#brian stokes michell

[glimeres]

2024 - Brian Stokes Mitchell and Norm Lewis sing Agony from the musical Into the Woods at 54 Below

[glimeres]

MDA Telethon 1997 - Brian Stokes Mitchell and Company perform Gettin' Ready Rag from the musical Ragtime

[lyndsbenz]

Okay guys, I’ve posted the opening number of Ragtime above, or next to this, depending on how this is spaced when it is posted, lol. But you get the point! So, this is the original Broadway cast. However, they are not on their stage, this is a special performance that they did on the Rosie O’Donnell Show back in 1998. The stage was much smaller than what they had on their Broadway set so they had to make do. Which is why I believe their choreography isn’t much on this video.

To be honest I would LOVE to show you the opening number when I did Ragtime, but because of copyright I cannot. So I will just tell you, in our version we had all three groups (Immigrants, Harlem and New Rochelle) separated the whole time. Just like this video New Rochelle did their number followed by Harlem and then last the immigrants. But we did this really neat scene with the Harlem and immigrant section. The Harlem folks had a piano they all got to dance around—it really was amazing! And the immigrants all came over on a ship. So we used a projector to immolate us all on a ship in tight rows. It was a SUPER NEAT effect. Like I said before this is a much smaller space for this group to work around so they didn’t do much choreography, but during the musical breaks we left the piano out in the middle of the stage and each group circled the piano-- looking at one another—not certain of them and then, all of the sudden, there it was, the piano. The piano was the one thing that united us all. We would be completely captivated by it and then all of the sudden we would snap, and notice each other again. We had this motion of walking towards it, swayed by its beauty and its music, but then we’d notice each other again and slowly start to back away.  With the musical break and each group being separate this really spoke volumes and was one of my favorite parts about this number.  

Learning the music was another thing. Our director is a HUGE fan of vibrato (I’m sure you musical theatre junkies know how that is!) and he would have us over emphasize certain words and phrases using our vibrato. As a singer this really stretched me. There were people doing theatre, a lot longer than I have been alive, still carrying notecards up until the show started because of how tricky the music was and how many weird cutoff’s there were. If you have ever done this show or have seen this show you will notice that the cutoffs are all over the place. And always being in groups of three there were three sections singing three different parts, all in the soprano, alto, base and tenor. You’ll definitely notice the level of difficulty in “A Shtetl Iz Amerike”. Each group had to sing in their parts and in a different language.  For instance, I was an immigrant and I had to learn Hebrew. New Rochelle learned Italian and the Harlem group learned Haitian. It was super neat!!! I will post a video of that song so you can hear it! It was so much fun to learn another language and it really impacted the story line.

There is a lot that goes on in this musical. So if you are lost feel free to give me a shout and I will be happy to explain more, or get you links to other videos.

****Oh, and FUN FACT….did you notice the little girl in the Immigrant bunch? Look familiar? If you are a Glee fan she should. That is Lea Michele, just twelve years old, and already on Broadway!

I hope you enjoy this (:

Well, until tomorrow!!

xoxo

[lyndsbenz]

Audra McDonald and Brian Stokes Michell singing Wheels of a Dream from Ragtime the Musical.

Go ahead.....it's okay to swoon! Wait until you hear these voices<3

[lyndsbenz]

And the people called it Ragtime!

Unless you are Broadway musical fan you've probably never heard of Ragtime. Well, let me tell you….you are missing out! Big time! But you don’t have to take my word for it maybe this list will sway your thinking…

Tony Award Nominations            

Best Book of a Musical Best Original Musical Score Best Featured Actress in a Musical - Audra McDonald Best Orchestrations  Best Musical  Best Actor in a Musical - Peter Friedman  Best Actor in a Musical - Brian Stokes Mitchell  Best Actress in a Musical - Marin Mazzie  Best Scenic Design  Best Costume Design  Best Lighting Design  Best Choreography  Best Direction of a Musical

1998 Drama Desk Award Nominations

Outstanding New Musical Outstanding Book of a Musical Outstanding Music Outstanding Lyrics Outstanding Orchestrations  Outstanding Actor in a Musical - Peter Friedman  Outstanding Actor in a Musical - Brian Stokes Mitchell  Outstanding Actress in a Musical - Marin Mazzie  Outstanding Featured Actor in a Musical - Steven Sutcliffe  Outstanding Choreography  Outstanding Direction of a Musical  Outstanding Set Design of a Musical  Outstanding Costume Design  Outstanding Lighting Design

1998 Theatre World Award Nominations

Steven Sutcliffe

2010 Tony Award Nominations

 Best Revival of a Musical Best Performance by a Leading Actress in a Musical - Christiane Noll  Best Performance by a Featured Actor in a Musical - Bobby Steggert  Best Direction of a Musical Best Scenic Design of a Musical Best Lighting Design of a Musical

2010 Drama Desk Award Nominations

Outstanding Sound Design in a Musical  Outstanding Revival of a Musical  Outstanding Actress in a Musical - Christiane Noll  Outstanding Featured Actor in a Musical - Bobby Steggert  Outstanding Choreography  Outstanding Orchestrations  Outstanding Set Design  Outstanding Costume Design

2010 Drama League Award Nominations

 Distinguished Revival of a Musical  Distinguished Performance Award - Bobby Steggert

2010 Outer Critics Circle Award Nominations

 Outstanding Featured Actor in a Musical - Bobby Steggert

Yes, yes, that’s what I thought. Let me just give you a quick run-down on the show itself. Then I will attach some music videos later on, because honestly, until you hear it you will never get the full effect.

“Ragtime is a tapestry of New York area life in the first decades of the twentieth century. People from radically different walks of life - an African-American family, a Jewish immigrant family, and a wealthy suburban WASP family - see their lives intersect in the aftermath of a crime, with unexpectedly emotional results.”

Being a musical theatre junkie I feel in love with this show right away. I feel so privileged to have been a part of this show. I encourage you to find out if this show is playing in a theatre near you because you won’t be disappointed!!! 

xoxox