Photo Flash: Portland Center Stage's RAGTIME Dress Rehearsal

Chris Coleman, Artistic Director of Portland Center Stage, describes Ragtime. Ragtime began September 22 on the Main Stage.

Ragtime
Book by Terrence McNally, lyrics by Lynn Ahrens, and music by Stephen Flaherty
Directed by Chris Coleman
On the Main Stage
September 22 to November 1, 2009

E.L. Doctorow's sweeping novel comes vividly to life in this Tony Award-winning musical, set against the backdrop of the ragtime craze in New York City. In it, three disparate families intertwine: a wealthy white couple; a Jewish immigrant father and his motherless daughter; and an African American ragtime musician who teaches them all about the surprising interconnections of the human heart, the limitations of justice and the unsettling consequences of dreams permanently deferred. Historical figures like Harry Houdini, J.P. Morgan and Emma Goldman also inhabit this stirring epic, but it is American popular music that carries the story, including marches, cakewalks and - of course - ragtime.

The run time for Ragtime is 2 hours and 50 minutes with one intermission.

Photo credit: Portland Center Stage