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Ragtime is
based on the E. L. Doctorow best-selling novel by the same name. The epic
musical paints a nostalgic and powerful portrait of American life through three
remarkable families: one upper middle class white, one socialist
immigrant Jewish, and one Harlem black. The musical intertwines three distinct
stories that poignantly illustrate history's timeless contradictions of wealth
and poverty, freedom and prejudice, hope and despair, and love and hate.
As the fictional characters embark on personal voyages of self-discovery their
lives become dramatically entangled with real-life characters such as Henry
Ford, Emma Goldman, Booker T. Washington, Harry Houdini, and Evelyn Nesbit.
Ragtime is a richly colored tapestry of tragedy, triumph, desire,
disillusionment, passion, and romance set against a backdrop of early Twentieth-century American life.
The score is
diverse as the Melting Pot of America that it represents. It draws
upon traditional Jewish folk sounds to color the haunting music of the
immigrants, Vaudeville's outrageous style to capture the spectacle of Evelyn
Nesbit, and Scott Joplin and jazz to invoke the enlivened spirit of Harlem.
Ragtime won the 1998 Tony awards for best score, book, and orchestra.
It features such show-stopping songs as Getting Ready to Rag, Your Daddy's
Son, Wheels of a Dream, Till We Reach the Day, Back to Before, and Make
Them Hear You. The momentous score is certain to inspire actors and
audiences alike!
This is the Guild's
first production of the show.
Click for
a full synopsis of Ragtime on musicals.net.
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