Read the Reviews for the Ragtime Revival On Broadway
Joshua Henry, Caissie Levy, Brandon Uranowitz, and Nichelle Lewis lead director Lear deBessonet’s revival of the Ahrens and Flaherty musical.
Company of Ragtime
Matthew Murphy
It was the music of opening night for Ragtime on Broadway October 16, and the critics are sounding off! See what reviews have to say about the new revival below. Previews began September 26, and performances continue at the Vivian Beaumont Theatre through January 4, 2026. Freshly appointed LCT Artistic Director Lear deBessonet is at the helm after creating the production last year for a short run at New York City Center.
Joshua Henry, Caissie Levy, and Brandon Uranowitz lead the cast as Coalhouse Walker, Jr., Mother, and Tateh, respectively, with Colin Donnell (Anything Goes) as Father, Nichelle Lewis (The Wiz) as Sarah, Ben Levi Ross (Dear Evan Hansen) as Mother’s Younger Brother, Shaina Taub (Suffs) as Emma Goldman, John Clay III (New York, New York) as Booker T. Washington, and Rodd Cyrus (The Light in the Piazza) as Harry Houdini, all reprising their performances from the New York City Center run. The Broadway cast also features Anna Grace Barlow as Evelyn Nesbit, Nick Barrington as The Little Boy, and Tabitha Lawing as The Little Girl.
The ensemble features Nicholas Barrón, Lauren Blackman, Allison Blackwell, Briana Carlson-Goodman, Jordan Chin, Billy Cohen, Rheaume Crenshaw, Charity Angél Dawson, Ellie Fishman, Jason Forbach, Ta’Nika Gibson, David Jennings, Kaleb Johnson, Marina Kondo, Morgan Marcell, Kane Emmanuel Miller, Tom Nelis, Kent Overshown, Kayla Pecchioni, John Rapson, Deandre Sevon, Jacob Keith Watson, and Alan Wiggins. Swings and understudies Eean Sherrod Cochran, Kerry Conte, Nick Gaswirth, Jackson Parker Gill, Jenny Mollet, Matthew Scott, and Ellie May Sennett round out the company. Casting is by The Telsey Office’s Craig Burns.
Read the reviews below.
1 Minute Critic (Matthew Wexler)
America Magazine (Rob Weinert-Kendt)
CitiTour NYC (Brian Scott Lipton)
Entertainment Weekly (Shania Russell)
New York Post (Johnny Oleksinski)
New York Magazine/Vulture (Jackson McHenry)
New York Notebook (Sandy MacDonald)
New York Stage Review (Melissa Rose Bernardo, Roma Torre)
New York Theater (Jonathan Mandell)
New York Theatre Guide (Joe Dziemianowicz)
The New York Times (Laura Collins-Hughes)*
TheaterMania (Zachary Stewart)
The Wall Street Journal (Charles Isherwood)*
The Washington Post (Naveen Kumar)*
*This review may require creating a free account or a paid subscription.
Playbill will continue to update this list as reviews come in.
The production features choreography by Ellenore Scott, set design by David Korins, costume design by Linda Cho, lighting design by Adam Honoré, sound design by Kai Harada, projection design by 59 Studio, and hair and wig design by Tom Watson. Music director James Moore is conducting a 28-piece orchestra playing the original orchestrations by William David Brohn, and vocal arrangements by Flaherty. Ann James is sensitivity specialist, and Cody Renard Richard serves as production stage manager.
Based on a novel by E.L. Doctorow, Ragtime blends fact and fiction telling the story of New York City at the dawn of the 20th century, with a book by Terrence McNally, music by Flaherty, and lyrics by Ahrens. The story focuses on Coalhouse Walker, Jr., a Black man who buys a Model T Ford and sets off a chain of events that encompass all levels of New York City society, along with magician Harry Houdini, industrialist Henry Ford, celebrity party girl Evelyn Nesbit, civil rights leader Booker T. Washington, architect Stanford White, anarchist Emma Goldman, a Jewish Latvian immigrant who becomes a movie director, and an upper class white family living in suburban New Rochelle.
READ: The Making of Broadway’s Ragtime, an Oral History
The LCT staging is being produced in association with Tom Kirdahy, Kevin Ryan, Robert Greenblatt, and Lamar Richardson.
Click here to purchase tickets.
Joshua Henry, Caissie Levy, Brandon Uranowitz, and company of Ragtime
Matthew Murphy
Caissie Levy and Brandon Uranowitz in Ragtime
Matthew Murphy
John Clay III and company of Ragtime
Matthew Murphy
Anna Grace Barlow in Ragtime
Matthew Murphy
Joshua Henry and company of Ragtime
Matthew Murphy
Nichelle Lewis and Joshua Henry in Ragtime
Matthew Murphy
Joshua Henry, Ben Levi Ross, and company of Ragtime
Matthew Murphy
Brandon Uranowitz and Tabitha Lawing in Ragtime
Matthew Murphy
Nick Barrington, Rodd Cyrus, and company of Ragtime
Matthew Murphy
Nichelle Lewis in Ragtime
Matthew Murphy
Brandon Uranowitz in Ragtime
Matthew Murphy
Nick Barrington and Colin Donnell in Ragtime
Matthew Murphy
