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Griffin's scaled-down 'Ragtime' delivers intimate power

“Ragtime” - a stirring, sweeping musical set during the tumultuous turn of the last century - is a portrait of an era not unlike our own and a reminder of America's promise.

Based on E.L. Doctorow's 1975 novel, the musical portrays the scourge of racism and the struggle of immigrants, the empowerment of women and the exploitation of workers, the fight for social and economic justice, and the banality of celebrity.

With every production I see, “Ragtime's” appeal grows. And each time, I appreciate that much more composer Stephen Flaherty's joyous, Joplinesque score, Lynn Ahrens' illuminating lyrics and Terrence McNally's canny book.

Still, I can't recall a production as evocative as Griffin Theatre's superb, chamber-style revival at The Den Theatre, where the modest size reveals telling moments that are easy to miss in a larger venue. Take for example the brief but weighty exchange between pianist Coalhouse Walker Jr. (the dashing, dignified Denzel Tsopnang, from Batavia) and the persnickety Grandfather (Larry Baldacci). Grandfather, who is white, asks the African-American Coalhouse to play and uses an offensive term to describe minstrel songs. Squaring his shoulders, Tsopnang's Coalhouse levels the older man with an icy stare. Those songs, he says quietly, “are made for minstrel shows. They are made for white men who sing them in blackface.”

Coalhouse Walker Jr. (Denzel Tsopnang) and Sarah (Katherine Thomas) pursue the American dream with their infant son in Griffin Theatre's production of "Ragtime," running through July 16. Courtesy of Michael Brosilow

At an intimate, storefront theater, that moment carries more power than it might at a larger venue. Director Scott Weinstein's deeply felt, inventively staged production has several such moments, including a number set during an insult-filled baseball game. Weinstein places the actors among the audience, making everyone in the theater part of the crowd and, thus, complicit in crude diatribes the actors hurl at the players and in the anger and bigotry that underpins those invectives. The result is a rollicking yet disquieting number.

That's what makes the richly textured “Ragtime” so resonant. It reminds us where we've been and where - to an extent - we remain. At the same time, it demonstrates, in numbers like the stirring “Wheels of a Dream,” America's promise: that talent, hard work and determination will get us where we want to go.

Music supervisor Matt Deitchman has artfully reduced Flaherty's score, re-imagining it for two pianists - music directors Ellen Morris and Jermaine Hill (assistant theater professor at Naperville's North Central College) - and clarinetist Dan Hickey. The result may be the raggiest “Ragtime” yet.

Griffin Theatre revives "Ragtime," the musical inspired by E.L. Doctorow's novel about America at the turn of the last century. Courtesy of Michael Brosilow

The first-rate trio occasionally gets help from Griffin's small but mighty cast. Seamlessly transitioning from actors to instrumentalists, they fill in on violin, flute, saxophone, lute and drum.

The cast numbers 20, but the vocal prowess suggests a much larger ensemble. At times, the instrumentalists overwhelmed them, making lyrics incomprehensible. Fortunately, the quality of the singing and the candid, unforced performances outweighed minor amplification issues.

Grayslake native Laura McClain, whose acting is as authentic as her voice is lovely, plays Mother. A dutiful wife and mother to young Edgar (Libertyville's Ben Miller), she is the play's moral center and proto-feminist. Her growing independence estranges her from Father (Scott Allen Luke), a fireworks mogul whose wanderlust allows him to avoid confronting the future.

Immigrant artist Tateh (Jason Richards) comforts his daughter (played by Autumn Hlava) as they confront challenges in 1906 America in Griffin Theatre's revival of the musical "Ragtime." Courtesy of Michael Brosilow

Equally restless, but for a different reason, is Mother's Younger Brother (the quietly disillusioned Matt Edmonds, of Downers Grove), whose social conscience is sparked by Emma Goldman (the fiery, clarion-voiced Neala Barron). Goldman - along with scandal-ridden, vaudeville star Evelyn Nesbit (Caitlin Collins), Harry Houdini (Joe Capstick) and Booker T. Washington (Frederick Harris) - are among the historical characters featured in the musical.

The luminous Katherine Thomas - whose lullaby “Your Daddy's Son” quietly captivates - plays Sarah, Coalhouse's lover and mother of their infant son. Her tragic death radicalizes Coalhouse, transforming him from hopeful father to vigilante, which Tsopnang charts in chilling detail.

Equally memorable is Jason Richards' complex, highly charged performance as the Jewish artist Tateh, who arrives from Eastern Europe with his young daughter (Autumn Hlava) to encounter not America's open arms, but the back of its hand.

But for all that, “Ragtime” - a musical about societal and cultural evolution - ends hopefully: a portrait of the America that could be.

“Ragtime”

★ ★ ★ ½

Location: The Den Theatre, 1333 N. Milwaukee Ave., Chicago, (866) 811-4111 or

griffintheatre.com

Showtimes: 7:30 p.m. Thursday through Saturday; 3 p.m. Sunday through July 16

Tickets: $34-$39

Running time: About two hours, 40 minutes with intermission

Parking: Paid street parking

Rating: For teens and older, some violence

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