The Music


ACT ONE:

The show begins on the front lawn of a home in New Rochelle, New York as characters named Mother, Father, Grandfather, The Little Boy (Edgar) and Mother's Younger Brother, and their neighbors sing of the new era. Father speaks of the family business, manufacturing fireworks. Younger Brother works at the fireworks factory, but dreams of being a part of something bigger than himself. Soon their picture-perfect life will be interrupted by Negroes from Harlem and immigrants from Eastern Europe. There are also many important historical figues who will play a part in our tale, including Evelyn Nesbit, Harry Houdini, J. P. Morgan and Henry Ford. (RAGTIME)

On a dock in New York Harbor, the family bids farewell to Father as he heads to the North Pole with Admiral Peary. Younger Brother runs off when the famed vaudeville star Evelyn Nesbit walks by followed by throngs of reporters. Mother watches as Father's ship sails away. (GOODBYE MY LOVE)

At sea, Father spots a "rag" ship of immigrants heading to Ellis Island and wonders what the passengers are in for. On the ship, a widowed Latvian immigrant named Tateh and his Little Girl see Father waving and wonder why anyone would leave America. From the bedside of her son, Mother dreams of Father. (JOURNEY ON)

Younger Brother tells us about his love for the performer Evelyn Nesbit. He has a regular seat at the theater where she performs. His imagination takes us to the vaudeville stage in Manhattan, where Evelyn Nesbit and a bevy of chorus girls perform her act, which reenacts the scandalous murder trial of Evelyn's husband, who was accused and aquitted of shooting her lover. (CRIME OF THE CENTURY)

After the performance, Evelyn is accosted by a reporter. Younger Brother intervenes and declares his love for Evelyn. She kisses him, but leaves, telling him she could never love someone like him.

Back in New Rochelle, an angry Younger Brother announces that he never wants to hear the name Evelyn Nesbit again. Grandfather says "He must have met her." Mother is working in her garden when she unearths a newborn Negro boy. (WHAT KIND OF WOMAN)

The police soon arrive with Sarah, the woman who deserted her child in the garden. Mother stops the police from carting Sarah away by offering to take both woman and child into her home.

On Ellis Island, immigrants from all over the world are arriving with hopes and dreams in their eyes. (A SHTETL IZ AMERIKE/SUCCESS)

Among the immigrants is Tateh and his daughter. He promises her "pretty dresses and pretty dolls. They arrive at New York's lower east side where Tateh sets up a cart from which he sells silhouette cut-outs. One of his customers is Emma Goldman, whose money he will not take. She tells him it is for his little girl and he accepts. The wealthiest man on earth, J.P. Morgan, appears over the stage as an example of what the immigrants could become. The magician Harry Houdini, who was an "immigrant who made an art of escape", also appears, telling Tateh that he must "break those chains with all you possess". The winter comes and things are getting worse for Tateh and his little girl. He wraps her in his prayer shawl. Emma Goldman appears again to ask Tateh to come to a rally, but he is only interested in he and his daughter's survival. A man on the street approaches and offers tateh money, not for a silhouette, but for the little girl. Tateh attacks him and has to be restrained by a policeman. Furious and desperate, Tateh holds his daughter close. he can no longer escape the reality of his failure and unfulfilled dreams. In image of Houdini appears in Tateh's mind. With newfound determination, Tateh and the Little Girl pack their belongings to head north.

At the Tempo Club in Harlem, a crowd gathers to listen to Coalhouse Walker Jr., a brokenhearted ragtime pianist determined to win back Sarah, the woman he loves. (HIS NAME WAS COALHOUSE WALKER/THE GETTIN' READY RAG)

All dressed up, Coalhouse needs one more thing to win back Sarah. We are transported to the Ford Motor Company where he purchases a brand new Model T. (HENRY FORD)

At the train station in New Rochelle, Mother and the Little Boy are on their way to visit Father's fireworks factory to look after the factory during Father's absence. Tateh appears on the other side of the track, with a rope connecting his waist to his daughter's wrist. While the Little Boy interrogates the Little Girl about the rope, Tateh and Mother speak of civilized matters. (NOTHING LIKE THE CITY)

In the attic at Mother's house, Sarah tries to explain to her baby what inspired her act of desperation. (YOUR DADDY'S SON)

In search of Sarah and the house in New Rochelle, Coalhouse drives up to the Emerald Isle Firehouse and encounters fire chief Willie Conklin and his men. He asks for directions, but instead is warned by Willie Conklin not to pass that way again. Coalhouse finds the house in New Rochelle and asks to see Sarah. Upstairs, Sarah asks that Mother send him away. While mother is upstairs, Coalhouse sees his son in the cradle. Mother takes the child from Coalhouse telling him Sarah does not wish to see him. Coalhouse vows to and returns each Sunday. After weeks of Sundays, finally Mother breaks down and invites him in for tea and to play her old piano. Father arrives home unannounced from the North Pole, and finds his home much changed. (NEW MUSIC)

Attracted by Coalhouse's music, Sarah finally comes down and falls into his loving arms. Coalhouse takes Sarah to his car, and the two drive to a idyllic hillside in the country for a picnic with their son. Coalhouse is polishing his ca, and Sarah ridicules him for his fastidiousness. He sings of the promise for freedom the car represents for their son. (WHEELS OF A DREAM)

Tateh now lives in Lawrence, Massachusetts where he works 64 hours per week for $6 pay. Emma Goldman witnesses his terrible working conditions and describes them at a union rally. Younger Brother is at the rally and is inspired by her words. (THE NIGHT THAT GOLDMAN SPOKE AT UNION SQUARE)

Scared by the militia's attempts to confront strikers, Tateh prepares to send The Little Girl off to a foster home in Philadelphia. Just as her train is pulling away, the strikers and militiamen clash. Tateh is beaten to the ground. At the last minute, he jumps onto the moving train into his Little Girl's arms. To calm her, he gives her a book of silhouettes he has made and sings a song. (GLIDING)

When they arrive, the train conductor sees his silhouette book and buys it from Tateh. The conductor wants to know what he book is called. tateh makes up the name "movie books". Tateh begins to think about turning his craft into a business.

Meanwhile, Coalhouse and Sarah are out enjoying themselves in the Model T when Willie Conklin and his frehouse gang stops and threatens them. Coalhouse leaves to find a policeman to complain to and returns to find his car trashed with human excrement in the back seat. (THE TRASHING OF THE CAR)

Coalhouse vows that until this wrong is righted, he will not marry. (JUSTICE)

At every turn, Coalhouse is denied justice from city workers, activists and attorneys. Brokenhearted, Sarah takes it upon herself to resolve matters for Coalhouse. She attends a vice presidential campaign rally and attempts to push her way through the crowd to talk to the candidate. But with the recent assassination of President McKinley on their minds, the guards fear any citizen. Sarah breaks through the police barricade and rushes toward the candidate and J.P. Morgan. with her arm outstretched. Morgan shouts "She's got a gun!". In trying to restrain her, the police beat Sarah to the ground and to death. (PRESIDENT)

Mourning for Sarah begins in Harlem with a funeral procession, attended by Mother and her family, and spreads via the press. (TIL WE REACH THAT DAY)


ACT TWO:


At home in bed, the Little Boy dreams of Harry Houdini performing his escape act. (HARRY HOUDINI, MASTER ESCAPIST)

The Little Boy wakes up and screaming. He tells Mother that something bad is going to happen. Out of the darkness, a ferocious Coalhouse appears. He demands that his car be restored and that Willie Conklin be turned over to him to avenge Sarah's death. Until the demands are met, he vows to kill firemen and destroy firehouses. A gang of followers join him. (COALHOUSE DEMANDS)

As the violence expands, Willie Conklin's men turn on him. Booker T. Washington speaks with reporters, denouncing Coalhouse's actions.

In New Rochelle, Father has gone to the police to tell them everything he knows about the "negro maniac", while Younger Brother sympathizes with Coalhouse and despises Father cor his complacency. An argument erupts and Younger Brother storms out. Mother urges her husband to explain things to their son, but instead, Father decides to take the Little Boy to a baseball game. "Its a civilized pastime." He is discouraged by the rowdy crowds of spitting fans and immigrant players, and wonders if his genteel society is vanishing forever. (WHAT A GAME)

We hear gunfire and see the headlines of Coalhouse's latest act of revenge. (FIRE IN THE CITY)

Mother and Father's home is surrounded by reporters and Father is blaming Mother for disrupting their lives. They decide to move to Atlantic City where Mother will be safe with the baby and Father can visit on weekends. (ATLANTIC CITY)

On the beach in Atlantic City, Harry Houdini and Evelyn Nesbit are headline performers (though their careers are not exactly what each would like), and are also starring in a movie being made on the boardwalk. The director of the movie is tateh, now a success and using the name Baron Ashkenazy. Attracted by Mother's beauty, the director comes over and introduces himself as the Baron Ashkenazy. He tells the family the story of his success. (BUFFALO NICKLE PHOTOPLAY INC.)

As night falls, Houdini is departing for Sarajevo. the Little Boy stops him and warns him "Warn the Duke".

The next morning on the boardwalk, tateh and Mother watch their children play together on the beach. (OUR CHILDREN)

In the course of their conversation, the Baron reveals that he is actually Tateh, a poor immigrant Jew who got lucky in America. She clearly admires and is attracted to him.

Younger Brother is searching throughout Harlem in search of Coalhouse. A man dressed as Coalhouse appears in the shadows and motions for Younger Brother to follow him. Nearby, the real Coalhouse has been watching. As piano music streaks from a noisy club, Coalhouse watches a young couple dance a PAS SE DEUX and go off into the night. They remind Coalhouse of the first night, when he met Sarah. (SARAH BROWN EYES)

When Younger Brother is brought in to meet with Coalhouse, he becomes speechless, overcome by the revolutionary spirit of Emma Goldman, who appears at his side. (HE WANTED TO SAY)
,br> Younger Brother offers Coalhouse his skill at making fireworks. They shake hands and there is an enormous explosion, very present, very terrifying.

Back on the boardwalk, Father finds Mother on the beach and reports that Coalhouse and his men have taken over the J.P. Morgan Library in Manhattan and are threatening to blow it up. Father believes if he goes there to help negotiate, his family will be able to return to their normal lives. Mother disagrees. She vows to never give up Coalhouse's son. father leaves and Mother knows things will never be the same again. (BACK TO BEFORE)

Outside the Morgan Library it is raining. A cluster of police and reporters surround an angry J.P. Morgan. Willie Conklin, under the watchful eye of N.Y. District Attorney Charles S. Whitman, works on restoring Coalhouse's car. But that is not good enough. Coalhouse wants Conklin. Father arrives and tells Whitman he thinks there is one man whom Coalhouse will listen. The negro activist Booker. T. Washington.

Booker T. Washington enters the library to negotiate. He advises Coalhouse that for the sake of his son, he must give himself up without causing further destruction. (LOOK WHAT YOU'VE DONE)

In negotiating with Booker T. Washington, Coalhouse secures freedom for his gang, asking for a hostage. His men are unwilling to walk away and let Coalhouse take the punishment. The hostage arrives. It is Father. Father and Younger Brother exchange words. Coalhouse's men still refuse to leave. Coalhouse convinces them to do so. (MAKE THEM HEAR YOU)

The men begin to leave. Coalhouse takes Father's hat and places it on Younger Brother as he is walking out, so that he and Father can speak. Outside, Coalhouse's men leave in the restored Model T. Once alone, Coalhouse asks Father about his son. Father knows little the boy and is embarrassed. Coalhouse thanks Father for showing his family kindness. Father tells Coalhouse that his son is a "fine boy". With his men safe, Coalhouse walks out the library door and to his fate. Coalhouse opens the door and raises his hands, stepping into the glare of police lights. There is a sharp burst of gunfire as Coalhouse is shot dead.

The Little Boy enters and tells us that the era of Ragtime has run out. As he plays ragtime music on a gramaphone, a montage of characters from the entire story fills the stage, we hear once again the promise of hope for the future. A year after Father dies, Mother and Tateh are married and raise the Little Boy, the Little Girl and Little Coalhouse together as one family. The spirits of Coalhouse and Sarah watch as their child is accepted into a loving family. (FINALE: WHEELS OF A DREAM)


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