Photo Flash: FIrst Look at RAGTIME at Lincoln Park Performing Arts Center

Lincoln Park Performing Arts Center presents an all new production of the Tony Award-winning musical Ragtime, live on stage for six performances only, June 15 through June 24 on the Main Stage Theater.

This sweeping musical is complete with a 20 piece orchestra and a cast of 54 featuring equity actors Daina Michelle Griffith (Mother), Nic Barilar (Father) and Tru Verret- Fleming (Coalhouse Walker), and Lincoln Park Performing Arts Charter School recent graduate Amanda Gross (Sarah).

Featuring an epic, crusading score by Pittsburgh native Stephen Flaherty, Ragtime tells the story of three different groups, each pursuing the American dream in the early 20th century: African Americans, represented by Coalhouse Walker Jr., a Harlem musician; white suburbanites, represented by Mother, the matriarch of an upper-middleclass family in New Rochelle, New York; and Eastern European immigrants, represented by Tateh, a Jew from Latvia. Together, they confront history's timeless contradictions of wealth and pverty, freedom and prejudice, hope and despair. . . and what it means to live in America.

Historical figures from the period, including Harry Houdini, Booker T. Washington, J.P. Morgan, Henry Ford, and Emma Goldman Emma, are also featured.

The sprawling set for this production of Ragtime is designed by one of the region's leading theatrical designers, Tony Ferrieri, and built by Lincoln Park's scenic production team at its new shop and warehouse in Aliquippa.

In addition to Griffith, Fleming and Barilar, Erich Lasek is cast as Tateh and Joshua Jones as Booker T. Washington. Students from Lincoln Park Performing Arts Charter School are also featured, including Gross, Jordyn Walker (Emma Goldman), Nic Hermick Younger Brother), and Mathew Fedorek (Houdini).

Ragtime premiered in Toronto in 1996 before moving to a year-long run in Los Angeles. On Broadway, where it played for two years, it was nominated for thirteen Tony Awards, winning for Best Featured Actress, Best Original Score, Best Book, and Best Orchestration. The show had a brief revival in 2009 which earned it six Tony Award and seven Drama Desk nominations.

Tickets are $20, $18 and $15 and are available by calling (724) 576-4644 (option 2 for the box office) or online at www.LincolnParkArts.org.

Performances dates and times:
Friday and Saturday, June 15 and 16 at 7:30 pm
Sunday, June 17 at 2:00 pm
Friday and Saturday, June 22 and 23 at 7:30 pm
Sunday, June 24 at 2:00 pm

The region's premier arts-and-education destination, Lincoln Park Performing Arts Center is located in a serene park setting in Midland (Beaver County) Pennsylvania. Center is home to the renowned Lincoln Park Performing Arts Charter School and creates authentic real-world learning opportunities for young people by offering high-quality, professionally produced musicals, plays, concerts, dance and ballet performances, readings, and exhibits for patrons of all ages.

2018 - 2019 Highmark Subscription Series includes Sweeny Todd (October 5-21), The Addams Family @ Part (November 16-18), Miracle On 34th Street (November 30-December 9), The Nutcracker (December 13-16), Snow White The Ballet (February 15-17), The Three Musketeers (March 1-10), Singin' In The Rain (March 29-April 14) and In The Heights (June 14-23). More information is available at www.LincolnParkArts.org.

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