Ragtime

The story of Ragtime

Based on E.L. Doctorow's novel, Ragtime follows an upper class white family in New Rochelle, a Harlem musician and his sweetheart, and a Jewish immigrant and his young daughter as their lives intersect in New York around 1900 to 1910. The show uses these three intertwined threads to examine race, class, and the promise and limits of the American dream during a period of rapid modernization.

Historical figures move through the story alongside the fictional characters, giving the piece a documentary feel even as it stays rooted in intimate, personal stakes. The result is a musical that is as much about a changing nation as it is about the people trying to find their place within it.

The music and the makers

Ragtime's score, composed by Stephen Flaherty with lyrics by Lynn Ahrens, blends ragtime piano, gospel, marches, and soaring theatrical ballads to reflect the many voices of the story. The music shifts character by character and community by community, so the sound of the show is genuinely varied rather than a single uniform style.

Flaherty and Ahrens built a score that leans on big, emotional set pieces alongside quieter character moments, giving the drama both scale and intimacy. It is widely regarded as one of the richest scores of the modern Broadway era.

Ragtime on Broadway

Ragtime premiered on Broadway in 1998 and quickly became known for its ambition, its large ensemble cast, and its willingness to tackle weighty historical themes through popular musical theatre. It has since become a favorite for revivals and regional productions because of its powerful score and its resonance with ongoing conversations about race and opportunity in America.

Audiences are drawn to Ragtime for the way it balances spectacle with sincerity, offering big theatrical moments without losing sight of the human stories at its center. It remains a touchstone for musicals that try to say something substantial about the country's history.

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