January 06, 2013

Pioneer Theatre Guild: Ragtime

On stage: the people of Harlem, the people of New Rochelle, and the immigrants. On the platform: the historical characters.

Pioneer’s production of Ragtime closed several weeks ago — nearly eight weeks ago, to be precise. But to me it feels like it closed yesterday (and I’m not just saying that because I wished I’d posted these photos on November 12). Truly, my holiday rush period renders most of November and December a blur.

But I think the real reason Ragtime still feels fresh to me is that my 10-year-old son, Max, keeps bringing it up. He saw the last matinée, and I never suspected how much it would grab him. In the first weeks after the show, all Max wanted to talk about was the Tateh character. Next, he had lots of questions about which characters were the “good guys” and which were the “bad guys” (not always so easy to differentiate or explain, but interesting to discuss). Max’s current obsession from the show is Harry Houdini. Before the holiday break, Max borrowed a Houdini biography from his school library, and he has since regaled us with all manner of Houdini trivia. Consequently, when I spied this Houdini “action figure” on the shelf at Ypsi’s The Rocket in late November, I knew that Max would be receiving it for Hanukah. Well, it immediately became one of his favorite gifts. And Max has already determined that this 5.5″ plastic Houdini will play a prominent role in the compound-machine project he has to design/build for school this coming semester.

Before rolling film, I want to make sure you have FutureStars on your radar. Because — for good reason — those tickets will be gone in a flash. Tickets for FutureStars 2013 go on sale Monday, January 7 at noon. Buy tickets online.
(Complete FutureStars info.)