THE DREAM REBORN:
RAGTIME AWAKENS THE AMERICAN SOUL

A momentous musical about American history, a momentous production in Lincoln Center Theater history, Ragtime, which opened last night, is both – and more, far more.

Nick Barrington, Colin Donnell

Lear deBessonet has chosen to begin her tenure as the new Artistic Director of this great American theatre with a joyful — and fearful — noise. Featuring forty-one actors and twenty-eight musicians, Ragtime is a sweeping vision of the American Dream with all its complexities and contradictions. It is a dream that persists despite the trauma it has caused — and continues to cause — to so many who are being excluded from it.

Joshua Henry, Caissie Levy, Brandon Uranowitz

Anna Grace Barlow

Brandon Uranowitz

Adapted from E. L Doctorow’s 1975 novel (book by Terrence McNally, music by Stephen Flaherty, lyrics by Lynn Ahrens), the scale and scope of the story is enormous. Set in 1906 in and around New York, it features the intertwining story of three families, plus a score of historical figures. There is wealthy white family living with their young son Edgar (Nick Barrington) in New Rochelle: Father (Colin Donnell) is a fireworks manufacturer who is about to set sail on an Arctic exploration with Admiral Peary (John Rapson). Like “ships in the night,” as Father’s boat sails from the New York harbor, another passing boat arrives on Ellis Island bearing a score of immigrants, including Tateh (Brandon Uranowitz) and his daughter (Tabitha Lawing), who are looking to begin a new life in America.

Nichelle Lewis

Joshua Henry and the cast

Mother (Caissie Levy) finds an abandoned Black baby in her garden and takes him in along with his destitute mother, Sarah (Nichelle Lewis). The baby’s father Coalhouse Walker Jr. (Joshua Henry), a brilliant pianist and composer of “ragtime,” the new music of the era, attempts to woo Sarah back. When Coalhouse and Sarah reunite and drive off to get married in his proudly owned new car, they are ambushed by a group of racists.

Ben Levi Ross

Nichelle Lewis, Joshua Henry

What follows is a series of violent events that upend all their lives. Some end tragically, others triumphantly. That’s the story of American then, with its conflicting forces of progress, money, success, racism, discrimination against immigrants, and social upheaval. It’s also the continuing story of America now, and that’s what makes it such a powerful choice to begin this new chapter at Lincoln Center.

The cast of Ragtime

Brandon Uranowitz, Tabitha Lawing

Other historic characters include activist Booker T. Washington (John Clay III), vaudevillian Evelyn Nesbit (Anna Grace Barlow). Harry Houdini (Rodd Cyrus), Industrialist J. P. Morgan (also Rapson), and anarchist Emma Goldman (Shaina Taub), who will inspire Mother’s younger Brother (Ben Levi Ross) into a world of activism.

The cast of Ragtime

Caissie Levy, Brandon Uranowitz

What a stunning tapestry of time, place, events, and themes! The triumph of this monumental production is deBessonet’s direction on LCT’s expansive stage. The founder of Public Works at the Public, her experience in creating large-scale productions is prodigious. Here, in Ragtime, working together with choreographer Ellenore Scott, deBessonet moves the massive company of forty-one gracefully and fluidly on David Korins‘ turntable set, gorgeously lit by Adam Honore and costumed by Linda Cho. It’s an overpowering visual spectacle & especially in the sweeping opening scene and others where the three identities are grouped together, and then blend into one another. Given The New York Times recent article about the financial perils of producing musicals on Broadway, we’re extremely grateful for it.

Caissie Levy

John Clay III

As for performances, individual and ensemble, they all shine. Joshua Henry (of Carousel, Hamilton, and Scottsboro Boys fame) gives a charismatic performance as the conflicted Coalhouse, desperate to preserve his dignity in the face of overpowering forces. As Sarah, Nichelle Lewis‘s moving performance and superb voice inspired two standing ovations — a rare occurrence during previews in my theatre-going experience. Caissie Levy commands the stage with her mellifluous solos, as well. And Brandon Uranowitz‘s lively portrayal of an immigrant who ends up inventing movies is especially delightful.

Shaina Taub

The cast of Ragtime

For me, Ragtime was a cathartic collective experience, given what we are living through today in our traumatized country. Listening to the words of the song “Wheels of a Dream” is a moment shared with 1,000 other audience members every night about “both the promise and wound of America side by side,” in the words of the director. We’re all in together, living it and feeling it. Truly, it’s an unforgettable evening in the theatre, as we struggle to live in hope.

photos by Matthew Murphy

Ragtime
Vivian Beaumont Theater, 150 West 65 St at Lincoln Center
2 hours 45 minutes
ends on June 14, 2026
for tickets, visit LCT