Ragtime: Worlds Collide at Lincoln Center in a Powerful Musical Spectacular

Oct 31, 2025 by Two Sues On the Aisle

By Two Sues on the Aisle, Susie Rosenbluth and Sue Weston

Ragtime, a classic Broadway musical, graces the stage of Lincoln Center’s Vivian Beaumont Theater. Written by Terrence McNally, with music by Stephen Flaherty, and lyrics by Lynn Ahrens. This large-scale production has a cast of almost 40 with a 28-piece orchestra. The vocals are all outstanding, offset by a minimalistic but effective staging. Ragtime is a magnificent performance that is hauntingly intoxicating.

It is based on the 1975 novel Ragtime by E.L. Doctorow, a historical fiction that weaves together the lives of fictional and real people. Set at the turn of the 20th century, it exposes the dark side of America, with many issues still relevant today. From the outside, America was the land of opportunity, while internally, it was struggling with social issues, prejudice, women’s rights, and the inequality of justice.

Photo Credit: Matthew Murphy

This brilliant revival brings together amazing voices and powerful lyrics that speak with an unfiltered directness. Over the course of an engaging 2-hour and 50-minute performance, the audience experiences a range of emotions, from hope to fear, grief, and despair. It ends with a dream for a better future, showing this as an inflection point in history.

Beginning with a magnificent opening number that introduces the theme music, which will recur throughout the musical. Listening to it again after the performance offers clarity and perspective.

An era exploding,
A century spinning
In riches and rags,
And in rhythm and rhyme.
The people called it Ragtime…

Meet The Family

Ragtime opens at the estate of a prominent New Rochelle family, dressed entirely in white and cream-colored finery, complete with a parasol (for her) and a straw hat (for him). They are fittingly named, to reflect their cultured status, Mother (Caissie Levy, who is superbly cast) and Father (Colin Donnell), who was very well off, from manufacturing fireworks and ‘other accoutrements of patriotism’. Living with them are their son, Edgar (Nick Barrington), Mother’s Younger Brother (Ben Levi Ross), and her father, Grandfather (Tom Nelis), a cranky older gentleman, a retired professor of classics.

Father fancies himself an enlightened man and an explorer who goes off looking for adventure. At the same time, Tateh (Brandon Uranowitz) arrives in New York Harbor on a boat from Lithuania, fleeing the pogroms in search of a better life for his daughter (Tabitha Lawing). The men unknowingly wave to each other as the boats pass in the harbor.

Photo Credit: Matthew Murphy

The Jewish Immigrant Experience in America

After his experiences in Europe, Tateh was fearful, and prepared his daughter for life in America, ‘If people ask, how old are you? I don’t answer. Your name? No name. Where your mother is? Dead.’ He keeps her close, so afraid of losing her, he ties them together with a rope, preventing them from being separated.

Tateh is a struggling artist who settles on the Lower East Side, hoping to earn a living selling paper silhouettes. Life in the tenements was more difficult than he imagined; the conditions were intolerable, and his daughter was often sick, cold, and hungry. Looking for a better existence, they moved to Massachusetts, where he worked as a manual laborer in the mills, pushing himself for the sake of his daughter.

Through hard work and a series of fortunate coincidences, he becomes successful. On the surface, it is a rags-to-riches story, yet it is filled with sacrifices, sorrow, and determination.

Photo Credit: Matthew Murphy

Weaving The Stories Together

Ragtime explores the interaction between the classes, the social hierarchies. The wealthy see themselves at the top of the pyramid, avoiding associating with ‘Negros and immigrants’, although they employ African Americans. Their ‘closed community’ is supported by the working class, typified by Irish firefighters, who are unrefined and crass, recent immigrants, harboring hatred and resentment.

Lives spin together, showing the changing time and how much can happen in one year.

When Father leaves on a year-long expedition, he places Mother in charge. While gardening, she discovers a newborn African American infant. Until then, she had led a sheltered life and relied on Father to make decisions. Faced with a decision, she takes responsibility, protecting the baby and mother, Sarah (Nichelle Lewis), taking them in. The baby’s father, Coalhouse Walker Jr (Joshua Henry, who gave an amazing performance), an accomplished musician and composer, locates Sarah. He begins courting her, coming every Sunday, playing ragtime music, hoping she will accept him back.

For contrast and historical relevance, Ragtime introduces Evelyn Nesbit, the most beautiful woman in America, a vaudeville performer, who made headlines; Harry Houdini, a successful Jewish immigrant; Henry Ford, J.P. Morgan, Emma Goldman, and Booker T. Washington.

Ragtime tells every immigrant’s story of struggle, a patchwork of life, presented in heartfelt song, characterized by the lively, “ragged” rhythm of Ragtime.

A Great American Musical

In a year, Mother has changed; she is no longer the subservient, dutiful wife who was unaware of the world outside her bubble. When Father left, she mournfully sang Goodbye My Love. When he returned, she commented, “Nothing will ever be the way it was before”. She has seen the cruelty and injustice of the world and found her inner strength.

There are so many elements at play, keeping this turn-of-the-century story relevant today, making Ragtime a great American musical, a classic. With compelling lyrics and music that are enchantingly captivating, Ragtime gentilly navigates a minefield of social and political issues, leaving us with hope and a dream for a future built on mutual respect and love.

Two Sues on the Aisle bases its ratings on how many challahs (1-5) it pays to buy (rather than make) to see the play, show, film, book, or exhibit being reviewed.

Ragtime received 5 Challahs

Running Time: 2 hours and 50 minutes

Limited Run Extended: June 14th 2026