A strange, insistent music is coming back to Broadway. BroadwayWorld has just learned that Lear deBessonet’s inaugural season as Lincoln Center Theater’s Artistic Director will open with a new production of her acclaimed New York City Center Gala revival of RAGTIME, starring Tony nominee Joshua Henry (deBessonet’s Into the Woods, Carousel), Olivier and Grammy nominee Caissie Levy (Hair, Frozen), and Tony Award-winner Brandon Uranowitz (Leopoldstadt, LCT’s Falsettos).
RAGTIME will begin previews on Friday, September 26, and open on Thursday, October 16 at the Vivian Beaumont Theater (150 West 65 Street) and will play a limited engagement of 14 weeks only through Sunday, January 4, 2026. Tickets to RAGTIME will be available to members beginning Tuesday, May 13 at 10am ET. Tickets will go on sale to the general public on Wednesday, May 28 at 12pm ET. The theatre is currently home to the multi-Tony nominated revival of Floyd Collins, starring Jeremy Jordan.
RAGTIME is a sweeping musical adaption of E.L. Doctorow’s novel that follows three fictional families in pursuit of the American Dream at the dawn of the 20th Century: Black pianist Coalhouse Walker, Jr. (Joshua Henry) and his beloved Sarah, Jewish immigrant Tateh (Brandon Uranowitz) and his little girl, and a wealthy white family led by matriarch Mother (Caissie Levy). All grasping for the same dream, if only they can hold onto it.
Featuring a lush score by Stephen Flaherty and Lynn Ahrens, a stirring book by Terrence McNally, and original orchestrations by William David Brohn, all of whom won Tony Awards for their work, RAGTIME weaves fictional narratives with real historical figures and events, creating a rich tapestry that blurs the line between personal struggle and national identity, making history feel both intimate and epic.
LCT Artistic Director Lear deBessonet (Tony-nominated for her celebrated 2022 revival of Into the Woods) directs a new production, envisioned for the grand Vivian Beaumont stage. “RAGTIME feels like the perfect way to begin my tenure as Artistic Director of this very sacred place,” said deBessonet. “As we celebrate the legacy of LCT and the level of art that has been achieved over the last four decades, it is important for us to continue to be inspired by the sublime possibilities of theater through stories that demand to be told. Such a story is RAGTIME.
RAGTIME is produced by Lincoln Center Theater in association with Tom Kirdahy, Kevin Ryan, and Robert Greenblatt. Complete cast and creative team for RAGTIME will be announced soon.
Check out what the critics said about the New York City Center run.
Bios: Terrence McNally (Book, 1938-2020) was an American playwright, librettist, and LGBTQ+ trailblazer, described by The New York Times as “the bard of the American Theater.” One of the few playwrights of his generation to successfully pass from the avantgarde to mainstream acclaim, McNally redefined American playwriting for six decades and was the recipient of five Tony Awards (Ragtime, Kiss of the Spider Woman, Love! Valour! Compassion!, Master Class , and the 2019 Tony Award for Lifetime Achievement). He received the 2011 Dramatists Guild Lifetime Achievement Award (Vice President of the Guild from 1981 to 2001), the 2015 Lucille Lortel Lifetime Achievement Award, and inductions into the American Theater Hall of Fame (1996) and the American Academy of Arts and Letters (2018). McNally’s legacy lives on through his final creative act—the Terrence McNally Foundation—which champions early career playwrights and LGBTQ+ causes, as McNally did throughout his life.
Lynn Ahrens (Lyrics ) and Stephen Flaherty (Music ) are thrilled to be back at Lincoln Center Theater. For the original Broadway production of Ragtime , they won the Tony Award, Drama Desk and Outer Critics Circle Awards and received two Grammy nominations. The show was revived on Broadway in 2009, and this production marks Ragtime’s third Broadway incarnation, as well as their fifth show at Lincoln Center Theater. Ahrens and Flaherty were nominated for two Academy Awards and two Golden Globes for the animated feature film Anastasia , which they subsequently adapted for Broadway. Collaborators since 1983, their many mutual credits include the Lincoln Center Theater premieres of My Favorite Year , A Man of No Importance (Outer Critics Circle Award, Best Musical), Dessa Rose and The Glorious Ones . Additional Broadway, Off-Broadway and regional productions include Once on This Island (Olivier Award, Best Musical; Tony Award, Best Musical Revival; Grammy nomination); Seussical (Grammy nomination); Rocky ; Chita Rivera: The Dancer’s Life ; Lucky Stiff ; Little Dancer ; Knoxville . In 2014, Ahrens and Flaherty received the Oscar Hammerstein Award for Lifetime Achievement and in 2015 they were inducted into the Theater Hall of Fame. Both are Lifetime Council Members of the Dramatists Guild of America and co-founders of the DGF Fellows Program for Emerging Writers. They honor their original Ragtime collaborators—Terrence McNally, Frank Galati and Bill Brohn, and offer many thanks to Jenny Gersten, Michael Rosenberg and Lear deBessonet.
E. L. Doctorow (Author of “Ragtime ,”1931-2015 ) was an American novelist, editor, and professor, best known for his works of historical fiction. He wrote 12 novels, three volumes of short fiction, and a stage drama, including the award-winning novels Ragtime (1975), Billy Bathgate (1989), and The March (2005). Doctorow was the recipient of numerous writing awards, including the National Book Critics Circle Award which he was awarded three different times (for Ragtime, Billy Bathgate , and The March ). At the time of his death, President Barack Obama called him “one of America’s greatest novelists.”
Lear deBessonet is a Tony-nominated director and the incoming Artistic Director of Lincoln Center Theater. For the past five years, she has served as the Artistic Director of Encores! at New York City Center, where she directed Once Upon a Mattress (Broadway, Ahmanson; currently nominated for Drama Desk, Drama League, and Outer Critic’s Circle awards for Best Revival of a Musical), Oliver!, and Into the Woods (Broadway, National Tour), in addition to last year’s Gala production of Ragtime . She directed and executive produced “Annie Live!” for NBC and is the Founder of Public Works at The Public Theater where she served as Resident Director from 2012-2020. At the Public, she directed 200-person pageant productions of Hercules , The Odyssey , The Winter’s Tale , and The Tempest along with A Midsummer Night’s Dream for Shakespeare in the Park, Good Person of Szechuan (with the Foundry), Miss You Like Hell , and Romeo and Juliet . She is a passionate advocate for the power of arts in communities, and her TED Talk “What’s possible when the arts belong to everybody” has been viewed around the world. She served as Founder and Co-Artistic Director of Arts for EveryBody: an ambitious national arts and health project bringing together mayors, community health centers, and local artists in 18 cities and towns across America. She received the Drama League Founders Award and Best Director of a Musical Award, an Obie Award for Direction, the Ammerman Award, Lilly Award, and multiple Drama Desk, Lortel, and Outer Critics Circle nominations.
Joshua Henry (Coalhouse Walker, Jr.) most recently starred as Gaston in ABC’s “Beauty and the Beast: A 30th Celebration” special and in Lin Manuel Miranda’s feature Tick, Tick….Boom! He also appeared in Steven Knight’s Apple drama series “SEE,” and can be seen in a starring role in American Renegades . Theater includes Lear deBessonet’s Broadway revival of Into the Woods , Dr. Pomatter in Waitress , Billy Bigelow in Carousel (Tony Award nomination) directed by Jack O’Brien, Noble Sissle in George C. Wolfe’s Tony-nominated production of Shuffle Along , Violet (Tony, Drama Desk, Outer Critics Circle and Drama League award noms.), The Scottsboro Boys (Tony nom.) directed by Susan Stroman and Aaron Burr in Hamilton , in Chicago and on the first U.S. tour. As a recording artist he has opened for Diana Ross at the Hollywood Bowl, performed alongside Common at The Kennedy Center, and his album GROW is streamable everywhere.
Caissie Levy (Mother) is an Olivier and Grammy-nominated veteran of eight Broadway and three West End shows. She earned an Olivier nomination for Best Actress in a Musical for starring in the UK premiere of Next to Normal in London’s West End and at The Donmar Warehouse. Most recently, she starred as Mother in the critically acclaimed New
York City Center Gala production of Ragtime , directed by Lear deBessonet. Caissie created the iconic role of Elsa in Disney’s Frozen on Broadway, starred in the Tony Award winning Broadway production of Tom Stoppard’s Leopoldstadt , and as Rose in the Tony nominated Broadway revival of Caroline, or Change , for which she was nominated for a Grammy Award. She is known to Broadway and West End audiences for originating the roles of Sheila in the Tony Award winning revival of Hair , and Molly in Ghost . Other Broadway credits include Fantine in Les Miserables ; Elphaba in Wicked (also LA); Penny in Hairspray (also 1st national tour & Toronto); Maureen in Rent (national tour). Off -Broadway credits include Sarah Silverman’s The Bedwetter (Atlantic); First Daughter Suite (The Public); and Murder Ballad (MTC). Caissie has been featured on many singer/songwriter’s records, and her solo EP, With You , is available wherever you buy or stream your music. In concert, she backed up Sir Rod Stewart in his Las Vegas residency, headlined Carnegie Hall with the New York Pops twice, and has played solo across the US, UK and Canada.
Brandon Uranowitz (Tateh) LCT: Falsettos (Tony and Drama Desk nominations). Broadway: Leopoldstadt (Tony, Drama Desk, and OCC Awards), Burn This (Tony and Drama Desk nominations), The Band’s Visit , Prince of Broadway, An American in Paris (Tony nomination), Baby, It’s You ! Encores!: Ragtime, Titanic, Road Show, Grand Hotel . Other theater: Becoming Eve (NYTW), Tick, Tick…Boom! (Kennedy Center, Helen Hayes nomination), Assassins (CSC), Torch Song Trilogy (Studio Theatre, Helen Hayes nomination). Film: Here Today, The Kitchen, Stage Fright . TV: “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel,” “Fosse/Verdon,” “Dietland,” “Blue Bloods,” “Inside Amy Schumer,” “Law & Order: Criminal Intent.” In 1997, Brandon played The Little Boy in the world premiere production of Ragtime in Toronto. He dedicates this performance to Marin. May her memory be a blessing.
Deals from
BOOP! The Musical
Broadhurst Theatre (Broadway)
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