![]() Returning home, Coalhouse and Sarah are stopped by Will Conklin and his volunteer fire squad. The conductor of the train they are on offers to buy the book and Tateh sells, realizing this is the first step toward a better life. Once the violence subsides, Tateh calms the Little Girl by showing her his book of moving silhouettes. (“The Night That Goldman Spoke”) The rally quickly descends into a riot and mirrors a similar strike taking place in Lawrence, Massachusetts. With eyes wide open to the world, Younger Brother takes respite from the cold inside a rally held by the anarchist Emma Goldman and what he finds there changes his life forever. With their child in their arms, the pair sing about the promise this country offers their baby boy. (“New Music”) Coalhouse finally manages to persuade Sarah of his good intentions and takes her on a picnic. But Mother and Younger Brother have embraced the changes and immeasurably opened their hearts. He sings about the unexpected and unorthodox changes to his household and how unsure he is of his world. Months later, Father returns home to find Coalhouse playing Ragtime in the Family's parlor. (“Henry Ford”)īack in New Rochelle, Mother and Edgar wait for the trolley to New York City and meet Tateh and the Little Girl (“Nothing Like the City”), Sarah sings to her son in the attic of their new home (“Your Daddy's Son”), and Coalhouse arrives at the Family's door on his quest to find and win back Sarah (“The Courtship”). (“Gettin' Ready Rag”) When he has a plan to get her back, Coalhouse goes to Henry Ford's factory for a brand new Model T. (“Success”) Meanwhile, the people of Harlem dance to Coalhouse's music (“His Name Was Coalhouse”) and he sings of his lost love, Sarah. (“What Kind of Woman”)Īt Ellis Island, the Immigrants arrive at their new home (“A Shtetl Iz Amereke”) and Tateh begins his new life as an artist making silhouettes but quickly finds the American Dream not so readily accessible. The police arrive with Sarah, the baby's mother, for whom Mother takes responsibility. Back at the Family's home in New Rochelle, Mother unearths a newborn black baby in her garden. (“Crime of the Century”) After the show ends, Younger Brother confesses his love to Evelyn but she has no interest in his advances. Thaw, who murdered her lover, Stanford White. Meanwhile, Younger Brother takes his regular seat in the balcony of a theatre where Evelyn Nesbit, a vaudeville personality, takes the stage in an act about her husband, Harry K. (“Goodbye, My Love”) On board Admiral Peary's ship, Father catches glimpse of the rag ship carrying Tateh and his Little Girl to America and sends them a hail across the water. Father assures her that nothing will change in his absence but Mother hopes differently. ![]() Mother and her Family say goodbye to Father as he embarks on a journey to the North Pole. While Tateh travels to America with his daughter hoping for a new and better life in the land of riches and the first American celebrities (each with their own story of upward or downward momentum), Sarah and the people of Harlem were filled with the joys of Coalhouse's music. Their extremely sheltered lives were markedly different from those of the African-American and Eastern European Immigrant families headed by Coalhouse Walker, Jr. The upper class Protestant family-Mother, Father, Mother's Younger Brother, Grandfather, and the Little Boy, Edgar-represents what life was like in the rich, white neighborhoods of New Rochelle, NY. This quintessential American experience at the turn of the 20th century begins with the introductions of three families from different worlds. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |