A work unfinishing: Weekly Margin 2024, W45: A Wonderful World, Ragtime, Swept Away

11/04/24: A Wonderful World

What: A new bio/jukebox musical about Louis Armstrong and the four women he married.

And? It's still previews, so things could tighten up a bit. Right now it feels like it's between two shows: the generic biomusical where the main character narrates to the audience (the absolute laziest of telling, not showing), and a more compelling different lens, where the phases of his life are charted more by the four women he loved, and who he was with each of them. The scenic design by Adam Koch & Steven Royal is appealing, and the performances of Jennie Harney-Fleming, Dionne Figgins, and Darlesia Cearcy are fantastic. I went on a night that alternate James T. Lane was on for Armstrong, so while I can't give a verdict on James Monroe Iglehart in the role, I can say that James T. Lane is absolutely, well, wonderful.

11/07/24: Ragtime

What: New York City Center Encores! series gala presentation of the Ahrens, Flaherty, and McNally masterpiece.

And? It's more complicated to talk about this show than I thought it would be, especially after discussing it with the friends I attended it with. My friend who is a person of color pointed out that for Black people especially, the show is trauma porn. Much as I have always adored the show, that conversation was a stark reminder that this is a show for white people to see: Black people don't need to be told that Black people deserve dignity, humanity, and survival. Even if Coalhouse and Sarah get some of the best songs in this tremendous score, they also both die horrible deaths, leaving behind an infant child to be raised by parents who can never understand the experience of growing up Black in America.

Another friend of mine was coming to the show fresh: they didn't know the source material, the score, or the story. So while I was crying my little face off, they were thrown by just how many things were going on in one show. "It's a lot" sums it up pretty succinctly. I had the luxury of watching the show already having everyone's full arcs in my head; my friend was at sea over whose story it was.

And it all got me thinking. The buzz around this show is so loud that another Encores-to-Broadway transfer rumor has taken over the theater community. Who can blame them? This was a show with a perfect original cast album and a deep bench of talent in its original cast, cut short due to a certain embezzling producer. Its first Broadway revival was okay, but a bit of a letdown. But here we have Joshua Henry, the only performer I can think of who stands ready to take on the mantle previously worn by Brian Stokes Mitchell in the part: both men tremendous actors, full of charisma and power, and voices that can shake the walls of the theater. If nothing else, I'd like Mr. Henry to finally win his Tony. If something else, I'd also love an album of him singing Coalhouse's songs.

But. I wonder if this is the right time for this or not, especially in light of the election results this week. Part of why I wept through the act one finale when I saw the show was because it seemed like we'd made so little progress in over a century. "Til We Reach That Day" sings of a day that, over a century later, has still not yet been reached. Additionally, I'm concerned that if they transfer this production they will leave it as is, much like the recent Into the Woods revival. Don't get me wrong, I loved the revival when it played at City Center. But that's still officially a concert setting. There need to be additional steps taken to make it a full production. Michael Arden's production of Parade was able to toe this line, expanding and further developing its staging while still keeping the spirit of what it had at City Center.

The staging of what's playing right now at City Center is fine for a concert. But it is not a full production staging, and for a show this complex and full, with such an ensemble of players, we need strong staging and vision. We need the ambition of a civilization ready to call a shooting in 1906 the "crime of the century," though the century still has, as the show says, "94 years to go!" We need that staging not only to do the show itself justice, but to also do right by the audience members who don't already know and love the show. This production isn't ready for that yet.

But damn if we aren't lucky to have both Joshua Henry and Brandon Uranowitz here to breathe new life into Coalhouse and Tateh. There aren't words for how full the performances of these two men are, and after only ten days of rehearsal.

Nichelle Lewis and Joshua Henry as Sarah and Coalhouse Walker, Jr.
Photo by Joan Marcus.

11/08/24: Swept Away

What: A new musical with songs by The Avett Brothers, about the misadventures on a whaling ship.

And? It doesn't seem sporting to discuss the plot itself of the show (better to go in cold), so I'll focus on the other elements. Rachel Hauck's scenic design, deceptively simple at first, pays off in dividends, aided by Kevin Adams's appropriately disconcerting lighting design. The music of the songs is appealing, and it's refreshing to encounter a score that blends songs and book well enough that there aren't that many applause breaks. That being said, a huge chunk of the show seems designed to find our way to the next song, without actually telling much of a story of offering character enlightenment. The songs themselves are repetitive enough that I often stopped listening to the words. And the story, which I'm not going to go into here, for spoiler reasons? Well, it's certainly unusual for a Broadway musical. It's not also not one I'm particularly fond of, in this case, but that's a subjective opinion.