A timeline of important events in the history of the Raggedy Ann Revival Effort and RARE Theatricals.
2007
May 9
- The earliest date on digital files of the Broadway audio in our archives, possibly the earliest that audio of the show appeared online.
2013
May 22
- Vinnie Rattolle posts the Raggedy Ann demo album to YouTube
- RARE Co-Director Mckenah discovers the musical.
June 20
December 16
- Ivy Austin uploads the Rag Dolly in the USSR documentary to YouTube. These are the most intact clips uncovered so far.
2017
April 6
2018
January 1 - 5
- Frankie, owner of the 'Rag Dolly' YouTube channel, posts the Raggedy Ann Broadway audio recording to YouTube, after originally finding it on Garrett Gilchrist's OrangeCow forums. In the upcoming week, they continue to upload the same audio split into the separate songs, as well as reuploads of the demo tracks as individual videos.
2019
December 27
- 'Colin LooksBack' on YouTube publishes his video, "Looking Back on the Raggedy Ann Musical (on Screen and Stage)"
2020
August 30
- 'Zapzipap C.' posts his video, "Sharing the Script from a Forbidden Raggedy Ann Broadway Show (Rag Dolly)". At this point, it was known in the small Rag Dolly community that there was a Broadway script held in the New York Public Library archives, but the availability was very limited and it could not be shared freely. Zapzipap's video goes through the story of the show in response to Colin's video, while respecting this limitation.
2021
January 10
- Co-Director Presley posts footage of Jeffrey Lyons' Raggedy Ann review to YouTube.
February 11
- RARE Founder Gwyn discoveres Colin's video during class and falls down a rabbit hole researching Rag Dolly. She begins a Tumblr page and a Discord server, coining the term "Raggedy Ann Revival Effort" or "RARE". Her goal is to bring more attention to the show, and to bring the community together for a 'lost media' search. Presley is the first to join, with many other contributors joining within the first year.
February 17
- Gwyn makes contact with Nick Raposo, son of composer Joe Raposo.
March 14
- The RARE directors gain access to the Harvard Archives' collection of materials on the show, allowing us to properly inspect the various versions of the script and making massive leaps in our research.
April 28
- Gwyn discovers a listing on the New York State Archives:
- "This series consists of film, video, compact discs (CDs), and audio tapes of various New York State Theatre Institute productions. Notable film and videos document "The Wizard of Oz Goes to Moscow," "Raggedy Ann," and "A Tale of Cinderella." Also included are several audio recordings of other dramatizations of fairy tales and children stories intended for public distribution. Series Number: B2665"
- Contact is made with the NYSA to request the footage and estimate a cost.
April 29
- RARE receives a response from the archives, and discussions over digitizing the footage begin.
June 8
- RARE receives the invoice for the digitizing fee, totaling $285. An announcement calling for donations is made, and the total funds are arranged within a few days. Back and forth discussions with the archives continue.
July 11
- The RARE contact receives a thumb drive in the mail from the New York State Archives, containing the entirety of the 12/15/1984 proshot filmed by the theater for their archives. The files are immediately shared within the RARE Discord server. The two acts are edited together, and a bit of footage from the "Rag Dolly in the USSR" documentray is used to fill in a missing chunk. Over the next couple months, Presley works to provide captions for the entire two hour musical.
August 16
- The suggestion is made that since Concord Theatricals manages the license to William Gibson's other plays, they would be a possible avenue to discussing the licensing rights of Rag Dolly.
September 1
- RARE member Frankie posts the new edited and captioned Lost Raggedy Ann Musical (Recovered Esipa Footage 12/15/1984) [CC] to YouTube.
October 22
- A first attempt is made to contact Concord Theatricals regarding the Rag Dolly license.
2022
February 4
- Our first successful contact of Concord Theatricals.
February 13
- RARE organizes our first table read of the revised Rag Dolly script over Zoom.
February 26
- RARE Theatricals officially becomes an LLC.
March 3
- RARE Co-Directors Gwyn, Presely, and Notion appear in a live stream hosted by Garrett Gilchrist on his channel. Soon after, they are contacted by Vinnie Rattolle to share updates on the project.
June 9 - 11
- RARE members attend the Raggedy Ann Rally in Arcola, IL for the first year.
November 13
- RARE organizes our second table read of the revised Rag Dolly script over Zoom.
2023
June 8 - 10
- RARE members attend the Raggedy Ann Rally in Arcola, IL for the second year, this time hosting a table with information about Rag Dolly and RARE, and asking for donations.
- The first RARE cosplay meetup is held at the Raggedy Ann bench, and the first RARE Cracker Barrel get-together.
June 9
- RARE is asked to speak at the Rally Banquet: Revival Effort Speech at Raggedy Ann Rally Banquet 2023
2024
January 14
- In honor of our three-year anniversary coming up in February, RARE presents a Q&A livestream featuring original Raggedy Ann cast members Scott Schafer, Pamela Sousa, Michelan Sisti, and Ivy Austin.
March 9
- RARE Co-Directors begin plans for a RARE concert at the 2024 Raggedy Ann Rally.
May
- Discussions of including a Rag Dolly workshop as part of Ohio University's Student Lab season begin, with interest from the faculty.
May 14
- The Rag Dolly Revue is officially announced!
June 6 - 8
- Raggedy Ann Rally in Arcola, IL.
- RARE once again organizes community events, such as the cosplay meetup and Cracker Barrel get-together.
June 7
- RARE Theatricals Performs the Rag Dolly Revue at the Arcola Masonic Lodge, 111 S Locust St, Arcola, IL. More information about the event can be found on the event page, and the full recording can be watched on the Revival Effort YouTube channel.
- RARE is also asked to perform at the Rally banquet once again, this time presenting three songs from the Revue (The Light, Diagnosis, & Blue) along with another speech. Recording can be found on YouTube.
August
- Gwyn submits the OU Student Lab workshop for review.
November
- The OU Student Lab workshop is nearly confirmed for February. A game plan is quickly set in place, and preparations for social media announcements, casting, fundraising, merch, and production begin.
November 26
- RARE recieves absolute confirmation for the OU workshop, as well as the dates: February 6, 7, & 8th.
November 29
- The official announcement for Rag Dolly: The Raggedy Ann Musical, a staged reading at Ohio University, is released with fanfare.
December 8
- Auditions are announced to Ohio University students and faculty.
- A new Slack server is started by RARE Theatricals Co-Directors to properly organize our efforts.
2025
January 4
- An announcement is made in the RARE Discord server. After many months of diliberation, the moderators and Co-Directors decided that managing both the server and the official revival was putting too much stress on those involved. A "freeze" of the server was scheduled for later in the month.
January 12 - 18
- Auditions close and RARE directors arrange callbacks.
January 15
- The Raggedy Ann Revival Effort Discord server is "frozen", preserving the history of messages while preventing further discussion. At this time, it has 300 members.
January 19
- The staged reading cast list is announced.
January 23
- Rehearsals begin.
February 2
- Rehearsals move into the OU Putnam Playspace, tech week begins.
February 6 - 8
- Rag Dolly: The Raggedy Ann Musical performs four shows to an enthusiastic audience of students, parents, OU faculty, and Raggedy Ann fans who made the journey! More information about this event is avaliable on the event page.
- 6th, 7th, & 8th at 7:30pm
- 8th at 2:00pm
March 4
- The first clip of the Rag Dolly workshop is posted to the RARE YouTube channel, with more short song clips to follow.