Musical Theatre West (MTW) brings five-time Tony Award-winning musical Ragtime to the Carpenter Performing Arts Center February 7-23. Based on E.L. Doctorow's acclaimed novel, the 13-time Tony-nominated musical tells the story of three families trying to find their way during the turn of the 20th century in New York City; each struggling with the changing cultural climate in America and each facing the promise of hope and new beginnings in the midst of prejudice and bigotry. Showcasing music and lyrics by the Tony Award-winning team of Stephen Flaherty and Lynn Ahrens and a Tony Award-winning book by Terrence McNally, Ragtime features a score with such memorable songs as “Your Daddy’s Son,” “Wheels of a Dream,” “Till We Reach That Day” and “Make Them Hear You.”
Ragtime paints a nostalgic and powerful portrait of three diverse groups in the United States: African Americans, represented by Coalhouse Walker Jr., a Harlem musician; upper-class suburbanites, represented by Mother, the matriarch of a white upper-class family in New Rochelle, New York; and Eastern European immigrants, represented by Tateh, a Jewish immigrant from Latvia. Many early 20th century historical figures are interwoven into the fabric of the story, from Harry Houdini, Evelyn Nesbit, and Booker T. Washington to J. P. Morgan, Henry Ford, Stanford White, and Emma Goldman.
