Erin Davie, Clyde Voce, Ben Cherry & More to Lead RAGTIME at The Hangar Theatre

Later this month, the Hangar Theatre's 2024 Mainstage season continues with Ragtime: The Musical. 

Through its exploration of the lives of an enterprising Jewish immigrant, a courageous Harlem pianist, and a conflicted upper-class wife, Ragtime celebrates the soaring sounds and can-do spirit of America at the dawn of the last century. 

Based on E. L. Doctorow's sweeping novel, Ragtime features music by Stephen Flaherty, lyrics by Lynn Ahrens, and a book by Terrence McNally. Ragtime is presented by the Hangar Theatre in association with FIM Flint Repertory Theatre, whose Producing Artistic Director, Michael Lluberes, also serves as director for the Hangar production.

The opening performance will take place on Friday, July 12, at 7:30 p.m., preceded by a preview performance on Thursday, July 11, also at 7:30 p.m.; matinee and evening performances will run through Saturday, July 20. On July 16, members of the Ragtime cast and creative team will participate in a post-show “Tuesday Talkback” following the evening performance. 

“Ragtime, the novel, was published in 1975, the same year the Hangar Theatre was launched. We present this compelling story now, with multiple layers of perspective—a century after the story is set, and fifty years after the novel was penned. While our sense of, and relationship to, the American Dream has continued to change and shift, it is no less complex or significant,” reflected Hangar Artistic Director Shirley Serotsky. “This revival seemed like a perfect fit for our 50th season—especially for its artistry, beauty, relevance, and stunning score,” Serotsky added.

The stars of Ragtime include Ben Cherry (whose Broadway credits include Indecent and Fiddler on the Roof) as Tateh; Jaden Dominique (The Color Purple, Sister Act Broadway national tour) as Sarah; Erin Davie (Diana, The Mystery of Edwin Drood, and A Little Night Music on Broadway) as Mother; Bill English (Days of Wine and Roses and Anything Goes on Broadway) as Father; and Clyde Voce (The Color Purple; Sister Act Broadway national tour) as Coalhouse Walker Jr.

Erin Davie first performed on Broadway in 2006 as Young Edie Beale in Grey Gardens, for which she received the Theatre World Award for outstanding Broadway debut. Other significant roles include Countess Charlotte Malcolm in A Little Night Music (2009), Violet in the revival of Side Show (2014), and Yvonne/Naomi in Sunday in the Park with George (2017). In March 2020, Davie's starring role as Camilla Parker Bowles in Diana—a role she also played at the musical's world premiere at the La Jolla Playhouse in 2017—was cut short due to the Covid-19 outbreak. A recorded version of the Broadway production was released by Netflix the following year. 

The cast is rounded out by Tori Bligen and Gemma Phipps (who will alternate in the role of Coalhouse Walker III), Greg Bostwick (Harry Houdini/Henry Ford/Ensemble), Kemari Bryant (Harlem Man/Ensemble), Sydney Carmona (Evelyn Nesbit/Ensemble), Richard N. Coleman (Booker T. Washington/Ensemble), Dexter Conlin (Younger Brother/Ensemble), Enaw Elonge (Ensemble/Instrumentalist), Hugo Lloyd (Little Boy), Gabriella Rubacky (Little Girl), Ephraim Takyi (Harlem Man/Ensemble), Crystal Renee Wright (Sarah's Friend/Ensemble), and Audrey Rose Young (Emma Goldman/Ensemble).

The Hangar is especially honored to have Ithaca-based actor and theatre educator Greg Bostwick participating in his 24th season at the Hangar, and to welcome Hugo Lloyd back to the Hangar stage after his incredible portrayal of Billy Elliot in the 2023 musical of the same name.

Michael Lluberes, an award-winning director and playwright who specializes in developing and directing world-premiere plays and musicals and bold new takes on classics, felt the time was right to take another look at Ragtime, which is set in 1906. “It's been over 25 years now since the show opened on Broadway, and the issues it explores—from racial injustice to immigrant rights and women's rights—couldn't be more relevant to 2024,” Lluberes said. “This was a time when everything in the country was changing and it very much mirrors the time we're living in now,” he added. 

A graduate of the University of North Carolina School of the Arts (UNCSA), Lluberes conceived and directed the new LGBTQ+ version of The Fantasticks, collaborating with original book writer and lyricist Tom Jones. His other directing credits include Death of a Salesman, One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, Into The Woods, The Glass Menagerie, The Boatman, Assassins, and Flint Mural Plays (Flint Rep). His plays include: The Boy in the Bathroom, Peter Pan: The Boy Who Hated Mothers, Songs About Stuff, and Geranium on the Windowsill Just Died.

In addition to Lluberes, the Ragtime creative team is led by Megan Smythe, Musical Director, and Jessica Natalie Smith, Choreographer. Smythe, who earned two bachelor's degrees from Ithaca College, in piano performance and music education, most recently served as music director for SIX: The Musical on board the Norwegian Breakaway. Smythe's other recent credits include the musical Anastasia (second national tour), A Complicated Woman (Goodspeed Opera House), and Assistant Musical Director of Sweeney Todd at the Hangar Theatre. Jessica Natalie Smith is an actor, director, choreographer, and a recent graduate of the Brown University MFA program in Acting and Directing. Jessica is a member of the Drama League's inaugural Irene Gandy Assistantship cohort and was co-conceiver and director of the Hangar Theatre's The Impossible Dream: A Broadway Pops Concert (2023) and choreographer for the 2021 Hangar KIDDSTUFF production of Elephant & Piggie: We Are in a Play! 

Additional Information about the Production

Ragtime will take place indoors on the Hangar Theatre's Niederkorn Stage. Please note: Ragtime is recommended for mature upper-elementary-aged children and older, as the show contains strong language, including the use of racial epithets, and simulated violence. The production is the second in the Hangar's 2024 Mainstage season, which will conclude July 27–Aug. 3 with Todd vs. the Titanic.

Ticket Information

Tickets are available individually or as multi-ticket “FlexPass” subscriptions, and there are many ways to save! With a 3-Ticket or 6-Ticket FlexPass subscription, YOU get to choose the performances that best match your interests and your schedule. Please visit hangartheatre.org or 607-273-ARTS (2787) to purchase tickets and learn more.

The Hangar Theatre also offers discounts for groups of 10 or more; gift subscriptions; “pay-what-you-will” tickets; and other ways to save. Please contact the theatre at boxoffice@hangartheatre.org or 607-273-ARTS (2787) for further details.

Performance Schedule

Thursday, July 11, at 7:30 p.m. (preview)*

Friday, July 12, at 7:30 p.m. (opening night)

Saturday, July 13, at 2:30 p.m. and 7:30 p.m.

Sunday, July 14, at 2:30 p.m.

Tuesday, July 16, at 7:30 p.m. (Tuesday Talkback follows performance)**

Wednesday, July 17, at 7:30 p.m.

Thursday, July 18, at 7:30 p.m.

Friday, July 19, at 7:30 p.m.

Saturday, July 20, at 2:30 p.m. and 7:30 p.m.

* Preview Performance (Thursday, July 11): Previews are shows performed in front of an audience prior to their official opening. This gives the director and creative team a chance to experience the production with an audience present, while adjustments can still be made.

** Tuesday Talkback (Tuesday, July 16): Members of the cast and creative team will participate in a live Q&A following the 7:30 p.m. performance. No registration is needed; if you have tickets for another performance of Ragtime, you are welcome to join us for the Talkback!

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