Ragtime Musical

Long before he landed the pivotal role in "Ragtime: the Musical," Lawrence Hamilton learned to play ragtime, the music. He absorbed it from a teacher who had heard it from the original source. Long before Leola Hatten gave him lessons in a schoolroom in Foreman, Ark., Hamilton said, she had been a friend of Scott Joplin, who emerged 100 years ago as ragtime's signature composer and piano player.

Before the Dec. 28 evening performance of "Ragtime," the show's producers asked the cast to assemble on the stage of the Neil Simon Theatre for the dreaded announcement that always turns Broadway dreams to cinders: The lovingly crafted musical would have to shut its doors for good Jan. 10. The producers offered affectionate valedictories, and some of the lead actors, like Christiane Noll and Quentin Earl Darrington, spoke rousingly too. "I told...

When "The Phantom of the Opera" opened at the Ahmanson Theatre in 1989, its $8.5-million budget made it the most expensive musical ever to hit town. In 1997 Los Angeles, 8.5 may still be big for an earthquake--but judging from the money spent to produce big musicals in recent years, it takes at least $10 million to even nudge the needle on the Richter scale.

Long before he landed the pivotal role in "Ragtime: the Musical," Lawrence Hamilton learned to play ragtime, the music. He absorbed it from a teacher who had heard it from the original source. Long before Leola Hatten gave him lessons in a schoolroom in Foreman, Ark., Hamilton said, she had been a friend of Scott Joplin, who emerged 100 years ago as ragtime's signature composer and piano player.

In a scene from "Ragtime," even the dyspeptic white grandfather is taken by the "strange new music" being played on the spinet by Coalhouse Walker Jr., the "Colored Man" who visits white, middle-class New Rochelle every Sunday to woo a servant girl. "Do you know any coon songs?" Grandfather suddenly asks Coalhouse, no offense intended, in the show adapted from E.L.

"Ragtime," the much-anticipated musical that premiered in Toronto to critical acclaim this week, will open at the Shubert Theatre in Century City in June. Los Angeles will see the second production of the show, opening here before the Toronto show moves to Broadway in December 1997. Producer Garth Drabinsky said the Los Angeles "Ragtime" will cost $9.5 million to $10 million, as much as the first version. Based on E.L.

When actor John Rubinstein realized that much of the new musical "Ragtime" is set in 1906, his role as an immigrant father took on added resonance--it was in 1906 that his own father, legendary Polish-born pianist Arthur Rubinstein, first visited America. "Ragtime," which has its U.S. premiere Sunday at the Shubert Theatre, is based on E.L. Doctorow's classic novel about America at the turn of the century.

E.L. Doctorow, the novelist, settled into an undersized chair at the Rose Cafe in Greenwich Village. He ordered coffee. He tidied his old-fashioned Bolshevik goatee with a quick sweep of the hand. And then he smiled like a man who savors his mischief, be it literary, personal or, in this case, promotional. "I guess you heard they got their noses all out of joint about this," he begins conspiratorially.

Blake McIver Ewing is among the hardest working kids in show business. With stage, screen and television roles to his credit, the 12-year-old Northridge resident's resume rivals that of his more seasoned peers. The multitalented sixth-grader has appeared in "Full House," "The Nanny," "Home Improvement" and the film, "The Little Rascals," among other productions. He was named 1992 "Star Search" junior vocalist champion at age 6.

"Ragtime" ruled the roost at Theatre LA's Ovation Awards ceremony Monday, snagging eight of L.A. theater's top peer-judged honors--more than any other show has won since the competitive Ovations began four years ago. The big musical about cultures clashing in turn-of-the-century America was a ubiquitous presence throughout the evening, not only in its 16 nominations and the awards themselves but in the fact that they were presented from the show's set at the Shubert Theatre.

In a scene from "Ragtime," even the dyspeptic white grandfather is taken by the "strange new music" being played on the spinet by Coalhouse Walker Jr., the "Colored Man" who visits white, middle-class New Rochelle every Sunday to woo a servant girl. "Do you know any coon songs?" Grandfather suddenly asks Coalhouse, no offense intended, in the show adapted from E.L.

"Ragtime" ruled the roost at Theatre LA's Ovation Awards ceremony Monday, snagging eight of L.A. theater's top peer-judged honors--more than any other show has won since the competitive Ovations began four years ago. The big musical about cultures clashing in turn-of-the-century America was a ubiquitous presence throughout the evening, not only in its 16 nominations and the awards themselves but in the fact that they were presented from the show's set at the Shubert Theatre.

When Lynn Ahrens first saw Disney's "The Little Mermaid" in 1990, the lyricist immediately decided that she and her songwriting partner, composer Stephen Flaherty, should be writing scores for animated films, not just stage musicals. She headed straight home, packed up one of their tapes and sent if off with a letter to Disney chief Michael Eisner. "I've never done anything like that in my life," Ahrens says today, "but I was taken by the [animated] movie musical.

"Ragtime" and "Show Boat"--two big musicals from the same producer, Livent--ran away with the most nominations for the 1996-97 Ovation Awards, announced Wednesday morning at the Wyndham Bel Age Hotel in West Hollywood by the sponsoring organization, Theatre LA. The U.S. premiere of "Ragtime" at the Shubert Theatre picked up 16 nominations--the most any show has received in the four years of competitive Ovations. The revival of "Show Boat" at the Ahmanson Theatre won 12 nods.

When actor John Rubinstein realized that much of the new musical "Ragtime" is set in 1906, his role as an immigrant father took on added resonance--it was in 1906 that his own father, legendary Polish-born pianist Arthur Rubinstein, first visited America. "Ragtime," which has its U.S. premiere Sunday at the Shubert Theatre, is based on E.L. Doctorow's classic novel about America at the turn of the century.

Blake McIver Ewing is among the hardest working kids in show business. With stage, screen and television roles to his credit, the 12-year-old Northridge resident's resume rivals that of his more seasoned peers. The multitalented sixth-grader has appeared in "Full House," "The Nanny," "Home Improvement" and the film, "The Little Rascals," among other productions. He was named 1992 "Star Search" junior vocalist champion at age 6.

"Ragtime" and "Show Boat"--two big musicals from the same producer, Livent--ran away with the most nominations for the 1996-97 Ovation Awards, announced Wednesday morning at the Wyndham Bel Age Hotel in West Hollywood by the sponsoring organization, Theatre LA. The U.S. premiere of "Ragtime" at the Shubert Theatre picked up 16 nominations--the most any show has received in the four years of competitive Ovations. The revival of "Show Boat" at the Ahmanson Theatre won 12 nods.

Before the Dec. 28 evening performance of "Ragtime," the show's producers asked the cast to assemble on the stage of the Neil Simon Theatre for the dreaded announcement that always turns Broadway dreams to cinders: The lovingly crafted musical would have to shut its doors for good Jan. 10. The producers offered affectionate valedictories, and some of the lead actors, like Christiane Noll and Quentin Earl Darrington, spoke rousingly too. "I told...

When "The Phantom of the Opera" opened at the Ahmanson Theatre in 1989, its $8.5-million budget made it the most expensive musical ever to hit town. In 1997 Los Angeles, 8.5 may still be big for an earthquake--but judging from the money spent to produce big musicals in recent years, it takes at least $10 million to even nudge the needle on the Richter scale.

E.L. Doctorow, the novelist, settled into an undersized chair at the Rose Cafe in Greenwich Village. He ordered coffee. He tidied his old-fashioned Bolshevik goatee with a quick sweep of the hand. And then he smiled like a man who savors his mischief, be it literary, personal or, in this case, promotional. "I guess you heard they got their noses all out of joint about this," he begins conspiratorially.