[ILoveToSing2010]

ok so this year we did beauty and the beast and it was so much fun, but next year they were thinking about doing ragtime. i never heard of ragtime, i was just wondering what it is about and everything, cause like adutioning for beauty and the beast was easy cause everyone know what beauty and the beast is lol. so yea what is the story line and what is it about. thanks

[Eponine93]

www.stageagent.com
www.google.com
www.mtimusicworlds.com
www.wikipedia.com

I assume you're doing the school version. Ragtime is about the era of Ragtime in America. If you're not up on your history, that was around the turn of the century in the 1900s. It deals with a lot of issues. I'm actually surprised it was chosen, it's a bit controversial. Also, it requires a very diverse cast, with a lot of African-American roles.

The story basically deals with a typical upper-class family, consisting of Mother, Father, Grandfather, the Little Boy and Mother's Younger Brother. Mother takes in a poor workgirl named Sarah and Sarah's son. The plot focuses both on Mother's family, Sarah and her boyfriend Coalhouse Walker, Jr. and Tateh and his Little Girl (poor Jewish immigrants), with some appearances by Emma Goldman, Henry Ford and Harry Houdini.

Order the CD off Amazon. It's a good deal ($16) for a two-disc set, and you will enjoy it.

Next time, however, why don't you try Google before MdN? A simple Google search could have easily found you what I just said, and much more.

[ILoveToSing2010]

o well idk how we would do that cause um there are like no black people in my school lol. were all white lol. and i hered that there is alot of danceing. and not that i can't dance but i like singing better lol, so is there like any parts that don't dance as much, jw. and are school might not even do this show, he said it is a big show and he would need to save up money cause the budget this year we used like 40,000 for beauty and the beast, and normally they do small shows inbetween large show, so maybe in a few year.

[The Very Angry Woman]

[ILoveToSing2010]

umm its not my choice, its are directors choice, but he is very creative maybe he would think of a way.

[The Very Angry Woman]

[Sweeney Hyde]

[broadwaybaby1310]

its impossible to do it without black people! it would be so confusing trying to remember who was "black" and the whole meaning of the show would be lost. it just wouldn't work! i hope you find a solution or choose a different show! best of luck!

[bailie]

My high school did Ragtime without any black people and it was a HUGE success...people thought our teachers were crazy because they spent $50,000 on it but we ended up making $10,000 extra...It's not impossible

[dantheman]

So did they use makeup, or did you just tell the audience who was what race? I imagine it could get difficult to portray racial tension when everyone is the same race.

[The Tink]

Color blind casting is a wonderful thing. When it's appropriate for the show. You'd never dream of doing "Big River" with a white Jim... Unless you had a moron for a director. "Ragtime" is about racial equality and injustice. It's about the class system in America. You do it without any minority cast members and you don't really do the show.

[Eponine93]

^ Exactly. Color-blind casting is great, unless the character's color is defining to the show or its meaning. And the black characters in Ragtime are what make the show what it is.

[BEaSTARandSINGlove]

yeah this show would make no sense without black people playing the black characters ...but anways i'm very jealous your school gets to do this show!!! i love it

[dantheman]

I know! Even if I went to an all white school, I would still be uber-excited about doing this show. I'm just jealous.

[ILoveToSing2010]

yea we have a great budget. We did Beauty and the Beast this year and we spent 40,000 and none of it was fundrasier! We also have the best music program on the east coast. so i think we could pull it off. we have with other shows that need black people.

[Teazer_9009]

A local school in my area did Ragtime last year and they were an all-white school (one word: Farmers...) and they, somehow, made half their cast black. There was a BIG artical about it in the newspaper and someone wrote in attacking their school for doing the show. I didn't see it, but a friend of mine ushered for it and said it was amazing. Actually, a lot of people said that.