Terrence McNally, Stephen Flaherty, and Lynn Ahrens' Ragtime is officially coming back to Broadway. Lincoln Center Theater, newly under the artistic direction of Lear deBessonet, will stage a revival of the 1998 musical, a new production of deBessonet's 2024 New York City Center Gala staging. Performances will begin September 26 ahead of an October 16 opening night in LCT's Vivian Beaumont Theater, continuing for a 14-week limited engagement through January 4, 2026.
Tickets go on sale for LCT members beginning May 13 at 10 AM ET, with general sales beginning May 28 at noon ET.
Back to reprise their performances from the City Center bow will be Joshua Henry (Into the Woods) as Coalhouse Walker, Jr., Caissie Levy (Frozen) as Mother, and Tony winner Brandon Uranowitz (Leopoldstadt) as Tateh. Additional casting is to be announced.
What remains unclear is how much this upcoming revival will look like deBessonet's earlier concert staging. With the exception of deBessonet, the creative team for the LCT run is to be announced.
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. 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 William David Brohn's orchestrations.
"Ragtime feels like the perfect way to begin my tenure as artistic director of this very sacred place,� says deBessonet in a statement. "As we celebrate the legacy of LCT and the level of art that has been achieved over the last four decades, it is important for us to continue to be inspired by the sublime possibilities of theatre through stories that demand to be told. Such a story is Ragtime."
The LCT staging is being produced in association with Tom Kirdahy, Kevin Ryan, and Robert Greenblatt.
See photos from the 2024 City Center Gala production below:
Joshua Henry and Nichelle Lewis in Ragtime
Brandon Uranowitz and Tabitha Lawing in Ragtime
Tabitha Lawing and Brandon Uranowitz in Ragtime
Ben Levi Ross in Ragtime
Ben Levi Ross, Joshua Henry, and company of Ragtime
Stephanie Styles in Ragtime
Nichelle Lewis and Joshua Henry in Ragtime
Nichelle Lewis in Ragtime
Shaina Taub in Ragtime
Brandon Uranowitz and Tabitha Lawing in Ragtime
Caissie Levy in Ragtime
Company Ragtime
Matthew Lamb and Caissie Levy in Ragtime
Joshua Henry and company of Ragtime
John Clay III and company of Ragtime
Caissie Levy and Brandon Uranowitz in Ragtime
Matthew Lamb, Colin Donnell, and company of Ragtime
Joshua Henry and company of Ragtime
Shaina Taub, Ben Levi Ross, and company of Ragtime
Stephanie Styles and company of Ragtime
Company of Ragtime
