Lucinda
Breeding:
Backstage
bloggers
document
'Ragtime'
09:22
AM
CDT
on
Sunday,
October
2,
2005
by
Lucinda
Breeding
Scott
Wood
has
loved
Ragtime
since
he
saw
it
on
Broadway
about
seven
years
ago.
The
musical
by
Terrence
McNally,
Stephen
Flaherty
and
Lynn
Ahrens
is
based
on
the
novel
of
the
same
name
by
E.L.
Doctorow.
The
year
is
1906.
The
setting
is
New
York.
The
white,
uppercrust
families
of
New
Rochelle
are
happy
with
their
affluence
and
influence,
and
uneasy
when
immigrants
and
residents
of
Harlem
begin
to
break
ground
culturally.
Ragtime,
a
new
kind
of
music,
underscores
the
changes
-
literally.
As
the
show
progresses,
the
races
mingle
and
conflict
seems
inevitable.
Wood
said
he
and
two
of
his
cast
mates,
Eric
Ryan,
who
plays
the
immigrant
success
story
Tateh,
and
Patricia
Sherman,
who
plays
the
role
of
Mother,
have
wanted
a
chance
to
be
in
Ragtime.
Wood
landed
the
role
of
Father.
"I
had
wanted
to
play
the
role
of
Younger
Brother,
but
time
passed,"
he
said.
He
didn't
fret,
and
he
was
delighted
when
Sherman
and
Ryan
nabbed
principal
roles
right
along
with
him.
"My
two
favorite
shows
are
Les
Miserables
and
Ragtime,"
Wood
said.
"The
only
way
I
know
how
to
put
it
is
that
after
I
come
out
of
Ragtime,
I
just
feel
emotionally
cleansed.
I've
laughed.
I've
cried.
I've
been
extremely
concerned
and
I've
been
mad.
Emotionally
cleansed."
For
a
lot
of
actors
on
the
community
theater
stage,
a
production
is
something
of
an
intimate
experience,
and
most
of
the
experience
is
shared
with
the
cast
and
crew
of
the
show.
The
only
part
of
the
production
that
is
shared
with
the
public
is
the
performances
and
all
the
illusions
that
come
with
them.
Wood
found
the
experience
of
Ragtime
somehow
too
big
for
the
traditional
experience.
He
began
an
online
blog
about
the
show
at
www.scott-wood.com,
and
invited
his
cast
and
crewmates
to
add
to
it.
They
did.
Several
entries
are
dry
accounts
about
building
a
production,
which
means
recalling
the
time
it
takes
to
learn
new
choreography,
or
the
difficulties
in
dealing
with
new
musical
numbers.
Some
dealt
with
the
meat
of
the
show
-
the
consequences
of
racial
and
social
tensions
and
how
slow
and
painful
cultural
change
can
be.
"I
just
love
the
irony
of
how
the
races
are
not
supposed
to
mix,
but
if
the
audience
only
knew
what
was
going
on
back
stage,"
writes
Whitney
Hennen,
a
chorus
member
and
the
show's
dance
captain.
"We
are
beginning
to
really
come
together
as
a
cast.
I
can
tell
because
of
the
jokes
and
laughter
backstage.
I
am
so
lucky
to
have
such
amazing
people
surrounding
me."
Edouard
Guignard,
who
plays
the
principal
role
of
Coalhouse
Walker
Jr.,
agreed
with
Hennen's
remark
in
an
interview
Tuesday
night.
As
the
three
communities
of
Ragtime
try
to
leave
each
other
alone,
the
drive
to
live
in
a
relationship
is
ultimately
stronger.
"You
know,
I
come
in
here
and
I
look
out
here
and
see
all
these
people
working
together,
laughing
together.
I
come
in
here
and
I
see
America,"
he
said.
"I
see
the
people
of
Harlem,
the
people
of
New
Rochelle,
and
the
immigrants.
But
we
are
here
working
on
this
play,
and
it
makes
me
look
at
the
story
and
realize
what
these
people
had
to
go
through
so
that
all
of
us
can
work
together
here,
and
not
have
any
tensions."
As
the
rehearsals
wore
on,
cast
members
chipped
in
to
the
blog
with
the
minutia
of
rehearsal,
the
repetitions
of
scenes
and
songs,
and
dancing
through
rough
spots
until,
as
one
performer
put
it,
"My
arms
felt
as
if
I
had
been
beaten
with
hammers."
Yet
the
performer
wrote
that
she
would
have
rehearsed
the
same,
grueling
first
act
again.
For
Ryan,
the
final
week
of
rehearsal
was
draining,
but
in
a
good
way.
"What
an
awesome
feeling
it
is
to
be
performing
one
of
my
dream
roles
on
stage
with
two
of
my
good
friends
who
share
a
common
obsession
with
Ragtime:
the
Musical!"
Ryan
writes.
"It
was
very
surreal
looking
across
the
stage
at
Pat
[Sherman]
during
'Our
Children'
and
knowing
that
we
were
actually
standing
on
the
Campus
Theatre
stage
performing
a
song
we
have
been
longing
to
do
together
for
years.
It
was
a
great
rush
of
excitement."
The
cast
of
the
musical
is
telling
a
story
of
the
past,
and
in
the
process,
indicting
the
present
just
a
little.
The
relationship
between
the
races
in
America
is
still
tenuous
at
points.
But
people
can
work
together.
Relationships
are
possible,
and
so
is
change.
Scott
Wood
believes
that,
too.
In
one
of
his
latest
entries,
Wood
rightly
remarks
that
relationships
are
their
own
fruit,
and
a
major
ingredient
in
change
and
growth.
".I
shared
a
bow
with
Pat
and
Eric,"
Wood
writes,
bringing
the
blog
back
to
a
simple
wish
between
three
friends.
"Among
the
three
of
us,
there
is
a
combined
21
years
of
dreaming
about
doing
this
show
together.
We
opened
the
show
[post
introduction]
by
singing
"Journey
On"
together,
then
finished
with
a
group
bow."
The
bow,
Wood
seems
to
say
in
the
same
entry,
is
just
the
beginning.
LUCINDA
BREEDING
can
be
reached
at
940-566-6877.
Her
e-mail
address
is
cbreeding@dentonrc.com.