Ragtime (Touring) Tickets

The curtain opens and there they are. They stand silently, staring out at us as if to say, "Here I am." There is a moment of communion between actors and audience. For a split second, the fourth wall is broken. We observe them and they observe us. We are just people sitting in a theatre, and they are just people on a stage. We share this brief moment and make an unspoken bond to share this journey together. We begin. A lone man sits at the shell of a piano. There are no keys or pedals, but his fingers begin to lift music from the sparse frame, and RAGTIME comes to life. This RAGTIME is about people and relationships, not sets built to look like Victorian homes and replica Model Ts. This RAGTIME is youthful and full of hope and humor. This RAGTIME is urgent and important. This RAGTIME is mine. I thought I knew everything there was to know about the show. But the truth is, that I didn't have a clue until a week ago. This new RAGTIME changes everything. Glitz and glam are stripped away and what we are left with are real people and real relationships. Marcia Milgrom Dodge uses unbelievable inventiveness to give us a completely new RAGTIME. My eyes were opened to who the characters really are and what the show is really about. I never knew that Mother's Younger Brother was an important character. I had always found him odd and stiff. Bobby Steggert gives him youth and fire. He is a passionate and brave young man. Similarly, Coalhouse and Sarah are far more innocent in this production. Quentin Earl Darrington and Sarah Umoh are both making their Broadway debut in this production. Brian Stokes Mitchell and Audra McDonald were far more seasoned when they originated the roles. The result is that Darrington and Umoh, while not not necessarily as commanding as their predecessors, bring a spark of naivete that the characters never had before. Ms. Dodge has clearly decided that this is Coalhouse's story. The production begins with him and his piano center stage, and ends with the lonely piano and Coalhouse's memory. Changes have been made so that the second act begins immediately with Coalhouse's Soliloquy. He is the cog that sets everything in motion for everyone else. In my opinion, however, the story belongs to Mother and the most interesting relationship on the stage is that between Mother and Tateh. Mother is the character who changes the most over the course of the show. At the start of the play, she believes that life is about having a proper husband and a comfortable home. It is about behaving a certain way and saying certain things, whether you believe in them or not. By the end, however, she is a liberated woman. She thinks for herself and will no longer deny her thoughts and feelings. This transformation is expertly portrayed by Christiane Noll. Being such a fan of Marin Mazzie, it was hard for me to imagine anyone else in the roll, but Ms. Noll is a revelation. First of all, her Mother is much younger. With youth, comes truth and humor. I had no idea that Mother was funny! She is not a staunch WASP from New Rochelle. She is a funny and interesting person. You realize that what attracts people to her is not simply her beauty, but her spirit. Similarly, the relationship between Mother and Tateh in this production surprised me. I always found it somewhat contrived that she ended up with him at the end of the show. After all, they only really have two scenes together and I never bought the connection between the two of them. Again, something about Marin Mazzie and Peter Freidman's relationship seemed too staunch. I never quite believed it when she said "She adored him" at the end of the show. Christiane Noll and Robert Petkoff do not have this problem. For starters, Petkoff is at least ten years younger than Freidman was when he created the part of Tateh's. Like most of the rest of this cast, Petkoff's Tateh seems more raw and vulnerable than the original. Freidman's Tateh was desperate and angry so much of the time. Petkoff's Tateh is a young father who lost his wife and, not knowing what else to do, come to America to find a better life for his daughter. He manages to keep his spirit and optimism through everything - and, ultimately, that is what protects his daughter and saves both of their lives. When Mother and Tateh first meet on the train platform in Act 1, he is immediately attracted to her. I never knew this before. I thought that they were just passing pleasantries. Petkoff makes the audience see that, despite the differences in their situation, for five minutes he is just a young man and she is just a young woman and he is attracted to her. That instant connection sows the seeds for their relationship in the second act. For my money, the best number in this entire production is "Our Children," the Act 2 duet between Mother and Tateh. The song is about their children, but it is also about the two of them. Their entire "courtship" takes place during a song during which they do not talk about themselves. But it's there. It's there in the way that she watches him while he talks about his daughter, but turns away the second he meets her eye. It's there in the way that he unabashedly stares at her, without knowing (or caring) that some might consider it impudent. It's there in how they're drawn together by their common need to provide for their young children. It's there in how his right hand reaches slightly towards her and in how she clenches her dress with her left hand instead of grasping his hand for dear life like you know that she wants to. It's there in how they tell each other the truth about who they really are. Suddenly, I understood that she truly did adore him. Their relationship is explained in one line at the end of the show. "Mother wore black for a year. At the end of this time, Tateh proposed and she accepted. She adored him." That's it. It seems impossible to make an audience see just what was between them in those three short lines. Yet, when Ms. Noll said the lines, you believed her. "Adored" meant so much more. It meant "loved him passionately." She grabs him and kisses him and you just know how much she wants him. These people aren't pretty musical theatre people. They are real and raw. The most real and raw moment in the show comes from Ms. Noll when she sings Back to Before. I'd heard the song a million times, but never like this. She argues with Father and she WINS. She isn't just sad. She isn't just angry. She is REBORN. The visual effect of the scene would have been enough. She has gone from a proper wife tied up tight in a white dress, with her hair up, hat in place, parasol up high - to a liberated woman with a loose dress, hair let down (literally and figuratively), and bare feet. Ms. Noll's vocal ability alone would have been enough to sell me on the song. Her voice is flawless, and she delivers this incredible difficult song so effortlessly that one wonders what genius of a voice teacher she goes to. All of that would have been enough, but not for Ms. Noll. The stage picture is part of it. And the voice is part of it. But what wins the day is her acting. I heard the words like I have never heard them before. She was strong and funny and heartbroken and resolute. It is a tour-de-force and, in my humble opinion, the kind of a performance that wins Tony Awards. RAGTIME matters. More specifically, this RAGTIME matters. It is not a beautiful, stuffy period piece about people who no longer exist. Yes, it is set in an important historical context, but ultimately it is about real people and real emotions that we still experience today. The new poster for the show features a collage of early twentieth century inventions, such as the Model T and the phonograph, and the telephone. Snuck in between these objects are the words "THEIR TIME" and "OUR TIME." The show is about specific characters during a specific era in American history, but it is now our time to take their lessons and apply them to the country's future. The ideas of love and despair, justice and hope, and the American Dream are still just as relevant today as they were a hundred years ago. At the end of the show the actors simply come together at the front of the stage and take hands as they sing the show's final stirring chord. As at the beginning of the show, the fourth wall is brought down and we are all one. As as if they are saying "Here we are again. We've all found a way to come together up here tonight. Now it's your turn." This is my RAGTIME.

Great Show!! Maybe a bit long. Go see it. Theatre was bit warm.

The powerful and tragic story of Coalhouse Walker and the people who are close to him blends a score of soaring melodies with the passion of actors that feel their parts in every way. My family and I were mezmerized by the action that never seemed to slow down. By the finale we were out of breath and cheering for more. The first time I can remember giving a cast a standing oavtion.

I arrived with a group of 5 friends. None of us were expecting much. We were completely blown away. Ragtime was one of the most memorable musical experiences I have ever had. This show is an American classic in the same league as Showboat and Oklahoma. The set was amazing and almost seemed like a character in the show. The singing was glorious and for a show that was over 2 hours, it really clipped along. The audience simply went nuts the night that we were there. This is the kind of show that should play forever.

Go for the music, go for the incredible voices. It is not easy to condense Ragtime the book into Ragtime the musical, but they did a credible job. The effort to capture the mood and spirit of the pre-WWI era was more elusive, however, with the characterizations somewhat cliched and one dimensional. But whatever flaws exist do not diminish the wonderful music, truly talented acting and inspired staging. It is a big cast, big song, big idea of a broadway musical. Enjoy.

I completely enjoyed the production. The music was wonderful and the actors great.

Run, don't walk, to get your tickets. This is a powerhouse of a production. Beautiful voices, inventive staging, moving performances. NOT TO BE MISSED.

The book and the music are amazing...one of the most memorable I have ever seen or heard. All of the cast members have superb voices, with the possible exception of Sarah, who was slightly abrasive at the high end. Where this production falls short of five stars is in comparison to the 1998 original Broadway production, with its full sets and scenery. This new production is produced on a much smaller stage and for all intents and purposes is a "concert" version, albeit with the singers on multi levels in a "U" shape around the stage. Ragtime should end up in opera repetory, It deserves to be seen and heard for many years to come. It should not be missed!

I have been seeing Broadway shows for years and just saw RAGTIME in previews last night. IF YOU SEE ONLY 1 SHOW MAKE IT RAGTIME!!!! It is without a doubt the single finest theatrical experience I have ever had in my life! Exhilerating, timely, and stunning, with performances that should win each of them Tony Awards! You will simply not believe your eyes or ears. BRAVO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The music and vocal abilities really come to the forefront in this production. Everyone is well cast for their acting abilities as well as their singing chops. The spare set is evocative of the period and is used to good effect. If I was to be niggling, I would say the production fell a bit short in the choreography department. Not that there's a lot of it, but what was there was not as elevated as the rest of the proceedings. It in no way detracted from the evening, but it would have been nice if it had a bit more punch. The rest of the staging worked well. I would like to mention that the show really resonated with the audience, who constantly expressed their approval (or disapproval) of character's actions. It was really nice to experience an audience that was so engaged with what was happening on the stage.

An absolute great evening of entertainment. A wonderful story of the times presented with grace and talent.