It’s the dawn of a new century and America has never been more alive with change and opportunity.
Scored with the syncopated rhythms of a hopeful new age, Ragtime effectively weaves together three distinctly American tales: from the Jewish immigrant searching for a better life for his daughter, to the stifled upper-class wife yearning for something more, to the daring young Harlem musician with the determination to empower change. Social and racial conflicts rise to the surface as the lives of the characters become intertwined. 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, and hope and despair. The Tony-winning score is just as diverse as the melting pot of America itself, from the ragtime rhythms of Tin Pan Alley to the klezmer of the Lower East Side, with waltzes, banjo tunes, period parlor songs and expansive anthems throughout. Ragtime is an impassioned, jubilant, and timeless tribute to the American Dream.
