STAGE TUBE: Whoopi Raves About Ragtime on THE VIEW

The thrilling new Broadway production of RAGTIME at the Neil Simon Theatre (250 West 52 Street) officially opened on, Sunday, November 15, 2009. Whoopi Goldberg raved about loving the show on THE VIEW this week and we're happy to show the video right here on BroadwayWorld TV Stage Tube!

One of the most eagerly anticipated productions of this Broadway season is the revival of Ragtime, a musical adaptation of E.L. Doctorow's novel: a complex turn-of-the-20th-century tapestry that weaves together stories of a WASP family, an African-American musician and a Jewish immigrant as they make their way in the new New World.

The John F. Kennedy Center's new production of Terrence McNally,Lynn Ahrens and Stephen Flaherty's Tony Award® winning musical RAGTIME, based on the E.L. Doctorow novel, features direction and choreography by Marcia Milgrom Dodge, and a majestic 28-piece orchestra led by musical director James Moore.

RAGTIME features a company of 40, starring Ron Bohmer(Father),Quentin Earl Darrington (Coalhouse Walker Jr.), Christiane Noll(Mother), Robert Petkoff (Tateh), Bobby Steggert (Mother's Younger Brother), Stephanie Umoh (Sarah), with Christopher Cox (The Little Boy), Sarah Rosenthal (The Little Girl), Mark Aldrich (Willie Conklin),Aaron Galligan-Stierle (Henry Ford), Jonathan Hammond(Harry Houdini), Dan Manning (Grandfather), Michael X. Martin (J.P. Morgan),Mike McGowan (Stanford White), Donna Migliaccio (Emma Goldman),Josh Walden (Harry K. Thaw), Savannah Wise (Evelyn Nesbit), Eric Jordan Young (Booker T. Washington).

RAGTIME also features Sumayya Ali, Terence Archie, Corey Bradley,Jayden Brockington,Benjamin Cook, Carey Rebecca Brown, Jennifer Evans, Carly Hughes, Lisa Karlin, Valisia LeKae, James Moye, TracyLynn Olivera, Mamie Parris, Bryonha Parham, Nicole Powell, Kaylie Rubinaccio, Arbender J. Robinson, Benjamin Schrader, Wallace Smith,Catherine Walker, Jim Weaver, Kylil Christopher Williams.

RAGTIME originally opened on Broadway on January 18, 1998 at the Ford Center for the Performing Arts. The musical garnered four Tony Awards® including Best Book, Original Score and Best Orchestrations. The beloved Ahrens and Flaherty score features some of the award-winning team's best-known songs including the title song, "Make Them Hear You" and the anthem "The Wheels of a Dream."

RAGTIME tickets prices are $46.50, $86.50 and $126.50 (including $1.50 facility fee) and available by calling Ticketmaster at 212-307-4100 or visiting www.ticketmaster.com.

RAGTIME plays the following schedule: Tues. eve. at 7p; Wed., Thurs., Fri. and Sat. eve at 8p, Wed. and Sat. mat. at 2p; Sun. mat. at 3p. Dark Mon.

Photos by Walter McBride/Retna Ltd.