Ruva in Ragtime

'RUVA IN RAGTIME Time Out says 3 out of 5 stars This Broadway gem is having its Australian professional premiere in Melbourne. Ragtime is an ambitious, sprawling saga of life in New York (and New Jersey) in the first decade of the 20th century, as race tensions mount and hordes of new arrivals from Europe teem into the ports. The extraordinary opening number, ‘Ragtime’, establishes the three groups who will provide the raw materials of the story: the wealthy and racially segregated socialites of New Rochelle; the Jewish immigrants from the diaspora; and the Harlem musicians who are in thrall to a new musical form, Rag. It’s a new world pushing aggressively into the comfortable assumptions of the old, and the tectonic frictions will produce tragedies and triumphs for all.

Ragtime’s Australian premiere

Ruva Ngwenya pulls off the most memorable vocal performance as Sarah’s friend. “The show is very complex musically and journeys through a lot of styles. I’m lucky enough to sing the big gospel number of the show, which closes act one. It’s very spiritual and gospel, a solid representation of the spirituality of black America,” Ruva said. “The musical is an ensemble piece, so we have a black ensemble, the migrant ensemble, the white ensemble, and then they all come together at different times.” She said the dissonance between what progress is believed to have been achieved and a disappointing reality is the main take away. “What does this stuff mean today? Have we made as much progress as we think we have? It’s set in 1902, but we’re talking about 2019.”

Best of all are two relative newcomers who must surely be destined for bigger things. Ruva Ngwenya lifts the closing number of the first act, ‘Till We Reach That Day’, into the stratosphere, and Hopson is so good as Mother you find yourself missing her when she leaves the stage. 

Images By Jeff Busby