The Tony-nominated Stephen Flaherty–Lynn Ahrens–Terrence McNally musical Ragtime will be part of New York City Center's just-announced 2024–2025 season.
The hit musical, based on E.L. Doctorow’s novel of the same, will be the New York venue's annual gala presentation. The two-week engagement will kick off October 30 with a benefit performance followed by dinner at the Ziegfeld Ballroom.
Encores! Artistic Director Lear deBessonet will direct a cast led by Joshua Henry as Coalhouse Walker Jr., Caissie Levy as Mother, and Tony winner Brandon Uranowitz as Tateh. Additional casting will be announced.
James Moore will be the music director for the production, which continues through November 10.
Ragtime mixes fictional characters and historical ones in telling the story of Coalhouse Walker Jr., a Black man who buys a Model T Ford, setting off a chain of events that involve all levels of New York City society—along with magician Harry Houdini, industrialist Henry Ford, celebrity Evelyn Nesbit, Black leader Booker T. Washington, architect Sanford White, revolutionary Emma Goldman, Admiral Peary, a Latvian immigrant who becomes a movie director, and a not-so-quiet family in suburban New Rochelle, New York.
The original Broadway production featured a cast led by Audra McDonald as Sarah, Brian Stokes Mitchell as Coalhouse Walker Jr., Marin Mazzie as Mother, Mark Jacoby as Father, Steven Sutcliffe as Mother's Younger Brother, Peter Friedman as Tateh, Judy Kaye as Emma Goldman, Jim Corti as Harry Houdini, Lynette Perry as Evelyn Nesbit, Tommy Hollis as Booker T. Washington, and Larry Daggett as Henry Ford.
The musical was nominated for 12 1998 Tony Awards, including Best Musical. It took home four awards, including Best Book of a Musical, Best Original Score, Best Featured Actress in a Musical for McDonald, and Best Orchestrations for William David Brohn.
The three productions that will be part of the annual Encores! series—led by Music Director Mary‐Mitchell Campbell, Artistic Director deBessonet, and Creative Producing Director Clint Ramos—have also been revealed.
The season of musical theatre revivals will open with Urinetown, running February 5–16, 2025. With a score by Tony winners Mark Hollmann and Greg Kotis and a book by Kotis, Urinetown examines the darkest dilemmas of humanity, skewering everything from capitalism to environmental activism. Teddy Bergman will direct with music direction by Campbell.
Tony winner Victoria Clark will direct the long‐awaited Love Life, which will be presented March 26-30. Originally scheduled as part of the 2019–2020 season, the performances were canceled at the start of the COVID‐19 shutdown. The 1948 collaboration between Kurt Weill and Alan Jay Lerner depicts a love story that takes place over 200 years of American history. Rob Berman will be the musical director.
Closing out the 2025 Encores! series April 30–May 11 will be The Wild Party, featuring music and lyrics by Michael John LaChiusa and book by LaChiusa and George C. Wolfe. Saheem Ali will direct the musical, which brings Joseph Moncure March’s notorious poem to life. Campbell is the music director.
Casting and additional creative team members for all productions will be announced at a later date.
“We have been welcoming a growing number of artists, audiences, and students to New
York City Center for more than 80 years,” says City Center President and CEO Michael S. Rosenberg in a statement. “For next season, we've crafted a series of dance, musical theatre, and community events that will have everyone and their friends coming back to see it all. You're not going to want to miss a moment that these international dancers, Broadway stars, new discoveries, and community leaders illuminate.”
For ticket information and additional details about the City Center season, visit NYCityCenter.org.
