Sue's News

A Weight Has Been Lifted

November 16th, 2009

When Ragtime was first on Broadway at the beginning of this decade, I was just starting out as a writer… It was my first year of grad school, and I came home for the break between semesters. I was dating a guy at the time (I can’t remember his name) who took me to see the show… maybe hoping to score points by taking me to a flashy show.

The Model-T was on stage, and everyone was singing like there was no tomorrow. The show was beautiful in its pageantry, absolutely stunning. The stage could barely contain it. It was so big, at times, I felt it wash over me. And by intermission, I was numb.

I started to cry, and not just a tear rolling down my cheek, but full on, snot running down my face crying. My date was beside himself. He didn’t understand why I was so upset. He’d paid “good money” for the tickets, and he thought I’d be happy being taken to a Broadway show.

I was happy that he’d made the effort, and the show was okay… but I was crying because I didn’t (and more often than not, don’t) write that way. At the time, I was still writing short stories, and I was scared that I’d never be able to write a show with a full sized car and throngs of actors on stage. It’s just not my style.

He tried to calm me down, but he said things that made it even worse… I realized that night how different we were as well, and that was the beginning of the end of that relationship.

About ten years later, and the revival of Ragtime seems to have been pared down quite a bit. Brantley in his Times review applauds the shift, seeing some of the delicate beauty that had been hidden under the hoopla.

Reading the review, I smiled… realizing how far I’ve come in the last ten years… and being glad that I’ve listened to my inner voice, knowing even then who I am as a writer, and though flash and splash can be nice, they don’t rival story, character, or craft… and in theatre, the intimate, tender moments are the ones we take away.

–Sue

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