music which creeps in every so often, bringing with it a sense of sorrow. As well as 'Ragtime', which shows up in the completely opposite sense in 'Coalhouse's Soliloquy', stirring rage and violence rather than awe and wonder as it was originally used in the opening song?

As for the vocalists are neither actors who sing, or singers who act, but rather both actors who use their voices to emote and singers who use their bodies to emote. With just their voices you know exactly who they are and what they want. Marin Mazzie as Mother is breathtaking, on songs like 'Goodbye My Love/Journey On', you can hear the trapped and confinement that many Victorian women were forced into and 'Back to Before' is one of the most gloriously delivered songs ever recorded, the CD is worth buying for this song alone, but she also has these hidden gems of performance, like at at the end of "What Kind of Woman". Audra McDonald (sp?) is glorious as Sarah, and though she only has a few songs, she delivers each note, making it count, and making Sarah seem like the young girl of 19/20 she's supposed to be as opposed to Audra McDonald's 25-ish at performance. Brian Stokes Mitchell's Coalhouse is the epitome of Male Lead. His voice is so strong and powerful; he is one of the few male leads in Broadway History who possesses a true stage presence, strong enough to hold his own against the powerhouse women he performs with, but still soft and pliable enough to strengthen and bring out the best of whomever he's singing with. On top of his showmanship as a vocalist, he also has the most amazing ability to portray Coalhouse as a lovesick man, a reformed sinner, and a justified vigilante all with a single note.

As for the relevance. This is the hardest part to write about, in modern times, with the US in the middle of a global tug-o-war, this show shows us just what gave America its strength and its character and its greatness and begs us not to forget it-while still showing us all the work we need to do with songs like "Till We Reach That Day" (Undoubtedly the best song of the entire CD), It's a powerful show, and it's not until the last notes of the show, with the entire cast singing "Well, when he is old enough, I will show him America, and he will ride, our son will ride, on the wheels of a dream!", that you grasp just how amazing North America is, forever going through tragedy and still possessing an optimism that's to be envied!

Listening to this CD, you are filled with so many emotions at once, and one of them comes from the fact that a show so amazing and relevant is lost admits the crowds of the Disney pre-packaged productions like "The Lion King" and "Aida". Ragtime is an epic, a TRUE epic, and so well crafted that it is in my eyes no longer a musical, but rather a straight play that uses music as another tool of expression.

Last Word: The Greatest Musical Ever Produced.

Fanatical fans of the show will (and should) buy this entertaining relic from the development process, if only to obtain recordings of "The Show Biz" and the older, longer version of "He Wanted to Say"; but those who are new to the show will be far less impressed by this than by the Broadway album. Not only does this version lack many excellent songs that were inserted later in the development process ("Success" and "Sarah Brown Eyes" both come to mind), but it also features poor sound quality and some fuzzy, even listless performances. Peter Friedman (whose oft-neglected work on the Broadway album is simply brilliant) sounds particularly half-baked here, with his accent drifting in and out as he sings.
So, if you already have the '98 album and are hungry for more, this is a fine addition to your collection; but if you're just starting out, go for the later recording.

RAGTIME is a new musical up to par with the classics... from West Side Story, Fiddler on The Roof, Porgy & Bess, Guys and Dolls and countless others from an era when musicals were THE great American art form. It is the colorful novel with its intense and diverse cast of charactors brought to life without any artistic compromise. The story is as rich as the music - - the play is intense... though bitter, dark, tragic and melodramatic and larger than life at times, within the course of a mere chorus or scene, inspiring, hillarious, disturbing or uplifting... Some reviewers have actually complained about this... but the writers have this musical have gone to extrodanary efforts not to capture the story of a mere person, but a huge cast of individuals from a diversity of cultures with different hopes and dreams, and the chaos that ensues in the midst of a changing era as their lives are brought together admidst a tragedy. This is not merely a great musical... it is a play... and an operetta. The recording is almost as enjoyable as the musical, but you will probabably want to listen to and see both repeatedly. ENJOY ! ! !

This musical is one of the best on Broadway! Brian Stokes Mitchell is simply incridible, along with Marin Mazzie's beautiful range. This CD is great because of the enjoyable song "Show Biz" which was eventually cut from the album. The song was so hilarious, you'll want to listen to it over and over again. I reccomend this album highly.

Now, I know all thses songs are on the Broadway cast but B'way cast has so much more to offer. You get to understand the story much better plus it has a whole lot more songs. This concept CD is good but not as great as B'way cast. Though if you are a die hard RAGTIME fan this should be in your collection.

First, let me just mention Amazon.com has mixed up the track listings for this recording and the concept album of Ragtime. This is indeed the complete recording, including the full version of "Ragtime," "A Shtetl Iz Amereke," and "Sarah Brown Eyes."

Now then, I have to say that in comparison to the concept recording, the energy from the principles and ensemble on this recording is FAR greater. Brian Stokes Mitchell and Audra McDonald share an on-stage chemistry that translates to the recording and creates a deep meaning behind their numbers together.

I suppose the best way to describe Ragtime is that it's a combination of The Music Man, Porgy and Bess, and Rags. It captures the spirit of America on the brink of a new century, mixing historical fact with the glorious fiction of EL Doctorow. Between the white upper class, the immigrants, and the African-Americans, the story is told in reciprocals, and no group overshadows the other two. Through Stephen Flaherty and Lynn Ahrens gorgeously expressive music, the stories of Mother, Father, Coalhouse, Sarah, Evelyn Nesbitt, Tateh, Harry Houdini, and the Little Boy are woven into a cultural tapestry much in the same way America was at the time. If I had to pick one musical that has the greatest overall "American feel" to it, Ragtime would win hands down. (Now, as for that little incident at the 1998 Tonys....)

A wonderful musical interpretation of Doctorow's novel and representation of the American spirit lives on in Ragtime, even if the era of Ragtime had run out.

A few songs in this recording were cut as well as several changed lines etc. The other recording which is a double cd is SOOOOO much better! Although the cast alter very little, the performers do so much better on the b-way cast version. Judy Kaye, who isn't featured on the above recording, is featured on the bway cast recording and her wonderful interpretation of Emma Goldman will move anyone who listens! Please get the other version! It is well worth the money!