Written by the award-winning composer/lyricist team of Stephen Flaherty and Lynn Ahrens (Once On This Island, Seussical and Lucky Stiff), noted playwright Terrence McNally, and based on E.L. Doctorow's distinguished novel, Ragtime is the winner of the 1998 Tony Awards for Best Score, Book and Orchestrations, and both the Drama Desk and Outer Critics Circle Awards for Best Musical and Best Score. Called by Time Magazine "A triumph for the stage," and by the International Herald Tribune "the best musical in twenty years," this acclaimed musical is filled with pageantry, emotion and hope, bursting onto the stage like no other musical.

At the dawn of a new century, everything is changing… and anything is possible. Set in the volatile melting pot of turn-of-the-century New York, three distinctly American tales are woven together -- that of a stifled upper-class wife, a determined Jewish immigrant and a daring young Harlem musician -- united by their courage, compassion and belief in the promise of the future. Together they confront history's timeless contradictions of wealth and poverty, freedom and prejudice, hope and despair, and what it means to live in America.

The Tony-winning score is just as diverse as the melting pot of America itself, drawing upon many musical styles from the ragtime rhythms of Harlem and Tin Pan Alley to the klezmer of the Lower East Side, from bold brass band marches to delicate waltzes, from up-tempo banjo tunes to period parlor songs and expansive anthems. A truly unique and powerful portrait of America, Ragtime is sure to inspire actors and audiences alike!

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Click here to read the full synopsis of the show!

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HISTORY

This version of Ragtime was first prepared by the authors for its European premiere as a concert version, staged as part of the first International Festival of Musical Theatre, which was held in Cardiff (Wales, UK) from October 13 to November 3, 2002. The text was revised slightly to allow the show to be done with minimal sets and props. The concert was subsequently broadcast on television, and starred Maria Friedman as Mother, Graham Bickley as Tateh, Laurence Hamilton as Coalhouse Walker, Jr., Dave Willets as Father, and Kenita Miller as Sarah. The British producer Sonia Friedman transferred the show, with several cast changes, to the Picadilly Theatre in London's West End, where it opened on March 19, 2003.

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Both the Cardiff concert and the West End productions were directed by Stafford Arima, who created a modernistic and streamlined interpretation of the show, using only black chairs to represent the piano, the Model T, the railing of a ship, etc, proving that the show could be produced without the huge scenic effects for which it had been known in its original Broadway incarnation. The show received rave reviews in the British press.

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INSPIRATION

Ragtime is based on E.L. Doctorow's epic novel of the same name. In 1994, Canadian theatrical producer Garth Drabinsky secured permission to musicalize the Doctorow's story. Published in 1975, Ragtime, the novel, itself is historical fiction inspired by actual events in New York City at the turn of the 20th Century. Real historical figures such as Emma Goldman, Henry Ford, J.P. Morgan, Evelyn Nesbit and Harry Houdini all feature prominently in both the novel and the musical.

PRODUCTIONS

Ragtime first opened in Toronto in December of 1996. The show featured a score by songwriters Lynn Ahrens and Stephen Flaherty, book by veteran playwright Terrence McNally, direction by Frank Galati and choreography by Graciela Daniele. The first American production premiered in Los Angeles in June of 1997, where work continued. The show finally arrived on Broadway on January 18, 1998, christening the brand-new Ford Center for the Performing Arts. The legendary original cast included Brian Stokes Mitchell as Coalhouse Walker Jr., Audra McDonald as Sarah, Marin Mazzie as Mother, Peter Friedman as Tateh, and Judy Kaye as Emma Goldman.

Subsequent to its Broadway run, Ragtime received two national tours. In 2003, the London production, which presented the show on a more intimate scale, opened to great acclaim, earning 8 Olivier nominations.

In 2009, the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts staged a technically pared down version of the show, and that production moved to Broadway's Neil Simon Theatre. Previews began October 23, 2009 and the show officially opened on November 15, 2009. The revival cast featured Stephanie Umoh (Sarah), Quentin Earl Darrington (Coalhouse Walker, Jr.), Christiane Noll (Mother), Robert Petkoff (Tateh), Bobby Steggert (Younger Brother), Donna Migliaccio (EmmaGoldman) and Ron Bohmer (Father). The production was directed and choreographed by Marcia Milgrom Dodge. This was the first Broadway revival of Ragtime and the first Broadway revival of any 1990's musical. Though the production opened to critical acclaim, the show closed on January 10, 2010 after 28 previews and 65 performances.