RAGTIME 2025 Reviews- Page 11

[EDSOSLO858]

Posted: 1/14/26 at 11:56pm

What a thrill finally catching this live tonight. What is there to say that hasn't already been said?

This was a near-perfect night of theatre, a huge cast and orchestra anchored by a better-than-ever Joshua Henry, who completely won me over with *those* five words. That score! The timely message with a capital TM!

I didn't feel like I missed anything without Shaina or Tabitha. Julie Benko has slid in to Goldman beautifully not even a week in. Brava.

Those kids!!! :)

There were 2 swings on, including one for Henry Ford, whose namesake song sounds as irresistible as ever. 

Some questionable directorial choices and I could've used a bit more set, but budget's gonna budget I guess. I too had some issues with Nichelle's diction.

I bet Lear can't possibly imagine a more euphoric start to her LCT tenure. It's a good thing setting high expectations for yourself in the future. I look forward to seeing what's next for her beyond this miraculous staging, but let's keep the demand up for now and keep the RAGTIME coming, shall we?

 

 

 

 

 

Updated On: 1/14/26 at 11:56 PM

[EDSOSLO858]

Posted: 1/14/26 at 11:56pm

(double post)

[EDSOSLO858]

Posted: 1/27/26 at 12:55pm

Caissie Levy and the RAGTIME orchestra appeared on The Today Show this morning for a performance of "Back to Before":

https://www.today.com/video/see-caissie-levy-sing-back-to-before-from-ragtime-on-today-256670789793

[goodtimes123]

Posted: 1/27/26 at 1:59pm

EDSOSLO858 said: "Caissie Levy and the RAGTIME orchestra appeared on The Today Show this morning for a performance of "Back to Before":

https://www.today.com/video/see-caissie-levy-sing-back-to-before-from-ragtime-on-today-256670789793"

Looks and sounds gorgeous. Love her take on this role so much.

[MadsonMelo]

Posted: 1/27/26 at 2:45pm

She is soooo winning that Tony

[HBP]

Posted: 1/28/26 at 12:01am

Is it me or is her hair giving Marin? Subtle tribute?

[TBone]

Posted: 1/28/26 at 12:19am

HBP said: "Is it me or is her hair giving Marin? Subtle tribute?"

I’m glad I’m not the only one that had that thought. There was a moment I literally said “Woah” because she physically reminded me so much of Marin. 

[Jeffrey Karasarides]

Posted: 1/28/26 at 8:20am

EDSOSLO858 said: "Caissie Levy and the RAGTIME orchestra appeared on The Today Show this morning for a performance of "Back to Before":

https://www.today.com/video/see-caissie-levy-sing-back-to-before-from-ragtime-on-today-256670789793"

Here's an interview she did on the show following the performance.

[WldKingdomHM]

Posted: 1/28/26 at 8:40am

Good god that was just beautiful ! She can do no wrong

[Dreamboy3]

Posted: 1/28/26 at 8:50am

As much as I liked her performance, she is no Marin Mazzie. 

[ACL2006]

Posted: 1/29/26 at 8:56pm

I  miss Marin. Still not a fan of Levy's Mother.

 

 

[binau]

Posted: 1/30/26 at 1:13am

Anyone know if Marin had buzz for the Tony to compete with Natasha Richardson or was the award always Natasha’s?

 

 

[MB124]

Posted: 1/30/26 at 5:40am

binau said: "Anyone know if Marin had buzz for the Tony to compete with Natasha Richardson or was the award always Natasha’s?
"

It was always Natasha’s. 

[Jeffrey Karasarides]

Posted: 1/30/26 at 7:11am

Looking back at the New York Times' 1998 Tony voter survey: "An informal canvassing of more than two dozen theater professionals -- an eclectic assortment of producers, theater owners, performers and press agents -- revealed a widespread belief that there are at least two all-but-sure winners: ''Cabaret'' for best musical revival, and the show's star, Natasha Richardson, for best actress in a musical."
https://www.nytimes.com/1998/06/05/movies/season-s-last-hurrah-live-from-radio-city.html

Even though Marin likely could've won if Richardson wasn't there.

[MB124]

Posted: 1/30/26 at 7:55am

^ the saddest part of that article?

''Cabaret'' and ''Rent'' are raising top prices to $80.

 

[SeymourInBrooklyn]

Posted: 1/30/26 at 8:48am

When I first saw Joshua Henry in Carousel, I told myself I’d do what I could to catch this man in whatever roles he takes on Broadway. I’m so thrilled that this past Tuesday, after several lost lotteries and attempts to find decent seats, I was finally able to head over to Lincoln Center and see this show.

Ragtime has been a bit of a blind spot for me in that I broadly knew it was a revered musical based on a book about America at the turn of the century, that Audra McDonald and Brian Stokes Mitchell were in the original production, and that I knew and loved “Till We Reach That Day” and “Back to Before.” So I was especially excited to finally close this gap in my knowledge.

The vocal sound of this production is just exquisite. The commitment to finding the vocal cream of the crop in the principals and soloists pays off in spades, and the entire ensemble blends beautifully. My seatmate even commented at intermission that whoever is controlling the mics is doing an amazing job. The balance when everyone sings together is remarkable.

If Joshua Henry doesn’t win a Tony for this, I may riot in the streets. I skimmed some of this thread and saw that some people take issue with Nichelle Lewis. Maybe it’s because I haven’t lived with Audra’s interpretation, which I don’t doubt is legendary since she is, of course, the GOAT, but I thought Nichelle was fantastic. My jaw actually dropped during “Wheels of a Dream,” which was also the first of three mid-show standing ovations this performance received from the audience. Caissie Levy did a phenomenal job with a role that could easily feel very vanilla. I love me some Julie Benko and thought she was very charming in a role I wish we got more of. I’m not totally tracking why the little boy is clairvoyant, but you know what, go off.

I like the source material and can see why it was such a hit in the ’90s, but I couldn’t help feeling (very) mildly put off by the white-savior-ness of it all. I may also be a bit too cynical to fully suspend my disbelief around Tateh, Mother, and Coalhouse Jr.’s ending, but what the hell, at least they all sounded incredible.

Lastly, I’d be lying if I said that seeing this on Tuesday, just days after Alex Pretti’s death in our current hellscape of a climate around immigration, didn’t land with particular weight. The tension between the promise of what America can be and the reality of what it is now, what it was then, and where it’s headed felt impossible to ignore, especially when the line “I saw a gun” was uttered at the end of “President.” Till we reach that day, indeed.

[Scarywarhol]

Posted: 1/30/26 at 8:17pm

I finally saw the Vivian Beaumont staging after seeing it at City Center. 

Positive:

The cast is uniformly good to great. Their voices are beautiful.

I think Coalhouse and Sarah in particular have never been sung better, for the characters. As someone who was extremely positive on Audra singing GYPSY and defended her performance constantly here, I'm gonna say something that might sound like a hot take: I think Nichelle Lewis is a more natural fit for Sarah. She has grown into the role and her voice has so much character, the right mix of grit and naivety. Nothing can be said about Joshua Henry that hasn't already been said a thousand times. He is a perfect Coalhouse, and makes the shortcomings of how this character is dramatized in such a packed show (particularly in the second act) a bit more frustrating. 

It is also, of course, an exciting and sweeping and powerful score and again it is a pleasure to hear it played so fully. The show remains both eternally timely and a bit politically timid (especially compared to Doctorow's novel) by the time we reach its climax. It can certainly feel naive, or frustrating in where it puts its emphasis. But I find myself in a very forgiving mood toward things that might have rankled more even a few years ago. To have something of this size basically on the side of good, on the side of America's possibility and the possibility of connection and the value of diversity, feels like a gift right now. Having a basically classic Broadway musical onstage feels like a gift right now. 

I thought Lear deBessonet did a nice job with the blocking in a number of places. The opening number has been widely discussed. I thought this was the most affecting and haunting "Sarah Brown Eyes" I'd seen, and I also liked "New Music" (other than that very silly staircase set piece). 

As an aural experience, it's superb although--if anything--I actually thought the actors were mixed a bit low at moments when I wanted to really feel the anthemic force of the songs. A rare thing on Broadway! Generally, I think it doesn't matter where you sit to enjoy what works here because...

The negative:

I outright hated the physical production. I honestly think they would have been better off keeping the orchestra onstage and fleshing out the slatted, suggestive practical set pieces we had at City Center, which would at least make it feel like the space was in use. This is like a local college production swimming in a sea of black, in front of that horrible (and malfunctioning!) screen of Windows 98 graphics. All of the sad little visual elements that do remain feel totally out of sync with each other, it's bewildering. 

It just reminded me how dispiriting it's been since the pandemic to work on processes where the design team and their associates are hardly ever in the same room before tech. It shows. It's terrible for the work, and it makes it so much less of a pleasure to be in this business. And worst of all, the lack of time and close collaboration is evident onstage.

So this felt like a very, very sad illustration of where the production side of the American theater is, both in how cheap it feels and how thoughtlessly assembled. The last revival had a unit set and a cyclorama, and it was gorgeous. It was tiny compared to the original, but it sure seems out of reach now. I'm tired of these hideous, unimaginative, vibe-killing, atmosphere-obliterating video walls. I'm so tired of empty stages that don't even reflect a stripped-down concept, just a lack of resources and vision. 

Lear is good with actors, and she's an incredible networker and community builder, I admire her, but that lack of larger theatrical vision here is very discouraging as an audience member and theater worker myself. Clearly we're not working with the resources of a pre-pandemic Lincoln Center revival here, but she consistently does not seem capable of deploying available resources to impactful theatrical effect. See: Hercules at the Papermill. For these prices, I'm sorry, you need to transport me in *some* way. That this musical failed to give me that feeling for the first time, even when performed so superbly, was kind of telling. 

So in all, I think I was a bit more mixed on this than many! I definitely preferred it at City Center, other than a few performances deepening. But I'm really glad that people can experience this music and this cast.

Updated On: 1/30/26 at 08:17 PM

[DramaTeach]

Posted: 1/31/26 at 2:56pm

FYI, John Clay posted that he’s Coalhouse for every Sunday until May.

[binau]

Posted: 1/31/26 at 3:34pm

Wow, what a post Scarywohal. These are the moments where I wonder whether people or the very person ‘in the business’ in question are reading because the criticism is so deep, so thought through that they would be shaking like their biggest insecurities are exposed for everyone to see. A lingering haunting memory of it following them with all future decision making and projects. 

[Scarywarhol]

Posted: 1/31/26 at 3:55pm

Thank you, binau. I sometimes feel a bit silly when I realize I'm writing a ramble here these days, and I try to be fair, I am not trying to attack anyone and want to note what I appreciate as well. But I do know these pages are still actually pretty widely read and I hope it is just as widely understood that audiences notice what we're being expected to accept. 

Updated On: 1/31/26 at 03:55 PM

[TheatreMonkey]

Posted: 2/8/26 at 10:10pm

BWW's "Complete History of Ragtime"

I'll be honest -- I didn't get past the first paragraph thanking Garth Drabinksy for correcting "various inaccuracies" in a previous version of the story...

[getatme]

Posted: 2/8/26 at 10:57pm

Scarywarhol said: "Thank you, binau. I sometimes feel a bit silly when I realize I'm writing a ramble here these days, and I try to be fair, I am not trying to attack anyone and want to note what I appreciate as well. But I do know these pages are still actually pretty widely read and I hope it is just as widely understood that audiences notice what we're being expectedto accept."

For me, you absolutely hit the nail right on the head with my thoughts on this production. If I look at it strictly from a performance standpoint, there are very few things I can take issue with. There is some decent staging throughout, but by and large, this production proves to me that Lear has no overarching vision when she is directing. She is moving bodies and (minimal) set pieces around a stage, but there is no true purpose or driving force behind it. Maybe she spends the bulk of the time helping the actors hone their performances, and for that I will give credit. But to be doing a true American epic musical with sweeping music and a dozen plus characters and have it be happening virtually in a black void onstage is a misfire of major proportions for me.

Thank you so much for sharing your thoughts. I truly enjoyed reading them and putting this into the context of the industry as a whole. 

[tomwsjr]

Posted: 2/9/26 at 7:49am

Has anyone seen his performance as Coalhouse?

[Jeffrey Karasarides]

Posted: 2/9/26 at 1:48pm

[theblackumbrella]

Posted: 2/9/26 at 3:21pm

Scarywarhol said: "Thank you, binau. I sometimes feel a bit silly when I realize I'm writing a ramble here these days, and I try to be fair, I am not trying to attack anyone and want to note what I appreciate as well. But I do know these pages are still actually pretty widely read and I hope it is just as widely understood that audiences notice what we're being expected to accept."

I really appreciate your reviews because I didn’t like the physical production when I saw it last October. When the cast recording came out, I was kind of gas lighting myself in thinking I missed something because I love the new recording so much. This is a helpful reminder that I did love the performances but not the production and so I don’t need to revisit it. I will listen to the cast recording on repeat though. Yall I find myself going on runs and listening to this recording.