The Carmel Community Players’ production of Ragtime by Terrence McNally, Lynn Ahrens, and Stephen Flaherty was heartfelt, but it also captured the struggles of the early 20th century America.. This musical was directed by Doug Peet--shown on April 29, 2018-- did not grab the attention of. Ragtime would not have proven to be successful if not for some of the few select actors within the production.
The setting for this full-length drama takes place in the early 20th century, in mostly New York City. There are three separate groups, the white upper class--represented by Mother--the African Americans living in Harlem--represented by Coalhouse Walker Jr.--and the Jewish immigrants hoping for a new life the United States--represented by Tateh. …show more content…
The emotion behind the characters clearly shined. For instance, when Ben Elliot played Younger Brother, apart of the rich upper class, he made it clear how his character was feeling throughout the musical. Ben Elliot managed to pull off the ability to show the struggle of the character, simply by his voice and how his face creased when he was dealing with the challenging truth of how white Americans treat African Americans. Ben Elliot managed to put himself into the shoes of Younger Brother, and did his characterization wonderfully. Not only that, but one point in the production, the actor’s mic was taken away from him. Even then, his projection was something that could not be dominated by any other actor on stage. His articulation was magnificent as well, as his diction was crisp, even in times where his character hurt in some way. Nothing was slurred in his speech, and his acting was by far the best on stage. Despite Ben Elliot’s skills as an actor, though, others failed. Scene stealing was sadly a common trait throughout the play, as background characters would overtake one of the main characters in the middle of a monologue. For example, during the scene of a protest while Ben Elliot was about to speak his mind, the strikers’ screams quite literally took over his voice. There were about ten different protesters, versus one main character. This proved distracting, and gave more of an ear sore than anything else, as the audience could not understand the monologue as ten different girls shouted “Strike!” in the background. Casting was also quite poor, as one woman’s role made no sense. Molly Campbell was casted as the well renown Evelyn Nesbit, whose personality was meant to be charismatic and charming. While acting on stage, Molly Campbell portrayed her as if she was a quiet, shy, woman attempting to take the stage. All of her lines were meant to be cheerful, but the tone of her voice showed
The setting for this full-length drama takes place in the early 20th century, in mostly New York City. There are three separate groups, the white upper class--represented by Mother--the African Americans living in Harlem--represented by Coalhouse Walker Jr.--and the Jewish immigrants hoping for a new life the United States--represented by Tateh. …show more content…
The emotion behind the characters clearly shined. For instance, when Ben Elliot played Younger Brother, apart of the rich upper class, he made it clear how his character was feeling throughout the musical. Ben Elliot managed to pull off the ability to show the struggle of the character, simply by his voice and how his face creased when he was dealing with the challenging truth of how white Americans treat African Americans. Ben Elliot managed to put himself into the shoes of Younger Brother, and did his characterization wonderfully. Not only that, but one point in the production, the actor’s mic was taken away from him. Even then, his projection was something that could not be dominated by any other actor on stage. His articulation was magnificent as well, as his diction was crisp, even in times where his character hurt in some way. Nothing was slurred in his speech, and his acting was by far the best on stage. Despite Ben Elliot’s skills as an actor, though, others failed. Scene stealing was sadly a common trait throughout the play, as background characters would overtake one of the main characters in the middle of a monologue. For example, during the scene of a protest while Ben Elliot was about to speak his mind, the strikers’ screams quite literally took over his voice. There were about ten different protesters, versus one main character. This proved distracting, and gave more of an ear sore than anything else, as the audience could not understand the monologue as ten different girls shouted “Strike!” in the background. Casting was also quite poor, as one woman’s role made no sense. Molly Campbell was casted as the well renown Evelyn Nesbit, whose personality was meant to be charismatic and charming. While acting on stage, Molly Campbell portrayed her as if she was a quiet, shy, woman attempting to take the stage. All of her lines were meant to be cheerful, but the tone of her voice showed