Rehearsals are underway for the upcoming Broadway revival of Lynn Ahrens, Stephen Flaherty, and Terrance McNally's Ragtime at Lincoln Center Theater! The production will play the company's Vivian Beaumont Theater beginning September 26 ahead of an October 16 opening night. Get a first look at Nichelle Lewis as Sarah singing "Your Daddy's Son" in the rehearsal studio below.
The 14-week limited engagement will play until January 4, 2026. Freshly appointed Artistic Director Lear deBessonet is at the helm after creating the production last year for a short run at New York City Center.
Lewis is joined in the cast by Joshua Henry as Coalhouse Walker, Jr., Caissie Levy as Mother, Brandon Uranowitz as Tateh, Colin Donnell (Anything Goes) as Father, Ben Levi Ross (Dear Evan Hansen) as Mother's Younger Brother, Shaina Taub (Suffs) as Emma Goldman, John Clay III (New York, New York) as Booker T. Washington, and Rodd Cyrus (The Light in the Piazza) as Harry Houdini, all reprising their performances from the New York City Center run. The Broadway cast will also feature Anna Grace Barlow as Evelyn Nesbit, Nick Barrington as The Little Boy, and Tabitha Lawing as The Little Girl.
The ensemble will comprise Nicholas Barrón, Lauren Blackman, Briana Carlson-Goodman, Jordan Chin, Billy Cohen, Rheaume Crenshaw, Charity Angél Dawson, Ellie Fishman, Jason Forbach, Ta'Nika Gibson, David Jennings, Kaleb Johnson, Marina Kondo, Morgan Marcell, Kane Emmanuel Miller, Tom Nelis, Kent Overshown, Kayla Pecchioni, John Rapson, Deandre Sevon, Jacob Keith Watson, and Alan Wiggins. Swings and understudies Eean Sherrod Cochran, Kerry Conte, Nick Gaswirth, Jackson Parker Gill, Jenny Mollet, Matthew Scott, and Ellie May Sennett will round out the company. Casting is by The Telsey Office's Craig Burns.
Ragtime will feature choreography by Ellenore Scott, set design by David Korins, costume design by Linda Cho, lighting design by Adam Honoré, sound design by Kai Harada, projection design by 59 Productions, and hair and wig design by Tom Watson. Music director James Moore will conduct a 28-piece orchestra featuring original orchestrations by William David Brohn, and vocal arrangements by Flaherty. Cody Renard Richard serves as production stage manager.
Based on a novel by E.L. Doctorow, Ragtime blends fact and fiction telling the story of New York City at the dawn of the 20th century, with a book by Terrence McNally, music by Flaherty, and lyrics by Ahrens. The story focuses on Coalhouse Walker, Jr., a Black man who buys a Model T Ford and sets off a chain of events that encompass all levels of New York City society, along with magician Harry Houdini, industrialist Henry Ford, celebrity party girl Evelyn Nesbit, civil rights leader Booker T. Washington, architect Stanford White, anarchist Emma Goldman, a Jewish Latvian immigrant who becomes a movie director, and an upper class white family living in suburban New Rochelle.
READ: The Making of Broadway’s Ragtime, an Oral History
The musical premiered on Broadway in 1998 following a pre-Broadway bow in Toronto, with an original cast that boasted Brian Stokes Mitchell, Audra McDonald, and Marin Mazzie. McDonald won the second of her six career Tony Awards for her featured performance as Sarah. Even in a year otherwise dominated by juggernaut The Lion King, Ragtime managed to also win Tonys for McNally's book and Flaherty and Ahrens' score, along with Brohn's orchestrations.
The LCT staging is being produced in association with Tom Kirdahy, Kevin Ryan, Robert Greenblatt, and Lamar Richardson.
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See photos from the 2024 City Center Gala production below:
Caissie Levy and Brandon Uranowitz
Lear deBessonet
Ta'Nika Gibson and Nichelle Lewis
Tom Kirdahy, Lynn Ahrens, Stephen Flaherty, and company of Ragtime
Joshua Henry, Caissie Levy, Shaina Taub, Brandon Uranowitz, and company of Ragtime
Lear deBessonet and company of Ragtime
Lynn Ahrens, Joshua Henry, Caissie Levy, and company of Ragtime
Brandon Uranowitz, Shaina Taub, Ben Levi Ross, and company of Ragtime
Anna Grace Barlow and company of Ragtime
Colin Donnell and company of Ragtime
