Hudson Backstage Theatre (Hollywood, CA)
Ragtime paints a nostalgic and powerful portrait of life in turn-of-the-century America. Based on E.L. Doctorow's distinguished novel, Ragtime intertwines three distinct stories that poignantly illustrate history's timeless contradictions of wealth and poverty, freedom and prejudice, hope and despair, and love and hate.
Event summary prepared by the Goldstar Editorial Team.
All dates for this event have expired.
The last event was Sunday October 26, 2008 / 2:00pm. (view all dates)
Check back to this section to see pictures from this event!
After driving more than 30 miles (each way) and getting stuck in traffic for more than an hour, we arrived 15 minutes late. Although our confimation letter stated "Latecomers will be seated at an appropriate time in the show," they would not allow us to enter the theatre at all....I am VERY angry about this! It was not as if we wanted to be late to be fashionable...we were already very distressed about missing the first part of the show!
The childred need more acting lessons, the little boy couldn't delivery a line with out closing his eyes to remember his lines. The orchestra was too loud, it was a very small stage with a very large cast yet even with microphones you sometimes couldn't hear the singing. It was only worth a Goldstar discount, would not have wanted to pay full price.
I've never seen such a densely populated stage, with an extremely large cast and a live orchestra it seemed there were more people on stage then could fit in the audience. However they were able to pull off a great performance that was able to pull the audience in to the story that I felt like I was ripping the theater off for getting such affordable tickets. Overall I would recommend seeing this production.
Word of Warning: This is a LONG production. We didn't get to the car until 11PM.
This show starts off with an exclamation of OMG!!! how is it possible to have such a large cast on this little stage. Please move this fantastic show to a larger venue. Either way, I'm going back to see it again...
"Ragtime" is an overlooked gem that receives a wonderful and inspired production from Musical Theater of LA. I really enjoyed the show! Cast was mostly excellent, and so large it would benefit to sit as high up as you can for a better view. so as not to miss any of the action. That being said, it is staged very well, giving even those on the sides in front something to look at most of the time. Get there early and have a coffee in the cafe, since there is no late seating, due to the smallness of the theater (and the large-ness of the cast!) Leads of Colehouse, Mother and Tateh were excellent, and worth the price of admission alone. I did not see a "community theater" production, as some have written here, but a show that was very moving and thought-provoking, with a wonderful score and book. My friends had never seen the "Ragtime" (I had), and were really impressed with the professionalism of the cast. I look forward to their next production. Once again, a great night out from Goldstar!! I will be back to see this show again if I have the chance!
It's a cast of "thousands" -- well, 40 plus a 10-piece orchestra in a 99 seat theater setting. And they all fit! Beautifully! I only have raves about this performance and cast. The gorgeously orchestrated staging, the music, the superb acting and singing by the principles AND ensemble, the truth exposed -- it's a MUST SEE, even if you've seen it before. Hurry -- I was told only 4 more weekends left.
A very well-done show. I got chills at several points. The staging was really inventive for such a small space, and the cast and orchestra were perfectly suited to the piece. The only complaint I had was that the sound mix was a bit uneven at times, and I couldn't hear all of what was being said/sung due to the orchestra being placed so close to the audience. I would deduct 1/4 star from my review for that, but I can't because of Goldstar's review system, and it wasn't all that noticeable most of the time anyway. See this show, it's great!
A richly detailed story of a chapter of American history. The story itself, is worthy of attention. The music is wonderful and appropriate. The performers are great. If you haven't seen this production before, go see it. If you have, go see it again. It's great entertainment.
Terrific production of this tough to stage musical. They were able to do it in a small space and make it work. It was great fun.
Ragtime is one of my favorite musicals but this show had problems. I know this show backwards and forwards. The acting was horrible and the worst I've ever seen in a show for the most part. People were over or under acting in their roles. I asked my friend they couldn't find better actors than this? I realize that majority of this cast are amateurs but I've seen better amateurs than some of them in this show. Some were just saying their lines with no emphasis. "Willy Conklin" is supposed to have an Irish accent but the actor had no accent. The small orchestra at times overpowed the actors making it hard to hear them (small 99 seat theatre) and it could've been due to mics not being turned on too for some of the leads. "Coalhouse Walker, Jr.", "Sarah", "Sarah's friend" and "Emma Goldman" were FANTASTIC! These were the only 4 leads that really stuck out from the rest for me. "Mother" and "Father" were Equity and I expected more from them due to this. "Mother" missed up her lines in a couple of places. "Mother's younger brother" seemed stiff to me up on the stage like he was uncomfortable with the role. I don't know if this cast will improve with time or not. I don't plan to be back to find out and I don't have any plans right now to see any future shows at Hudson as my first experience was lousy. I asked my friend at intermission if it was just me or did she feel the acting was as bad as I thought it was and she agreed with me. She sees a lot more shows in various theatres in the area than I do.
I'll never understand how this show lost to The Lion King in the Tony race. The music and story are brilliant and MTLA did a wonderful job conveying all of the elements. The voices in this cast are wonderful -- a pure, choral sound came from the entire group and the solo sounds were gorgeous, too. Set design was very clever and allowed the story to come to life in a small space that never really felt small. Band was nice to listen to, but could have been a smidge quieter during dialogue underscoring. Notable performances by Coalhouse, Sarah, Houdini and Tateh. Great show and thoroughly enjoyed by a true "Ragtime" fan!
This cannot be considered a professional production, it is at best community theatre. There are some good performances and nice voices, but the direction at best could be called crowd control. Why they would use that large a cast in that small a space, is beyond me. Cast members walked into each other, almost fell off platforms, walked into platforms. It is a too bad they didn't use less people and focussed more on story and music. RAGTIME is a wonderful show and deserves better.
Also, had a couple next to us who spent the show screaming for friends at the end of numbers and then texting people the rest of the time.
This is a really heartfelt effort at about a "community theatre" level. It's not bad, but don't expect a Broadway-style spectacle like the recent PCPA (Santa Maria, CA) production.
I saw the production on Broadway and I was skeptical, I didn’t see how they would do justice to the script in such a smaller venue, but I must say I was pleasantly surprised. Overall, I enjoyed the evening very much.
We were amazed at this performance! We had seen Ragtime several
times in the larger theaters, and were very pleased with the quality
of the performance in the small theater.
While I think the criticisms of the theater itself are warranted... I strongly disagree with the caliber of this production being labeled as community theater. There were obvious standouts in both acting & voice which raised the level of this show while I thought both Emma & the Younger Brother struggled...others were amazing.....and the effect was one that brought the story to life before your eyes rather than hide it. We must have been at different performanes....this was one of the most ENJOYABLE eveinings in theater that we have experienced in LA although I don't particularly care for the venue. This too comes after having seen a lot of area theater. My suggestion: see it for yourself and decide.
Outstanding cast, fantastic performance and vocals, and very talented and great sounding orchestra!
The performance was amazing! The singers, the band, and the fact that 37 people on a small stage were able to do great things without bumping into each other all made for a memorable night. I plan to bring my history class to the Sunday afternoon show.
The show was great, but the production was too big for the venue. The music and the sheer number of cast members was somewhat overwhelming for a 99-seat theatre.
The company made the most of a small theater space to do a very creditable and enjoyable staging of the musical.
Occasionally the orchestra overpowered the voices - possibly due to the small space.
But very ambitious and very well-done.
The Hudson Backstage is the largest stage of the Hudson Theatres. It has played host to a variety of productions, including Broadway-bound Reefer Madness (Best Production Award, LADCC), the multiple award-winning The Master and Margarita, and smash hits The Diva is Dismissed (5 major awards including NAACP) and My Big Fat Greek Wedding, written by and starring N... More
Musical Theatre of Los Angeles, the company that brought you the hit musical Chicago, is proud to present the second show from their 2008 season, Ragtime - The Musical. Ragtime paints a nostalgic and powerful portrait of life in turn of the century America. Based on E.L. Doctorow's distinguished novel, Ragtime intertwines three distinct stories that poignantly illustrate history's timeless contradictions of wealth and poverty, freedom and prejudice, hope and despair, and love and hate.
Use of this site is governed by our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy. © 2008 Goldstar Events, Inc.