Time passes, Tateh becomes less idealistic - he is still poor and the Little Girl is sick. Morgan enters the scene and metaphorically crushes the immigrants, but Harry Houdini magically swoops in as an emblem of immigrant triumph. Emma Goldman chastises him for selling one of J.P. Tateh sets up his business on the Lower East Side, selling paper silhouettes of celebrities for a nickel each. With many other immigrants, Tateh and The Little Girl disembark at Ellis Island, full of hope ("America"). Rather than let Sarah go to prison, Mother takes Sarah and the child into her own home ("What Kind Of Woman"). The police arrive on the premises with Sarah, the mother of the child. The Little Boy wants to see Houdini as he has a cryptic message for him, 'warn the duke.' While he begins to read her Father's letter, mother makes a shocking discovery - there is a newborn African-American child buried in the flowerbed. The scene shifts to Mother and the Little Boy in the garden. One day, after the show, Younger Brother approaches her, but she dismisses him. Younger Brother goes to all of her shows. Her show is a vaudeville act that tells the true story of her lover's murder by her famous husband ("Crime Of The Century"). He is frustrated and lost, searching for meaning in his life and hoping to find it in her. Mother's Younger Brother is in love with Evelyn Nesbit. Simultaneously, Mother wonders what this year without her husband will bring ("Journey On"). Tateh and Father wave to one another Father admires the immigrants for their naive bravery in coming to a new land, and Tateh questions Father's reasons for leaving the place he has worked so hard to find. On its way out of the harbor, Father's ship passes a rag ship filled with immigrants, arriving in New York. At the dock, he consoles Mother that everything will be the same upon his return, but Mother is not convinced ("Goodbye My Love"). Whites, African-Americans, immigrants and celebrities are set on a collision course the opening number ("Ragtime").įather is accompanying Admiral Peary on a trip to the North Pole. Morgan, Henry Ford, Evelyn Nesbit and Emma Goldman. The lives of these three American families are entwined with Booker T. Immigrants arrive at Ellis Island and we meet Tateh, an artist who makes silhouettes, and his Little Girl. Next, we go to Harlem to meet Coalhouse Walker Jr., a ragtime pianist, and his admirers. First, we visit New Rochelle, New York to meet a well-to-do white family: Mother, Father and their Little Boy, Mother's Younger Brother, and Grandfather.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |