Roxy’s ‘Tintypes’ provides a musical history lesson with patriotic, ragtime music

Roxy’s Downtown put the musical “Tintypes” on its schedule long before one of the show’s turn-of-the-century touchpoints – immigration – became a hot-button issue again in 2018.

“Unfortunately, a lot of the issues they had are still things we’re dealing with,” said Julia Faust, one of the five performers in the musical, which opens Friday night.

Written in 1980, “Tintypes” uses the music of George M. Cohan, John Philip Sousa, Scott Joplin and others to tell of the history between the turn of the 20th century and the beginning of World War I. The 30-plus songs in the score include “A Hot Time in the Old Town Tonight,” “Stars and Stripes Forever,” “In My Merry Oldsmobile,” “Wayfaring Stranger,” “Hello! Ma Baby” and “Won’t You Come Home Bill Bailey.”

“This music is really Americana really back in the day,” said Broadway veteran and Wichita native Karla Burns, who directs the musical. “This is real, true, light-the-sparkler music.”

Many, if not most, of the songs in the score were foreign to the five 20-somethings – Bryson Cole, Seth Knowles, Jaslyn Alexander, Leslie Carrillo and Faust – in the cast.

“It’s not something they’ve experienced much of,” Burns said. “It’s really great to bring people today up to what was in American music and learning about the journey of this country and the social realm – the upper, the lower class, the people that they are.”

Whether they mean to or not, the cast is getting a history lesson during rehearsals thanks to the classic tunes.

“At first, I thought, ‘Wow, this is really old stuff. I don’t know how we’re going to relate to it,’” Alexander said, “but as we’re learning the words and learning the melodies, I’m finally realizing, ‘Yeah, I know why they put this in here.’ This is relevant not only to the story and the message but to today and everyday life.”

“Every time we go over something, we have a little history lesson about what’s going on to help us understand it,” Cole added. “In my head, I’m thinking ‘Oh my god, this is happening right now.’ I’m just (mind blown).”

Each of the five performers is on stage virtually the entire show. While some characters are composites – Cole’s character of Charlie is “the foreigner” – others are real people, such as Knowles as President Theodore Roosevelt, and Faust as radical Emma Goldman.

“Tintypes” shows Americans’ attitudes toward foreigners, Faust said, some of which still echo today.

“I think it’s important to be reminded we all came here from somewhere, and we’re the daughters and the sons of these people who came here,” she said. “Right now with the fate of the world, there are parts I find unusually personal. Some things are hard to say, hard to deliver, when you think about how a lot of people feel about the country right now.”

Despite the tone and circumstances of some of the songs, cast and crew members say ultimately it’s not a boring history lesson but a broad celebration.

“There’s a lot of humor, a lot of really great characterization and character choices to bring the music of the time period to life,” assistant director Michael Parker said. “People are going to be primed. They might not know the music, but they’ll walk out with the American spirit.”

Tintypes themselves, turn-of-the-century photographs, are represented in the backdrops and through projection, Burns said. Cast members say their newly found tunes are sticking in their heads, and making a bridge to previous generations.

“There’s going to be something in this show that will make senior citizens get up and dance like they’re toddlers,” Knowles said.

‘TINTYPES’

When: Friday, Aug. 17 to Sunday, Aug. 26; 8 p.m. Fridays-Saturdays, 6 p.m. Sundays

Where: Roxy’s Downtown, 412 ½ E. Douglas

Tickets: $30, $27 and $20, by calling the box office at 316-265-4400