like reindeer bells

The difference is this: "New Music" affects just adults.

Unlike the bells on reindeer harness in "Polar Express", which most children lose their ability to hear as they age into more responsibilities, the tune played by "Coalhouse Walker" causes different responses in the grown folk who are exposed to it.

Some hear the "New Music" and cannot help but dance to it, accepting its different tempo and the different source of its maker.

Some hear "New Music" but are unmoved by it, preferring to ignore it.

And some cannot even hear "New Music", mired as they are in the past rhythms of their lives and those of their ancestors.

That was the beauty of the Savannah Stage Company's latest production of the musical, "Ragtime", first performed in 1996, about 15 years after the movie.

The show allowed us to fully appreciate the different affects of American music on people of the early 1900's, whether they were wealthy and white Americans, middle-class and black Americans, or poor immigrants from Slavic countries.

Contemporary images were used on the background scrim to draw parallels between today and the social attitudes of that time more than a century ago.

To paraphrase Shakespeare, people are people, now as they were then.

The difference is this: the number of enlightened ones has grown.

That's progress towards equality for all, slow as it is.

Depending on one's definition of generation, only 4 to 5 generations have elapsed between 1906 and 2024.

Only 6 to 7 generations have elapsed between the end of the American Civil War and today.

That adds a bit of perspective to the slow evolution of social change in society.

Social change does occur, though perhaps not at the pace some would like.

Some think that type of change is too fast, hence the election results this year, which will, in turn, lead to different changes for some parts of society.

We shall see.

Meanwhile, it's been good to see how far America has come, through the eyes of the characters in this musical, from the citizens of the time, all of whom were once immigrants, to the newcomers in search of a better life here.

There are a few nice touches along the way: "Tateh" jumping up and clicking his heels as he sang and danced; "Coalhouse" and "Sarah" leaning into each other as they began to dance; the shadows of "Coalhouse" and "Sarah" on the backdrop, with the flag waving beside them, as the story came to an end.

Very nice touches of grace.

I'll have to make sure and tell Jayme about those.