Local actor masters rhythms of 'Ragtime'

Ragtime is not your typical musical. It takes a sweeping slice of American history, complete with political and cultural clashes at the heart of the nation's identity, sets it to music and weaves a plot studded with historical figures ranging from J.P. Morgan to Emma Goldman.

How to avoid making it just a history lesson? Couch it in the lives of vivid characters the audience can care about. The touring Broadway production at Ruth Eckerd Hall does just that, and at its center is Coalhouse Walker Jr., a proud and ambitious black piano player whose fall from grace is the tale's tragedy.

What makes Coalhouse come alive is a most impressive performance by Lakeland native Quentin Earl Darrington. A theater student at the University of South Florida and a familiar presence on area stages, Darrington landed the lead role in his first audition for a touring Broadway production. Watch him perform it and you'll see why: He's terrific.

The basic irony of Ragtime is that so many of the issues that drive a story set in the first decade of the 20th century -- racism, feminism, immigration, class inequity, the cult of celebrity, violence -- are just as intractable a hundred years later.

The musical's plot is pared down from its source, E.L. Doctorow's richly complex 1975 novel, to focus on three families. One is that of a wealthy white manufacturer, an upright Victorian type given to adventure tourism, like going to the North Pole with Admiral Perry. But the truly brave one in the family is Mother, who, left to run house and business while Father's trekking, finds a black infant abandoned in her garden. When the police drag in a mute washerwoman who gave birth to the baby, Mother doesn't hesitate to open her home and heart to them both -- an act that will change everyone's life.

The infant's mother, Sarah, is the love of Coalhouse's life. She ran away when she got pregnant, and he has been looking for her ever since. His patient campaign to win her almost creates another family. But when his other pride and joy, a Model T Ford, is destroyed by a gang of racist hooligans, the results are disastrous.

The third family, who will also play a key role in Mother's life, are newly arrived immigrants, a Latvian Jew known as Tateh and his daughter. Like Coalhouse, Tateh struggles for respect and a better life for his child, with surprising results.

Emily Herring is a warm, determined Mother. As Tateh, James Walsh isn't the strongest singer in the show, but he's a persuasive physical presence, even in Tateh's bundled-up first-act costume.

But Coalhouse dominates. In the first act, Darrington effortlessly conveys the charisma and class that persuade us his character is not just a successful showman but a man of substance who can win Sarah and make himself a welcome guest in Mother's household. The harder part comes in act two, when he must show us a man propelled by rage and grief but still bound by conscience and his sense of responsibility to his race. Darrington has the gravity and power to do it.

He's well matched by Kenita R. Miller as Sarah. Her sweetness and dignity convince us she's the woman who inspires Coalhouse, and her singing is simply gorgeous. If you can listen to Coalhouse and Sarah sing the duet about their courtship, Sarah Brown Eyes, without an ache in your heart, you're as cold as Father's feet when he visits the Pole with Perry.

Many of the numbers by the company are wonderful, notably the opener, Ragtime, and the mournful, fiery gospel song Til We Reach That Day, which closes act one. The spare sets, effective projection of old photographs as backdrops and elegant lighting serve the story well.

Darrington recruited a local youngster for the walk-on role of Little Coalhouse. The charming Stefon Allen, 5, of Tampa carried off his stage debut with aplomb. With a role model like Darrington, maybe he's also got a future in the footlights.

Theater review

Ragtime continues with performances at 2 and 7 p.m. today at Ruth Eckerd Hall. Tickets: $30-$45. (727) 791-7400.

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