Ragtime: A Historic Look Back at the Here and Now

By Steven J. Smith

Although the action of the Tony Award winning musical Ragtime takes place at the dawn of the 20th century, Minnesota-based director Peter Rothstein believes its plot and characters could very well spring from today’s headlines.

“I’m always looking for works that resonate with our current world,” Rothstein said. “I wanted to do something that was about national identity. To be honest, when I first approached doing Ragtime in 2016 I knew there would be some parallel issues to America 100 years ago, but I didn’t know issues such as immigration, race, police violence and gender would reemerge in our current culture. Ragtime is, sadly, incredibly timely and resonant.”

This epic Tony Award winning musical depicts the struggles, successes, hopes and dreams of a white, upper-middle class family in New Rochelle, an African-American musician and his girlfriend in Harlem and a Jewish immigrant and his daughter on the Lower East Side. Interwoven with their stories are the newsmakers of the era including Harry Houdini, Booker T. Washington, J.P. Morgan and Henry Ford. 

This particular version of Ragtime, which runs at Asolo Rep from May 1-27, is something of a revival of Rothstein’s scaled down, intimate and elegant 2016 production at Theater Latté Da in the Twin Cities, of which he is the founding artistic director.

“Also the 5th Avenue Theatre in Seattle, where I’ve worked quite a bit, asked me to recreate it for them last year,” Rothstein said. “Then (Asolo Rep Producing Artistic Director) Michael Edwards got wind of it and said it sounded like a good piece for Asolo Rep. This version of Ragtime is the Theater Latté Da production of it done in partnership with the 5th Avenue Theatre. We’re sharing some of the costumes and props with them. The cast is a combination of one-third from the Twin Cities production, one-third from the Seattle production and the other third will be actors coming in from New York.”

Rothstein added he has never before worked at Asolo Rep, but his resume boasts successful productions of Other Desert Cities, M. Butterfly and Private Lives for the prestigious Guthrie Theatre, record-breaking productions of Annie, The Wizard of Oz and the world premiere of Disney’s High School Musical, among many others.

“As for this upcoming production of Ragtime, it’s such a lovely thing as a director to revisit a show with the same team and continue to learn and finesse what works,” Rothstein said. “It’s been a success in the Twin Cities and Seattle and I think it’s important that we try to understand in these communities — as well as in others — what the conversation is that we’re all having around these issues. And how that informs the work. Because as much as this piece speaks to hope, the issues at the heart of it have been part of our national challenges since the beginning.” 

Rothstein added the most common comment he and his colleagues get in post-show conversations is how woefully little things have changed over the last century and how little has been learned, which spurs them on to hone and focus the material. 

“So in each production we continue to find more specificity,” he said. “As well as in engaging with new artists, who bring their own life experiences to the work. It all inspires new conversations — specifically in regard to racial tensions, police violence and gender — in each new community, which is what I hope will happen in Sarasota as well.”

Rothstein added what he loves so much about this musical is that there is hope — as seen in the transformations the primary characters undergo. 

“So change is possible,” he said. “Compassion can instigate change. Empathy can build a better world. That’s at the heart of this piece and what it builds to is hope for the future — that our children, our youth, are given a voice, a platform, if provided access. What change might they create and what world might they build? Florida is in the global spotlight right now, with its youth in position to initiate significant change.”

Sarasota Scene is a sponsor of Ragtime, which opens May 1 at Asolo Rep’s Mertz Theatre, located at 5555 N. Tamiami Trail in Sarasota. It plays through May 27. Ticket prices range from $16-$98, depending upon seat location, day and performance time. For more information or to order tickets, call the box office at 941-351-8000 or 800-361-8388 or log on to asolorep.org.