For Tony Award nominees Brandon Uranowitz, Caissie Levy and Joshua Henry, the Morgan Library in New York City – built by financier J.P. Morgan at the turn of twentieth century – represents the grandeur of the Gilded Age, a period of American history that lends itself especially to drama. “There was just, like, a lot of change happening,” Uranowitz said. “And I think with any change comes conflict, and with conflict comes drama.”
That drama is what drives the revival of the musical in which the three star: “Ragtime.” Asked to describe the show, Levy replied, “It’s about three distinct groups of people coming together in America, and the way that, in their individual pursuit of the American Dream for themselves, the way it changes someone else’s pursuit of their American Dream.”
“Ragtime” 
Pursuing their American Dreams are Mother, a wealthy suburban matriarch (played by Levy); Coalhouse Walker, a successful ragtime pianist (played by Henry); and Tateh, an immigrant from Eastern Europe (played by Uranowitz).
The original production (starring Brian Stokes Mitchell and Audra McDonald) opened on Broadway in 1998. Upon its debut, “Sunday Morning” interviewed the musical’s creators, including the late writer Terrence McNally, who said, “This show is very much a return to the tradition of people singing about big emotions, primary emotions. It’s a very noble show. It’s a big story. It says, `Here’s my heart.'”
Henry said, “I think that’s one of the big successes of this book and this story, is that it catches people at their extremes.”
At the beginning of the show, Coalhouse Walker firmly believes in the promise of a future with the woman he loves and their infant son. Henry said, “One of the heartbreaking aspects of that joyous moment is, we’re in around 1908 and you’re like, ‘Wow. How can this Black man and woman be so hopeful about what they don’t see?'”
“Ragtime” 
That hopefulness is conveyed in the show’s best-known number, “Wheels of a Dream,” sung by Henry and Nichelle Lewis.
Henry said when he was studying musical theater at the University of Miami in 2002, “Ragtime” was one of the first cast recordings he came across: “I remember being in the music library listening to ‘Wheels of a Dream,’ and I remember thinking, ‘I want to be a part of epic storytelling like that. I want to be one of those performers that makes people feel deep feelings.'”
Working with writer Terrence McNally to adapt E.L. Doctorow’s novel into a musical were lyricist Lynn Ahrens and composer Stephen Flaherty. Their life experiences seem to have prepared them for “Ragtime.”
While studying at a music conservatory, Flaherty was in a ragtime band: “We had a terrible name. It was very long. It was called The Fleeting Moments Waltz and Quickstep Orchestra!” Flaherty laughed. “We played the music of America from 1890 to 1920. So I had all of this music at my disposal in my DNA.”
Meanwhile, Ahrens got her start writing for the beloved 1970s educational kids series “Schoolhouse Rock,” creating songs such as “Great American Melting Pot”:
My grandmother came from Russia
A satchel on her knee,
My grandfather had his father’s cap
He brought from Italy.
They’d heard about a country
Where life might let them win,
They paid the fare to America
And there they melted in.
“It talks about the immigrant experience,” Ahrens said. “It’s very close to ‘Ragtime’ in theme in a weird way. It started preparing my heart to talk about those kinds of stories.”
“Ragtime” 
Both Ahrens and Flaherty feel that this revival is resonating more deeply with audiences. “We’ve worked together for so many years,” Ahrens said. “And we’ve written so many shows. But this one, it’s its third time on Broadway, and this one I think is the most emotional of all.”
The show got “decent” reviews when it was first produced, but this revival has been met with unanimous raves. I asked, “Is that just about the performance or the direction? Or is it maybe about the show, maybe it was ahead of its time, or what?”
“All of the above, absolutely,” Ahrens said.
Flaherty added, “I think at this particular time in our country’s history – we’re about to turn 250 years old. And just to do this particular piece that’s about, what does it mean to be American? And it really examines that.”
Caissie Levy and Brandon Uranowitz see parallels to today’s world.
“I think why ‘Ragtime’ is having a moment right now,” Levy said,” you know, our world and our country, it’s very fractured right now. And the themes and the stories and the characters in ‘Ragtime’ are represented out in the street.”
“Ragtime” 
Uranowitz said, “I play a Jewish immigrant from Eastern Europe, but I think so much of the immigration story is speaking to people right now, because of the immigration issues happening in our country literally at this moment.”
The show was written almost three decades ago, and set more than a century before today. But for director Lear deBessonet (also a Tony nominee), “Ragtime” isn’t the least bit dated. The show, she says, “allows us to reconnect with our deepest feelings about the actual love that we have for this country, and how deeply we want it to achieve the promises that it set out to, even if it has not fully achieved them yet, and that we are still believing in hope. That isn’t pretending that everything is okay. It’s holding the pain. But it’s moving forward in hope.”
WEB EXTRA: Watch an extended interview with the cast of “Ragtime” (Video)
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Story produced by Kay Lim. Editor: Lauren Barnello.
