By Denny Dyroff, Entertainment Editor, The Times
Ragtime
“Ragtime,” an award-winning musical from nearly three decades ago, is a show whose time has come again.
The musical had its world premiere in Toronto in December 1996, and ran for nine months.
A concept album, “Songs from Ragtime: The Musical,” featuring the Toronto cast was released in February 1996. In 1998, it was nominated for the Grammy Award for Best Musical Theater Album.
The Broadway production of “Ragtime” opened on January 18, 1998. It was the first production in the newly opened Ford Center for the Performing Arts.
The Broadway run of “Ragtime” closed on January 16, 2000, after 834 performances and 27 previews.
It led the 1998 Tony Awards with 13 Tony Award nominations, but Disney’s “The Lion King” won as Best Musical. “Ragtime” won awards for Best Featured Actress (Audra McDonald), Original Score, Book, and Orchestrations.
Now, “Ragtime” is coming back to Broadway.
“Ragtime” will officially open at the Vivian Beaumont Theater on October 16.
Meanwhile in “Ragtime” news closer to home, the Candlelight Theatre (2208 Millers Road, Arden, Delaware, candlelighttheatredelaware.org) is presenting “Ragtime: The Musical” now through October 26.
“Ragtime” blends fictional narratives with authentic historical figures and events.
The story focuses on Coalhouse Walker, Jr., — and his beloved Sarah. Walker is a Black pianist who buys a Model T Ford and sets off a series of events that span all levels of New York City society
It also features magician Harry Houdini, industrialist Henry Ford, celebrity party girl Evelyn Nesbit, civil rights leader Booker T. Washington, architect Stanford White, anarchist Emma Goldman, a wealthy white family living in suburban New Rochelle led by matriarch Mother and Tateh (a Jewish Latvian immigrant who becomes a movie director) and his little girl.
The show explores themes of racism, injustice, hope, and dreams amid the changes in society, music, and culture rising in New York City — and across America.
At the center of the story are Mother, Coalhouse Walker Jr. and Tateh.
Playing the lead role of Coalhouse Walker Jr. is Shawn Weaver while Anne Bragg plays his beloved Sarah.
Other key players are Paul McElwee as Father, Alexa Wilder as Mother, Jason Lindner as Tateh, JJ Vavrik as Harry Houdini, Jonah Phillips as Mother’s Younger Brother and Malik Muhammad as Booker T. Washington.
The cast also features West Chester’s Owen Ahlmer as Little Boy. Ahlmer is in seventh grade at CPFA/USP.
“I auditioned back in May with the hope that I’d be considered for the part,” said Weaver, during a phone interview Wednesday evening from his home in Claymont, Delaware.
“I didn’t know if it was a character I’d be ready to handle.”
Weaver needn’t have worried. He not only got the part — he nails it onstage every show.
“I’m very familiar with ‘Ragtime,’” said Weaver. “I’ve seen some bootlegs on You Tube, including the original cast with Audra McDonald.
“For me, “Ragtime’ has been a bucket list show – but not one I expected to do. ‘Ragtime’ is a difficult play to do.”
Weaver, an Upper Darby High alumnus, spent his college years in Chester County and graduated from Lincoln University in 2016 as a vocal performance major. He is an active actor, voice coach and director.
His stage experience includes “In the Heights” at the Broadway Pitman Theater, “Godspell” and “Rent” at Swarthmore Players and “Something Rotten.”
He has also performed in a number of other shows at the Candlelight Theatre, including “Into the Woods,” “Mama Mia!,” “Nine to Five,” “The Fantasticks” and “Hello Dolly!”
“I was in ‘Mamma Mia!’ at the Candlelight in 2022,” said Weaver. “From Day One, I was already hooked on the Candlelight. The place has great energy.
“I loved the people – including Maryanne (Buffet Manager Maryanne Van Neerden). She used to give me a piece of cheesecake before every show and that got me ready to perform.”
For cast members, “Ragtime” is a challenging show to perform.
“The music is beautiful – but very difficult,” said Weaver. “If you can’t fill out the demographic, that makes it tough.
“The show is very beloved – and very well-known. Learning more about the show encouraged me to dig deeper.
“I don’t know if I’ll ever find a role this difficult. It’s a character that has taken me in and morphed me.
“The song ‘The Wheels of a Dream’ – that’s the energy I want to put out. And the song ‘Make Them Hear You’ is a great song about trying to empower others.”
Three social castes in turn-of-the-century New York introduce themselves to the audience.
The first is an upper-class white family from New Rochelle — the Little Boy (Edgar), his Father (who runs a fireworks factory), Mother, Mother’s Younger Brother, and Grandfather. They live a genteel life and enjoy a lack of racial and ethnic diversity.
The second is the Black residents of Harlem, including a beautiful young woman named Sarah, who adores the pianist Coalhouse Walker Jr.
The third are immigrants from Europe on the Lower East Side, among them “Tateh,” a Jewish artist from the Baltic states and his young daughter.
These three worlds are connected by narration from the luminaries — J. P. Morgan, Henry Ford, Booker T. Washington, Emma Goldman, Harry Houdini, and Evelyn Nesbit.
The main story focuses on Coalhouse and how he reacts the unjust situations.
In New Rochelle, Coalhouse and Sarah are stopped by Will Conklin and the fire squad. Conklin demands a fictitious toll. Coalhouse refuses and, as a result, his car gets trashed.
A lecture by Booker T. Washington on patience and dignity ironically underscores the white firemen’s destruction of Coalhouse’s new Model T.
Incensed, Coalhouse vows legal action — postponing his marriage to Sarah until he gets justice. No-one in the justice sector will listen to his pleas.
Sarah hears of a campaign rally nearby and goes to ask for help from the vice-presidential candidate. As she approaches, an onlooker shouts – “She’s got a gun!” — and Sarah is beaten to death by the Secret Service.
Coalhouse has vowed to get justice on his own terms and now terrorizes New Rochelle while demanding his car be restored to him and that Will Conklin be delivered to him.
Things continue to spiral downhill for Coalhouse, and he does not find a happy ending.
“The hardest thing about playing Coalhouse was allowing myself to feel the negativity – to feel the sadness and that anger,” said Weaver. “They are not emotions I like to portray to the world in real life.”
Weaver does find many things to like about his character.
“He’s just a guy,” said Weaver, who lives a few miles from the Candlelight Theatre with his wife Anne Marie.
“He’s just a piano player. He’s flawed but he wants to do right by him and by his family. I wanted to put my own spin on it. Audiences like this show because it pulls on the heartstrings.”
Even though “Ragtime” is set in the early 20th century, it shares troubling topics with today’s world – stifling prejudice, xenophobia and unrelenting racism.
“The show is paralleling a lot of realities of today,” said Weaver. “But it does lift you up if it’s done right.”
The show’s artistic team includes Peter Reynolds (Co-Director), Julianna Babb (Co-Director), Grant Uhle (Music Director), Jeff Reim (Scenic Designer), Matthew J. Kator (Light Designer), Beck Wetzel (Costume Designer), Anthony Connell (Props Master) and Clayton Stacy (Hair/Wig/Makeup Designer).
The show will run now through October 26.
Tickets, which include pre-show dinner and free parking, are $75.50 for adults, $35 for children (ages 4-12) and $35 for “Show Only.”
Dinner and Show times: Thursday, Friday and Saturday performances, 6 p.m. for meal and 8 p.m. for show; Sunday Matinees, 1 p.m. for meal and 3 p.m. for show; Wednesday Matinees, 11 a.m. for meal and 1 p.m. for show.
Candlelight’s Quizzo Night is scheduled for October and the monthly Candlelight Comedy Club will be held on October 23.
Kennett Flash (102 Sycamore Alley, Kennett Square, 484-732-8295, http://www.kennettflash.org) is hosting Joe Deninzon & Stratospheerius along with The Tea Club on October 5.
Joe Deninzon
Deninzon began his career as a recording artist with a solo release, “Electric Blue,” in 1998 on Wilbert’s Blues Records. Right from the start, he was a busy musician
Now, a quarter of a century later, Deninzon is still very busy – maybe busier than he’s ever been.
Deninzon is currently a founding member of the band Stratospheerius and, since May 2023, the violin player for rock legends Kansas.
Stratospheerius is an American progressive rock band based in New York City. The band is led by electric violinist Joe Deninzon, who also plays the mandolin and serves as the band’s lead vocalist.
Joe Deninzon & Stratospheerius’ set will feature some of the band’s well-known older material, as well as new music.
Deninzon is the violinist with legendary rockers Kansas, which recently celebrated their 50th anniversary. He has played violin for the Who, Bruce Springsteen, 50 Cent, Sheryl Crow, and as the concertmaster for Renaissance.
Other members of Stratospheerius are drummer Jason Gianni, guitarist Michelangelo Quirinale and bassist Paul Ranieri.
The band took a break as Deninzon and bassist Bob Bowen teamed up with guitarist Steve Benson in 2010 as the Joe Deninzon Trio to record the acoustic jazz album, “Exuberance.” In 2011, Deninzon joined the faculty of the Mark Wood Rock Orchestra Camp.
Despite numerous personnel changes, Deninzon kept Stratospheerius alive – and stayed very busy.
After creating the SonicVoyageFest Tour, Stratospheerius performed in Chicago’s Progtoberfest 2017, and at ProgStock in 2019, 2020 and 2021.
Stratospheerius plays a style of music that defies categorization — a blend of straight-up rock, jazz, folk, fusion, prog-rock and funk. Deninzon describes the band’s sound as “psychojazz trip funk.””
“Nowadays, people expect you to come up with new stuff all the time,” said Deninzon, during a phone interview from his home in Old Tappan, New Jersey. “But, as a musician, you want your music to be good – and that takes time.”
Deninzon, who plays a special seven-string Trident electric violin known as The Viper, has a diverse music background and a long history with his band Stratospheerius.
“I’ve had the band for quite a while now — in a lot of configurations,” said Deninzon. “I recorded my first CD when I was in Cleveland.
“It was called ‘Electric/Blue’, and it was a jazz fusion album. Over the years, I wanted to go in a more rock direction.
“When I moved to New York, I formed the Joe Deninzon Band, and it later became Stratospheerius. I’ve always loved rock and folk music.
“Back then, I had two things going — playing guitar and singing in coffee shops and playing jazz music with my band.”
Deninzon had diverse influences.
“I looked at artists like Jimi Hendrix, Stevie Ray Vaughan and John Popper — bands that were instrumentally great and were fronted by a vocalist,” said Deninzon, who was born in St. Petersburg (Russia) and moved to Cleveland as a boy when his father landed a position as violinist for the Cleveland Orchestra.
“I was also influenced by progressive rock bands from the 1970s such as Yes, the Mahavishnu Orchestra and King Crimson.
“I’m a big rock fan — always have been. I studied jazz in college, but rock is what I wanted to play. Vocals are important.
“We have a lot of instrumentals but 70 per cent of our songs feature vocals. With all the different genres, I was finding my way over the years.”
“Stratospheerius has grown into a progressive rock band — a progressive rock band with cool vocals. Our stuff has gotten more structured. But I also like the element of freedom. I never play a song the same way twice.”
Video link for Joe Deninzon & Stratospheerius – https://youtu.be/3niTH8OlkFE.
The show at Kennett Flash, which will start at 7 p.m., also feature The Tea Club with Dan McGowan, who is the bassist for Kansas.
Tickets are $25
Another show at the venue this weekend will be Jeffrey Gaines on October 3.
On October 3, Uptown! Knauer Performing Arts Center (226 North High Street, West Chester, www.uptownwestchester.org) will present another edition of its pop-up Beer Garden series — an open-air celebration of community, live music, food, and fun.
Friday’s event will feature Puppy Pals Live along with lawn games and live music by Ray Adkins.
Puppy Pals Live, which is billed as an “Action-Packed Comedic Stunt Dog Show,” is a hilarious presentation starring mostly rescued dogs.
Puppy Pals Live features a variety of stunts and acts — climbing and diving off ladders, ninja-warrior-like stunts, doggy backflips, high-wire walks, comedic acts, balancing tricks, audience participation, and many other challenging, fun and exciting surprises.
Video link for Puppy Pals Live — https://youtu.be/s5nlN_Lrwoc.
Show Time is 7 p.m.
Tickets are $35 for adults and $30 for children (12 and under).
On October 4, Uptown! will present “New York’s Finest Tribute to Sting & The Police.”
The show is a live musical tribute to the hit songs of Sting and The Police.
NYF was founded on a dare for a classic album tribute night in New York City.
NYF’s tribute show steers concert fans through The Police’s early punk era and evolves to the more sophisticated material of their later records along with Sting’s solo catalog.
A dazzling HD visual spectacle accompanies the hit parade of songs as audiences get a panoramic view of the band in action in real time.
NYF stays true to the three-member line up of The Police with Mark Rinzel (“Jessie’s Girl” band), Oscar Bautista (session and Broadway orchestra guitarist) and producer/engineer Alan Camleton.
Video link for NYF — https://youtu.be/vlpmHY3ClVQ.
The show on October 4 will start at 7:30 p.m.
Tickets are $40.
Jamey’s House of Music (32 South Lansdowne Avenue, Lansdowne, 215-477-9985, www.jameyshouseofmusic.com) will have Dave Marshall and the Mojo Band on October 2, Sam Robbins on October 3, Kat Rivers and the Second Night and Modbeats on October 4, and The Philly Blues Kings featuring Clarence Spady on October 5.
Elkton Music Hall (107 North Street, Elkton, Maryland, www.elktonmusichall.com) will have The One Hit Wonderers on October 3, “Echoes: Pink Floyd Tribute” on October 4, Carolyn Wonderland with Diamond Jim Greene on October 7 and Perpetual Groove on October 8.
