Ragtime

The E. L. Doctorow's mastermind writing piece Ragtime is more animated than ever before as its musical adaptation is once again returning to the theatres. The veteran composer Stephen Flaherty is bringing his genius along with the lyricist Stephen Flaherty to create a timeless musical. This musical debuted in 1996 at the Toronto Canada and ever since has been staged many times by various production houses. This musical has been extremely popular amongst the masses and has won many awards. Terrence McNally has written the book on this musical.

The original novel is a historical fiction on mid seventies and is set at the New York City representing the early years of the 20th century. The music of the Ragtime has strongly included marches, cakewalks, gospel and ragtime. The Ragged Rhythms in its music and evident use of piano, banjo orchestra and brass band makes it a distinct musical. This musical highlights three diverse groups living in the New York City. This musical has featured many historical figures to enhance the effect of those times. These historical personalities include Harry Houdini, Evelyn Nesbit, Booker T. Washington, J. P. Morgan, Henry Ford, Stanford White, Harry Kendall Thaw, Admiral Peary, Matthew Henson, and Emma Goldman.

Ragtime since its premiere has been a center of attention amongst many producers. The pioneer production house of this musical is the Toronto production that showed it in 1996 and then in 1998 it was adopted by Broadway. The Ragtime was showcased nationwide in its nationwide tour in 1998. The Ragtime again toured in 1999 all over USA and was a big success. In 2003 West End productions staged their version of Ragtime and blazed the masses once again with its energy. The Advent of 2009 has brought back Ragtime with greater grandeur and glory. This musical goes international with Broadway creating a bigger bang than ever before.

The Original musical was directed by the award winning director Frank Galati. All the amazing choreography was the presentation of Graciela Daniele. This musical has a large number of participant including as much as 834 performers. The major actors of the musical included Brian Stokes Mitchell, Marin Mazzie, Peter Friedman, Audra McDonald, Judy Kaye, Mark Jacoby and Lea Michele. Most members of the cast were nominated for the Tony awards in recognition of their tremendous performance.

The basic story of the musical revolves around three major social sects. The protagonists of this musical are African Americans while the White Anglo American Protestant group also plays a major part. The Latvian Jewish is the final sect responsible for a major twist in the story. The Story begins with a White Anglo American Protestant mother who finds an African American child buried alive in her front yard. She astonished at such barbarianism calls up the police and suddenly Sarah the biological mother of that child appears. Sarah takes all the responsibility of her act and in the same spur of the moment WASP mother decides to be the caretaker of these two. Sarah then shares with Mother that this is a child of Coalhouse and he left her to pursue his own career dreams.

The Coalhouse on the other hand makes it big as a singer but can't take his mind off Sarah. He then comes back and reconciles with her. They once go on picnic when they are harassed by firemen. Coalhouse aggrieved at this tries every possible way to find justice but in vain. Sarah also tries and in the struggle loses her life. The Coalhouse then single-mindedly sets out to get justice. The inclusion of real life big wigs like Booker T. Washington the educationist Harry Houdini the escape artist, Henry Ford the entrepreneur, JP Morgan millionaire, Emma Goldman the anarchist, and Evelyn Nesbit the showgirl has rendered veracity to the whole story.

This musical has won many awards from its Brilliance. The major awards include Tony Award for Best Score and Tony Award for Best Book. The Drama Desk has also awarded it for being the Best Musical and Best Book. The cast of the musical also claimed numerous awards for their nerve wrecking and heart wrenching performances. This musical has a special appeal as it just not only narrates a tale of bygone days but also relates well to the contemporary times. It popular melodies include Ragtime, Goodbye my love and many more. The strength of this plot remains in the contradictory forces of wealth and poverty, liberty and contempt, hope and misery. To watch this get the Ragtime Tickets today.