Rewarding 'Ragtime' has little time left

Apparently, it's a bad time for "Ragtime". The Broadway revival of "Ragtime" at the Neil Simon theater recently announced its upcoming closing date, Jan. 10, due to high running costs and lower-than-expected advance ticket sales. However, despite the lackluster public reception, fans of classic musical theater will likely appreciate the show's elegant score and standout leading performances.

"Ragtime" depicts the intertwining lives of three disparate social groups—snobbish WASPs, Eastern European immigrants, and Harlem African-Americans—in turn-of-the-century New York. The interactions of the upper-class white family—anonymously named Mother, Father, Little Boy, and Mother's Younger Brother—are particularly loaded with unspoken emotion.

The most compelling character arc of the show is that of Mother (played by Christiane Noll), as she meets, and is eventually both changed and inspired by, black musician Coalhouse Walker, his lover Sarah, and hardworking immigrant Tateh. Noll's performance is both fragile and steely, as she wavers between obeying her husband and breaking away from him. Her eleven o'clock number "Back to Before" is one of the high points of the show, and certainly worthy of repeated YouTube viewings after leaving the theater.

The other leading actors are strong singers, and the ensemble sounds downright beautiful when onstage all at once. Particularly memorable is Bobby Steggert as Mother's Younger Brother—Steggert brims with passion, frustration and youthful rebellion in defiance of the straightlaced social system to which his family dutifully conforms.

Still, the show is hardly flawless—some crucial plot points appear to pop out of nowhere or seem anticlimactic. Additionally, the choreography is robotic and cliché in places, with the immigrants dancing as if they leapt straight out of "Fiddler on the Roof" and the white aristocrats doing little more than bouncing in place.

As for the set, a network of skeletal arches and platforms, it is either clearly present or mostly invisible, depending on the needs of each scene. It structurally defines and divides social classes when the entire cast is onstage, but occasionally fades into the background when the focus zeroes in on an individual actor—all in all, strong support for the "less is more" aesthetic.

However, the costumes are quite opulent, with an abundance of pastel ruffles and three-piece suits. The costumes are indeed beautiful, but somewhat inconsistent with the minimalist message conveyed by the set.

Still, in the end the show's shortcomings are overshadowed by a few fantastic performances and the overall strong ensemble cast. Noll and Steggert may be actors to watch in the future of Broadway, and even though it may not have been the time for "Ragtime," the show's talent is certainly promising.