Did Rollins actually play the piano?
In the scenes where Howard E. Rollins Jr. plays the piano, is he actually playing? Or is it dubbed? If anyone knows, please let me know!
shareNo, Mr. Rollins did not play the piano. A review I read back in 1981 in the same article along with a review of "The Legend of the Lone Ranger", the reviewer of "Ragtime" said that even his hands were dubbed by a black supper club pianist named Sam, but I don't believe this.
Piano playing is dubbed by making the piano keys move up and down but the piano is muted so no sounds are made, or in some cases, the set sounds are not recorded at that time, but are added in later.