Original RAGTIME Star Brian Stokes Mitchell Will Counsel High School Students on the Musical's Controversial Language

As BroadwayWorld reported earlier this year, following a debate about censorship of Cherry Hill High School's production Ragtime, the school will perform the show with it's book in tact- including its controversial use of the N-word.

Original star of Ragtime Brian Stokes Mitchell weighed in on the matter, saying, "To take the ugly language out of Ragtime is to sanitize it and that does it a great disservice."

Now the students will get a visit from Coalhouse himself, according to the Philadelphia Inquirer. Mitchell will meet with the cast this morning to chat about "the thorny use of the N-word and other racially charged language in the school's upcoming production."

Brian Stokes Mitchell most recently starred on Broadway in SHUFFLE ALONG, OR THE MAKING OF THE MUSICAL SENSATION OF 1921 AND ALL THAT FOLLOWED. His other Broadway credits include WOMEN ON THE VERGE OF A NERVOUS BREAKDOWN, LOVE/LIFE, MAN OF LA MANCHA, KISS ME KATE, RAGTIME and KISS OF THE SPIDER WOMAN.