Friday, May 15, 2015

Ragtime!

Recently, the Children's Musical Theater of San Jose put on a production of the musical Ragtime.  It takes place in the early 20th century and focuses on the relationship of the white upper class, immigrants, and African Americans during this time.  Since I saw this play right before the AP test, I could not stop thinking "Nativism!", "W. E. B. Dubois!", "Natural Origins Act!".  I could hardly focus on the play since I was just thinking about USHAP the entire time.  But nevertheless, I did enjoy the play, but would like to focus on the historical accuracy of Ragtime.  Warning: contains spoilers from the play.


Cast of the play from left to right, African Americans, Upper class whites, and Immigrants

For the most part, the musical was historically correct.  When they showed the Immigrants coming to American past the Statue of Liberty, they had hope the American life would be fruitful.  However, the immigrant father, Tateh, and his daughter were barely making enough money to buy food.  For the African Americans, the audience witnessed the blatant segregation and violence towards them.  The main African American character, named Coalhouse, owned a car that eventually broke down, when he asked a fire department to help him, they proceeded to trash the car.  The sentiments shared by the firemen are consistent with Americans who were involved in the KKK or other white supremacists.

Coalhouse playing ragtime music

As the play went on, Coalhouse was infuriated at by the death of his lover, Sarah, so he proceeded to start violent uprisings.  Even Booker T. Washington made an appearance to stop Coalhouse's violence, even though Coalhouse had already murdered multiple people related to Sarah's death.  Other famous figures, such a JP Morgan, Henry Ford, and Harry Houdini, also appeared in various parts during the musical.  Each of their appearances is realistic because they all were alive and doing work during the time period which this play takes place, the early 20th century.

Immigrant Tateh and his daughter

While there is a substantial amount of realistic action, any play must bend the rules a little bit in order to make a good story.  In the end, the rich white woman ends up marrying the poor immigrant.  Tateh ended up inventing movies from his successful ventures in the second act selling flip books.  I know, super realistic, right?  Films were actually shown as early as 1890, which is at least 10 years before our play takes place.  However, the unexpected love story captured the heart of the rest of audience.  While I was watching this scene where they are now married, I remember thinking to myself that realistically, this love story would have never happened due to the strong nativism feelings of much of the upper class and the immigrants very quick rise to wealth was improbable.  We spent a lot of time in class discussing the "rags to riches" theory and determined that it was more myth than reality.  

Overall, I thought it was a very appropriate play to see before the AP test, but I wish I could have not analysed it so much so I could have enjoyed the story more.  Have you guys seen any plays that relate to US History?

4 comments:

  1. Thanks for the post, Lauren! A lot of plays relate to US History, and while they're not always super accurate, they're always entertaining, so here are a couple recommendations:

    "Bonnie and Clyde" focuses on the story of the infamous outlaws, Bonnie Parker and Clyde Barrow, who lived during the Great Depression. It follows the initial meeting of the two, through the subsequent crime spree that made them famous, and then their deaths.

    "Hairspray" is also a pretty well known one, which takes place in Baltimore in 1962. It was created as a social commentary about the inequality in the 1960s, and focuses on a campaign to integrate a popular TV show. It also features a peaceful march and protest that turns chaotic as the police start to use violence, not unlike the marches in the Civil Rights Movement that the play is set in. (If you can't find a local production to watch, I highly recommend the movie version starring Zac Efron, because it's hilarious.)

    "Newsies" is my favorite musical of all time. It focuses on the events of the actual Newsboys' Strike of 1899, where a bunch of newsies banded together against publications corporations such as the New York World and the Journal. It includes Joseph Pulitzer and William Randolph Hearst, with a surprise cameo by Teddy Roosevelt, and it touches on themes like child labor and labor unions, which were very popular subjects in the Gilded Age.

    Finally, "Hamilton" is a musical that is set to premiere on Broadway this summer, and based on reviews of the off-broadway version, it's supposed to be really really really really good. It tells the story of Alexander Hamilton, but it's more of a modern interpretation of the events, as it sets the American Revolution against a soundtrack of hip hop music and employs a very diverse cast to portray the historically white male characters. In the words of Lin-Manuel Miranda, the writer and star, it is "the story of America then, told by America now".

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  2. Right now in English, we're reading the crucible. This play focuses on the Salem Witch Trials in the late 17th century. I'm sure many of you have read it, but you might not know why the author wrote it. It was written in the 1950s, during the McCarthyism era. The author wrote it because he saw many parallels in the ways that people would accuse others to avoid being persecuted themselves.

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  3. Yes! Building off of Annie's comment, it was written by Arthur Miller, who was a playwright during the 1950's who was actually called in by the House of Un-American Activities Committee. He was thought to be a communist because of his associates and he refused to reveal any of the names or communist communities he knew about. It's interesting to read the Crucible while also channeling my previous knowledge about the McCarthy era. In the Crucible, there is a character, John Proctor, who is falsely accused after trying to uncover the truth in a witch trial, and even during his hour of death he refused to state that his friends were involved in witch craft and also refused to recognize any power the court "assumed." I think this was partially Arthur Miller telling his own story where he was thought to be communist and could have cleared his name had he disclosed some communist sympathizers, but he maintained his pride and integrity and did not give in, regardless of the popular hysteria occuring at the time. Great post Lauren! I actually really enjoy when history is integrated in the entertainment world, it's almost like we're able to relive the times through these forms of media and art!

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  4. One other play I read in school about American history was "Inherit the Wind" by Jerome Lawrence and Robert E. Lee (no, not *that* Robert E. Lee). It was a retelling of the famous "Scopes Monkey Trial," which arose from the question in the early 1900s as to whether or not evolution should be taught in schools. It dealt with how the little town it was set in was swept up by the trial and the mass press it found itself getting. It's a very interesting play to either read or write, dealing with the debate between religion and science in America.

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