Broadway's 'Ragtime' Finds New Voice After 30 Years

Something remarkable is happening at Lincoln Center's Vivian Beaumont Theater. Audiences are jumping to their feet mid-performance, moved to standing ovations not just at curtain call but during the show itself.

The musical "Ragtime" is having its moment, nearly 30 years after Stephen Flaherty and Lynn Ahrens first wrote its score. This third Broadway run has earned 11 Tony nominations, including best revival, and is finally getting the recognition that eluded it in 1998 when it lost best musical to "The Lion King."

"Three is the charm," says lyricist Lynn Ahrens. What's changed isn't the show, but how we hear it.

The story follows three families in early 1900s New York: Black Americans in Harlem, Jewish immigrants on the Lower East Side, and wealthy white residents in Westchester County. Their fictional lives intersect with real historical figures like Emma Goldman, Booker T. Washington, and Harry Houdini.

When it first opened, audiences saw it as a period piece about America's past. Now, with references to keeping the country "great" and themes of discrimination and immigration, the unchanged script sounds like today's headlines.

Director Lear deBessonet says audience members keep asking if the team rewrote the show for 2026. They didn't touch a word. "We, in the audience, are hearing it differently," she explains.

The Ripple Effect

The show's impact extends beyond single viewings. People are returning with their families across generations, wanting loved ones to experience it together.

Brandon Uranowitz, nominated for best lead actor as Tateh, a Latvian Jewish immigrant, sees this pattern everywhere. "They're like, 'I'm coming back with my parents,' 'I'm coming back with my grandchildren,'" he says. "I think it's sort of speaking to this generational reckoning that we're having with America and our national identity."

The song "Wheels of a Dream," performed by nominees Joshua Henry and Nichelle Lewis, draws mid-song standing ovations nearly every night. Lewis, who plays Sarah, says her character represents women of color fighting to have a voice, but above all, "the power of trust, love and hope as a buoying force."

That hope pulses through Tateh's journey too. Despite rejection, oppression, and antisemitism, he persists from immigrant artist to successful moviemaker. "It holds just a capital 'I' immigration experience," Uranowitz says. "And I think that's really important for people to see right now."

This year, "Ragtime" is the frontrunner for best musical revival against "Cats: The Jellicle Ball" and "The Rocky Horror Show." All three lead actors received nominations, along with supporting performers Nichelle Lewis and Ben Levi Ross.

Sometimes the most powerful stories about our present are told through our past, and audiences are gathering together to listen.