Ragtime (Broadway)
RAGTIME with music by Stephen Flaherty, lyrics by Lynn Ahrens and book by Terrence McNally based on the novel by E.L. Doctorow, opened on January 18, 1998 on Broadway at the Ford Center for the Performing Arts and ran for 834 performances and 27 previews grossing USD $77,694,537 with an average ticket price of USD $55.50. Following a pre-Broadway world premiere in Toronto which opened on December 8, 1996, it has its first Broadway preview on December 26, 1997, and closed on January 16, 2000.
Produced by Livent (U.S.) Inc. headed by founders Garth Drabinsky and Myron Gottlieb, until spring 1998 when a new management team, headed by Michael Ovitz and investment banker Roy Furman, took over, then sold Livent (Canada and USA and it’s show assets including Ragtime) in Summer 1999 for $96 million to PACE Entertainment Corp. / Pace Theatrical Group’s parent company SFX Entertainment until 2000 which sold SFX (including SFX Broadway, Inc. & SFX Theatrical Group, Inc. including Livent’s asset of Ragtime) again to Clear Channel Communications.
Directed by Frank Galati; Choreographed by Graciela Daniele; Musical Direction by David Loud; Orchestrations by William David Brohn; Scenic Design by Eugene Lee; Costume Design by Santo Loquasto; Lighting Design by Jules Fisher and Peggy Eisenhauer with Sound Design by Jonathan Deans and Dance music arranged by David Krane.
Starring Alex Strange (The Little Boy), Mark Jacoby (Father) [until April 1999], Marin Mazzie (Mother) [until Dec 20, 1998], Steven Sutcliffe (Mother’s Younger Brother) [until Dec 27, 1998], Conrad McLaren (Grandfather, Foreman), Brian Stokes Mitchell (Coalhouse Walker Jr.) [until Dec 27, 1998], Audra McDonald (Sarah) [until Dec 27, 1998], Tommy Hollis (Booker T. Washington), Peter Friedman (Tateh aka Baron Askenazy), Lea Michele (The Little Girl), Jim Corti (Harry Houdini), Mike O’Carroll (J. P. Morgan, Judge), Larry Daggett (Henry Ford, Policeman, Town Hall Bureaucrat), Judy Kaye (Emma Goldman) [until July, 1998], Lynnette Perry (Evelyn Nesbit), Kevin Bogue (Stanford White), Colton Green (Harry K. Thaw, Policeman), Rod Campbell (Admiral Peary, Reporter), Duane Martin Foster (Matthew Henson, Black Lawyer, Gang Member), Jeffrey Kuhn (Reporter, Fireman, Clerk), Anne L. Nathan (Brigit, Baron’s Assistant), Anne Kanengeiser (Kathleen, Second Bureaucrat, Welfare Official), Bruce Winant (Doctor, Dirty Old Man, White Lawyer), Vanessa Townsell-Crisp (Sarah’s Friend), Gordon Stanley (Trolley Conductor, Reporter, Charles S. Whitman), David Mucci (Willie Conklin), Joe Locarro (Conductor), Monica L. Richards and Keith LaMelle Thomas (Pas de Deux), Little Coalhouse (role alternated by Michael Redd and Shane Rogers); Ensemble: Shaun Amyot, Darlene Bel Grayson, Kevin Bogue, Sondra M. Bonitto, Jamie Chandler-Torns, Ralph Deaton, Rodrick Dixon, Bernard Dotson, Donna Dunmire, Adam Dyer, Duane Martin Foster, Patty Goble, Colton Green, Elisa Heinsohn, Anne Kanengeiser, Jeffrey Kuhn, Joe Langworth, Joe Locarro, Anne L. Nathan, Panchali Null, Mimi Quillin, Monica L. Richards, Orgena Rose, Gordon Stanley, Angela Teek, Keith LaMelle Thomas, Allyson Tucker, Leon Williams and Bruce Winant.
Swings: Karen Andrew, John D. Baker, Mark Cassius, Albert Christmas, Dioni Michelle Collins, Mary Sharon Dziedzi , Valerie Hawkins, Kennl Hobson and Todd Thurston.
Understudies: Darlene Bel Grayson (Sarah’s Friend), Sondra M. Bonitto (Sarah’s Friend), Rod Campbell (Father, Foreman, Trolley Conductor), Mark Cassius (Matthew Henson), Jamie Chandler-Torns (Evelyn Nesbit), Jim Corti (Tateh), Pierce Cravens (The Little Boy), Nicole Dos Santos (The Little Girl), Duane Martin Foster (Coalhouse Walker Jr., Booker T. Washington), Patty Goble (Mother), Colton Green (Harry Houdini, Charles S. Whitman), Valerie Hawkins (Emma Goldman, Brigit, Welfare Official, Baron’s Assistant), Elisa Heinsohn (Evelyn Nesbit), Anne Kanengeiser (Mother), Jeffrey Kuhn (Mother’s Younger Brother, Harry Houdini), Joe Langworth (Mother’s Younger Brother, Harry Houdini), Joe Locarro (Mother’s Younger Brother), Anne L. Nathan (Emma Goldman), Monica L. Richards (Sarah), Orgena Rose (Sarah), Angela Teek (Sarah), Todd Thurston (Father, Henry Ford, J. P. Morgan, Grandfather, Admiral Peary, Charles S. Whitman), Leon Williams (Booker T. Washington) and Bruce Winant (Tateh, Henry Ford, Willie Conklin).
Musical Supervisor: Jeffrey Huard; Musical Coordinator: John Monaco; Conducted by David Loud; Associate Conductor: James Moore; Concert Master: Paul Woodiel; Violin: Blair Lawhead, Cecelia Hobbs Gardner, Chris Cardona, Lesa Terry and Ella Rutkovsky; Viola: Susan Follari and Richard Clark; Cello: Jenny Langham and Vivian Israel; Bass: Bob Renino; Flute/Piccolo: Brian Miller; Clarinet/E. Flat Clarinet: Owen Kotler; Oboe/English Horn: Bill Meredith; Flute/Alto Sax/Soprano Sax/ Bass Clarinet: Vincent DellaRocca; Trumpet: Jeffrey Kievit and Christian Jaudes; French Horns: Paul Riggio and Lisa Pike; Trombone: Charles Gordon; Tuba/Baritone Horn: Earl McIntyre; Synthesizer I: Steve Marzullo; Synthesizer II: James Moore; Drums: Marty Morell; Percussion: Bruce Doctor; Guitar/Banjo/Mandolin: Greg Utzig; Music Contractor: Susan Follari.
Projection Design by Wendall K. Harrington; Associate Costume Design: Janet Grant and Mitchell Bloom; Assistant Lighting Design: Edward Pierce; Assistant Costume Design: Hugh Hamrick and Hyun-Joo Kim; Associate Sound Design: Christopher Jordan and Peter Hylenski; Projection Programmer: Paul Vershbow; Magic Illusions by Franz Harary.
Livent Senior VP, Creative Affairs: Marty Bell; General Manager and Livent Senior VP, Production: Frank P. Scardino; Company Manager: Jim Brandeberry; Associate Company Manager: Ken Davenport; Technical Director & Production Manager: Peter W. Lamb; Technical Supervisor: Robert Whelan; Production Stage Manager: Randall Whitescarver; Stage Manager: Dean R. Greer; Assistant Stage Manager: Bernita Robinson and Robbie Young; Assistant Production Manager: Corin Gutteridge.
Casting: Beth Russell and Arnold Mungioli; Production Costume Coordinator: Janet Grant; Dance Captain: Keith LaMelle Thomas; Fight direction by Joe Bostick; Additional fight staging by B. H. Barry; New York Press Representative: Mary Bryant and Wayne Wolfe; General Press Representative: Ian Rand; Promotions: Keith Hurd; Online Marketing: Toby Simkin / Theatre.com; Photographer: Catherine Ashmore and Logo Design by Scott Thornley & Company, Inc.
Donna Bullock (Mother) [Dec 22, 1998 – Jan 16, 2000], Darlesia Cearcy (Sarah) [Sep 1999 – Jan 16, 2000], Joseph Dellger (Father) [Sep 1999 – Jan 16, 2000], John Dossett (Father) [Apr 1999 – Sep 1999], LaChanze (Sarah) [Dec 29, 1998 – Sep 1999], John Rubinstein (Tateh) [Dec 22, 1998 – Aug 01, 1999], Michael Rupert (Tateh) [Aug 03, 1999 – Jan 16, 2000], Alton Fitzgerald White (Coalhouse Walker Jr.) [Dec 29, 1998 – Jan 16, 2000], James Stovall (Coalhouse Walker Jr.), Michelle Dawson (Evelyn Nesbit), Michele Ragusa (Evelyn Nesbit), Janine LaManna (Evelyn Nesbit), Erick Devine (J. P. Morgan / Foreman), David Masenheimer (Henry Ford), Bernie Yvon (Harry Houdini), Tom Toner (Grandfather / Reporter) [Dec 22, 1998 – Jan 16, 2000], Tina Fabrique (Sarah’s Friend), Michael Hyatt (Sarah’s Friend), Scott Carollo (Mother’s Younger Brother), Christopher Cordell (The Little Boy), Pierce Cravens (The Little Boy / Alternate), Anthony Blair Hall (The Little Boy), Davon Harris (Little Coalhouse / Alternate), Isaiah S. Henderson (Little Coalhouse / Alternate), Landel Thorman (Little Coalhouse / Alternate), Dara Paige Bloomfield (The Little Girlm/ Alternate), Elizabeth Lundberg (The Little Girl), Paul Harman (Doctor / Child Buyer/ Ensemble), Ron Trenouth (Doctor / Child Buyer / Ensemble), Ann Van Cleave (Kathleen / 2nd Bureaucrat / Welfare Official / Ensemble), Bernard Dotson (Pas de Deux), Deidre Lang (Pas de Deux / Ensemble), Eric Jordan Young (Pas de Deux / Ensemble), Ensemble: Johmaalya Adelekan, James D. Beeks, Leslie Bell, Amy Bodnar, Albert Christmas, Roberta Duchak, Mary Sharon Dziedzic, Lovena Fox, Sean Grant, Jeff Hairston, Rosena M. Hill, Adam Hunter, Rusty Mowery, Kimberly Dawn Neumann, Zoie Quinde, Kimberly JaJuan, Josh Tower, Joseph Webster, Mindy Franzese Wild and Laurie Williamson.
Swings: Sherry Boone, Susan Burk, Michael-Demby Cain, Robert Barry Fleming, Jacquelyn Hodges and Janice Lorraine.
Understudies: Karen Andrew (Pas de Deux), John D. Baker (Conductor, Policeman, Town Hall Bureaucrat, Reporter, Clerk, Stanford White, Harry K. Thaw, Doctor, Child Buyer, Fireman), Amy Bodnar (Evelyn Nesbit), Rod Campbell (Grandfather), Albert Christmas (Matthew Henson, Pas de Deux, Black Lawyer, Gang Member), Bernard Dotson (Pas de Deux), Roberta Duchak (Mother), Mary Sharon Dziedzic (Kathleen, Welfare Official, Baron’s Assistant, Brigit, 2nd Bureaucrat), Lovena Fox (Sarah), Valerie Hawkins (Kathleen, 2nd Bureaucrat), Kennl Hobson (Matthew Henson, Black Lawyer, Gang Member), Joe Langworth (Harry K. Thaw, Stanford White), Gordon Stanley (J. P. Morgan, Judge), Todd Thurston (Willie Conklin, Foreman, Trolley Conductor, Conductor, Policeman, Town Hall Bureaucrat, Reporter, Clerk, Doctor, Child Buyer, Fireman), Allyson Tucker (Pas de Deux), Ann Van Cleave (Mother) and Leon Williams (Coalhouse Walker Jr.).
Assistant Costume Design: Melanie Huston and Nancy Granfield; Associate Scenic Design: Randi Savoy; Assistant Scenic Design: Harry Matheu; Assistant Stage Mgr: David Horton Black; Production Supervisor: Randall Whitescarver; Production Stage Manager: Tom Capps; Dance Captain Susan Burk; Assistant Dance Captain: Bernard Dotson and Assistant Fight Captain: Colton Green.
As Founder and CEO of Theatre.com and BuyBroadway.com. The pioneer in moving the Broadway industry onto the internet. The theatre press branded me as “Toby is the man pushing theatre, kicking and screaming, into cyberspace.” What started in 1989 as a Broadway industry service called ShowCall via dialup BBS for members of the League of American Theatre Producers evolved onto the world wide web in the early 90’s, and shortly after this, the vast majority of Broadway shows (starting with my production of Victor/Victoria) and theatrical organizations followed. The “Super site of Broadway” became a publicly traded company, prior to my re-branding it as Theatre.com at the Minskoff Theatre.
Described by Variety Magazine as a “marketing powerhouse“, it was the single largest theatre community in the world with over 180,000 active members (in the 1990’s this was massive). From buying official Broadway tickets and souvenirs, providing detailed global show listings, interactive show study & educational guides, live streaming shows and events (including many Opening Nights live broadcasts), industry news from major theatre journalists, pictures and videos, games, messaging directly to Broadway cast’s backstage or even licensing a musical, theatre.com offered it all in a single, easy-to-use interface to theatregoers globally.
AWARDS
1998 Tony Awards
- WINNER Best Book of a Musical
- WINNER Best Original Musical Score
- WINNER Best Featured Actress in a Musical – Audra McDonald
- WINNER Best Orchestrations
- Nominee Best Musical
- Nominee Best Actor in a Musical – Peter Friedman
- Nominee Best Actor in a Musical – Brian Stokes Mitchell
- Nominee Best Actress in a Musical – Marin Mazzie
- Nominee Best Scenic Design
- Nominee Best Costume Design
- Nominee Best Lighting Design
- Nominee Best Choreography
- Nominee Best Direction of a Musical
1998 Drama Desk Awards
- WINNER Outstanding New Musical
- WINNER Outstanding Book of a Musical
- WINNER Outstanding Music
- WINNER Outstanding Lyrics
- WINNER Outstanding Orchestrations
- Nominee Outstanding Actor in a Musical – Peter Friedman
- Nominee Outstanding Actor in a Musical – Brian Stokes Mitchell
- Nominee Outstanding Actress in a Musical – Marin Mazzie
- Nominee Outstanding Featured Actor in a Musical – Steven Sutcliffe
- Nominee Outstanding Choreography
- Nominee Outstanding Direction of a Musical
- Nominee Outstanding Set Design of a Musical
- Nominee Outstanding Costume Design
- Nominee Outstanding Lighting Design
1998 Theatre World Awards
- WINNER Steven Sutcliffe
1998 Drama League Awards
- WINNER Distinguished Production of a Musical
- WINNER Outstanding New Broadway Musical
1998 New York Drama Critics Circle Awards
- WINNER Best Musical
1998 Outer Critics Circle Awards
- WINNER Outstanding New Broadway Musical Winner
- Nominee Outstanding Director Of A Musical – Frank Galati
- Nominee Outstanding Costume Design – Santo Loquasto
- Nominee Outstanding Choreography – Graciela Daniele
- Nominee Outstanding Actress In A Musical – Marin Mazzie
- Nominee Outstanding Actor In A Musical – Brian Stokes Mitchell
- WINNER Outstanding Featured Actor In A Musical – Peter Friedman
- Nominee Outstanding Lighting Design – Jules Fisher & Peggy Eisenhauer
- Nominee Outstanding Featured Actress In A Musical – Audra Mcdonald
- Nominee Outstanding Set Design – Eugene Lee
MUSICAL NUMBERS
Act One:
- “Ragtime” (Company);
- “Goodbye, My Love” (Marin Mazzie);
- “Journey On” (Mark Jacoby, Marin Mazzie, Peter Friedman);
- “The Crime of the Century” (Lynnette Perry, Steven Sutcliffe, Ensemble);
- “What Kind of Woman” (Marin Mazzie);
- “A Shtetl iz Amerike” (Peter Friedman, Lea Michele, Immigrants);
- “Success” (Peter Friedman, Mike O’Carroll, Jim Corti, Ensemble);
- “Gettin’ Ready Rag” (Brian Stokes Mitchell, Ensemble);
- “Henry Ford” (Larry Daggett, Brian Stokes Mitchell, Ensemble);
- “Nothing Like the City” (Peter Friedman, Marin Mazzie, Alex Strange, Lea Michele);
- “Your Daddy’s Son” (Audra McDonald);
- “New Music” (Mark Jacoby, Marin Mazzie, Steven Sutcliffe, Brian Stokes Mitchell, Audra McDonald, Ensemble);
- “Wheels of a Dream” (Brian Stokes Mitchell, Audra McDonald);
- “The Night That Goldman Spoke at Union Square” (Steven Sutcliffe, Judy Kaye, Ensemble);
- “Lawrence, Massachusetts” (Ensemble);
- “Gliding” (Peter Friedman);
- “Justice” (Brian Stokes Mitchell, Ensemble);
- “President” (Audra McDonald);
- “Till We Reach That Day” (Vanessa Townsell-Crisp, Brian Stokes Mitchell, Judy Kaye, Steven Sutcliffe, Marin Mazzie, Peter Friedman, Ensemble)
Act Two:
- “Henry Houdini, Master Escapist” (Alex Strange, Jim Corti);
- “Coalhouse’s Soliloquy” (Brian Stokes Mitchell);
- “Coalhouse Demands” (Ensemble);
- “What a Game!” (Mark Jacoby, Alex Strange, Ensemble);
- “Atlantic City” (Lynnette Perry, Jim Corti);
- “New Music” (reprise) (Mark Jacoby);
- “Atlantic City” (Part Two) (Ensemble);
- “The Crime of the Century” (reprise) (Lynnette Perry);
- “Henry Houdini, Master Escapist” (reprise) (Jim Corti);
- “Buffalo Nickel Photoplay, Inc.” (Peter Friedman);
- “Our Children” (Marin Mazzie, Peter Friedman);
- “Sarah Brown Eyes” (Brian Stokes Mitchell, Audra McDonald);
- “He Wanted to Say” (Judy Kaye, Steven Sutcliffe, Brian Stokes Mitchell, Coalhouse’s Men);
- “Back to Before” (Marin Mazzie);
- “Look What You’ve Done” (Tommy Hollis, Brian Stokes Mitchell, Coalhouse’s Men);
- “Make Them Hear You” (Brian Stokes Mitchell);
- “Ragtime” (reprise)
- “Wheels of a Dream” (reprise) (Company)
Ragtime shepherd Marty Bell, at the time Senior VP, Creative Affairs of Livent is the man who brought the idea of Ragtime to Garth Drabinsky at Livent. For the historical record, here are his fascinating notes on development of the show…
Some thoughts about “RAGTIME”
by Marty Bell
–In 1975, my wife, who was an editorial assistant at Random House, brought home a galley of a new novel by E.L. Doctorow entitled Ragtime. At the time I was a sportswriter working for Dick Schaap at Sport Magazine. Though I had no basis for this, when I read it, I dreamt that I was going to produce this as a musical someday.
–In about 1990, I had been a producer of two shows, and become friends with Peter Stone, whose writing and spirit (and humor) I so admired. I suggested we explore a musical of Ragtime. We had a good meeting with Jerry Herman at his townhouse and he showed interest in writing the score but would not commit. Stone and Edgar Doctorow each had houses in the Hamptons area, were social friends and so Peter arranged a pitch meeting for us. Peter’s theory was that successful musicals had to be built around one main character and he believed Ragtime was Mother’s story. Doctorow did not approve of that approach and turned us down..
–In 1993, at the suggestion of Hal Prince, Garth Drabinsky invited me to visit with him in Toronto to discuss becoming the person ushering creative affairs at Livent. I arrived at his office with a list of ideas for musicals and suggestions for collaborators. Ragtime was on top of the list. Garth promptly read the book, got very excited and soon persuaded Doctorow to grant us the rights.
–The night we acquired the rights, Garth and I flew to NY to check in on Vanessa Williams in Kiss of the Spider Woman. After the show, we went downstairs backstage to Brian Mitchell’s dressing room and told him, ‘we just optioned a book today that’s going to change your life‘.
–We commissioned Terence McNally, whom we had each worked with at different stages on Kiss of the Spider Woman, to write a treatment. Garth had worked in the movie business and this was a standard practice there, though a bit unusual in musical theatre. When Terrence’s treatment arrived, I read the very first page in which he had the characters introducing themselves and their stories in the third person and I knew immediately we had something special and different here.
–Garth was not that familiar with the Broadway composer and lyricist pool. At this point, he had only worked with Andrew Lloyd Webber — and we both believed we needed American voices. Garth asked Hal, how do you know people can write this score? Hal suggested auditioning them. Hal meant asking one team to write a few songs. But this was Garth; we gave nine teams of composer/lyricists—some with track records, some very early in their careers– $2000 each and asked them to write four songs. I still have the cassettes and listen to them frequently. Every one has great songs that linger in my mind. (Someday, if the writers whom I’ve never revealed agree, I need to convince Jennifer Ashley Tepper to do an evening of The Ragtime Tapes at 54 Below.)
–I was assigned to contact the list of songwriters. When I called Lynn Ahrens, who was a friend, she turned me down. She told me she and Steve Flaherty had other commitments, but my hunch was she was not interested in the competition. But Steve called me, I think the very next morning, and said he wanted to persuade Lynn to do this. He heard this show in his head.
–When we had all nine cassettes, we brought Edgar Doctorow up to Toronto and he, Garth and I listened together. It was a dazzling day. When Edgar heard Ahrens and Flaherty’s first act closer, “Till We Reach That Day,” he was sold.
–At that first job interview with Garth, he asked me how we would develop new shows. I suggested we take over a university’s theatre department each summer, engage their students as interns, house the actors and creative teams in the dorms and work around the clock. So we made an arrangement with York University, near the new Ford Center that we operated and where Hal’s production of Show Boat was playing. In our first summer there, we did two-week workshops of six different shows, including Jason Robert Brown’s Songs for the New World. By the second summer we had a first act of Ragtime. We had brought Frank Galati and Graciela Daniele on board as director and choreographer and we organized a reading.
–The cast that our casting team of Beth Russell and Arnie Mungioli assembled for the first reading blew my mind: Donna Murphy read Mother, Joel Grey read Tateh, Susan Egan read Evelyn Nesbit, Tovah Feldshuh read Emma Goldman and, of course, Brian Mitchell (he wasn’t Stokes just yet) and Audra McDonald read Coalhouse and Sarah. (The York University student interns were all part of the ensemble.)
–On our first thrilling day of rehearsal, we did a readthrough. Afterwards, Lynn and Steve and Frank and Terrence and Garth and I talked it through and someone said, “We have the amazing Audra McDonald here and she doesn’t have enough to do.” The next afternoon, I got a call at my office from Lynn asking Garth and me to come by the university. When we got there, they sat us down as Audra sang “Your Daddy’s Son” for the first time. It wrecked me. Lynn and Steve had written it overnight. That’s how things happened those great summers at York.
–When Donna took The King & I job, we needed a Mother., a pivotal role. We had one of those amazing audition days where every Broadway leading lady with the right vocal range came through the door. You want to hire everyone. It came down to Marin Mazzie and Carolee Carmello. Marin got this one, but Carolee starred in our next show, Parade. Marin lived a block from me in Toronto and I often drove her home from the theatre. It gave us a chance to get to know each other well. Her relationship with Jason was just developing. The show was long and during the Sunday matinees there was always a town car outside the stage door. She ran out to catch the last shuttle back to NY. She scurried so fast when the curtain fell, I thought she was flying home in her costume.
–The following April, we had a full script and did a workshop at the Canadian Opera studios. The first day of rehearsals was the first night of Passover. Garth led the entire company through a seder, in which everyone read from the Haggadah, and Judy Kaye (now in the role of Emma Goldman) sang the holiday songs. We talked a lot that night about the experience of the Jews escaping Egypt and the African Americans escaping the south.. It set us off with a poignant start.
–The show was gorgeous at the Ford Center. Despite its size, with its boxes all around the orchestra, the room had an intimacy. When Show Boat closed at the Gershwin, there was pressure from the Nederlander Organization to bring Ragtime right in. But we were in the midst of combining two theatres on the New 42nd Street into the New York Ford Center and Garth was dead set on opening it with Ragtime, which was totally understandable. So we kept a company in Toronto for close to a year and opened a second company in Los Angeles. Despite the beauty of the Ford Center in NY, its balcony was distant from the stage and it lacked the intimacy the show had in Toronto. I keep hearing about that from people who saw it in both places, especially Michael Riedel.
—Ragtime won the Drama Desk for best musical that year over The Lion King. After the ceremony, I went to a restaurant in the theatre district and found myself sitting at a table right next to that of Julie Taymor and Elliot Goldenthal, who were friends of mine. Julie was gracious and congratulated me and I was obnoxious and kidded her that the Tonys would have the same result.
–I sat beside Garth at that year’s Tonys at Radio City. It was a very competitive night with the awards divided among Ragtime, The Lion King and Sam Mendes’ and Rob Marshall’s Roundabout revival of Cabaret. Nathan Lane presented the award for best musical that year. He told me at the Tony Ball that when he opened the envelope, he had Ragtime on his tongue. But the card inside said The Lion King. Heidi Landesman once said to me as we left a Tony ceremony, “The Tonys make just a few people very happy and many people very sad.” On the night Ragtime got beat, I just wandered around the streets aimlessly before briefly stopping by the ball.
–Edgar Doctorow, who worked closely with us throughout the process, liked to say he was sitting in his house in New Rochelle staring at the walls, trying to find something to write about, so he started writing about the walls. And that became Ragtime. On New Year’s Eve of the new Millenium, he had sold the house to move to the city and my wife Susan and I had the privilege of tearfully packing up his library.
–Over these past 21 years, I have seen Ragtime revived on Broadway, in London, at regional theatres all across the county, and perhaps most significantly, in productions at many high schools and colleges. And that, I guess, finally is why we do it, that’s our prize. When we are lucky, we create something that lasts for the rest of our lifetimes and beyond. I guess that’s the wheels of the dream.
