2005 Year in Review

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TLP's Ragtime ambitious musical

Timber Lake Playhouse has opened its 44th season with a very ambitious musical, Ragtime. With around 45-50 members in the cast, the small summer stock theater was filled with beautiful voices, talented guest and regular cast members, and an interesting historical story with historical characters like Henry Ford, Harry Houdini, and Emma Goldman.

The musical begins with the introduction of three major groups and 6 leading characters along with many supporting cast members. At the turn of the century we are introduced to the rich white family, the poor immigrant family, and the suppressed black community.

We learn not only about the hopes and dreams of each group but also their secrets and prejudices. One hundred years after the turn of the 20th century we can historically look back at how ignorant the whites were toward the immigrants and blacks. We witness the struggle of each group and see the ultimate sacrifices made. Immigrants moving to a new world with hopes of being a success only to find the jobs are low paying and long hours. After the introduction in the first act we wonder how are these three groups going to come together in the second act?

The ensemble and cast were all very good but several leads stood out especially guest actor Daniel Riley as Coalhouse Walker, a ragtime piano player with an outstanding voice. Last year I saw him in Big River in Chicago where he played Jim in the musical version of The Adventures Huck Finn and he stole the show with his beautiful voice. I was excited to hear him again.

Also Coalhouse Walker’s girlfriend, Sarah, played by guest actress Moya Angela Campbell did a beautiful job with her solo “Your Daddy’s Son”. Another fine singer is regular cast member Sarah Hinzman who plays the companionate Mother. The Little Boy and The Little Girl played by Paul J. Steffan and Eli Pauley were also played well.

But the immigrant Tateh, played by Karl Sean Hamilton, gave an outstanding performance. He stayed in character and his European accent throughout the musical. Hamilton has a wonderful voice and played with great emotion.

The only complaint I had was about the sound. The canned background music at times was louder than the singers and made it hard to hear the words. Also I had a very hard time hearing Father, played by Clay Sanderson, and missed out on some of the story.

Ragtime is a very powerful story about our nations early history, prejudices, hopes, and dreams with some great singing and performances. If you are a fan of musicals, you shouldn’t miss this one. If you love comedy this show had only a few very funny lines. The show is long. The first act is 1 hr 20 min and the second act is 1 hr 10 min but well worth the time.

by Barb Benson, theCity1.com
June 4, 2005