WHAT'S HAPPENING BROADWAY FANS?! It's only 19 DAYS AWAY till we kick off the holiday season with the 94th Annual Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade. This year’s edition as we all know is going to be extremely different due to current safety precautions of the COVID-19 pandemic. However to still show our love for the parade and it’s incredible support to the Broadway Theater scene, we have more of the greatest performances from The Great Bright Way from previous telecasts coming your way on our TOP 30 BROADWAY AT MACY'S COUNTDOWN.
At # 19 on our countdown, we celebrate America at the turn of the century. We follow 3 generations of groups (African Americans, Eastern European Immigrants, and Upper-Class Suburbanites). Its actually NYBT's founder Amada Anderson's all time favorite musical. This is RAGTIME. Based on E. L. Doctorow's best selling 1975 novel of the same name, it features an iconic score by Lynn Ahrens & Stephen Flaherty along with a book by the late Terrence McNally.
From the 1999 NBC telecast, Donna Bullock as “Mother”, John Rubinstein as “Tateh”, and cast members from the original production celebrate the world in Herald Square riding on the FLIGHTS OF FANCY float with a performance of the beautiful OUR CHILDREN.
RAGTIME originally premiered in Toronto back in 1996 at the Toronto Centre for the Arts before moving on a month later to Broadway which opened the newly renovated and combined Ford Center for the Performing Arts (now the Lyric Theatre) for a complete total of 861 performances. Members of the original production included….
Alex Strange (later Anthony Blair Hall) as "Edgar, The Little Boy",
the late Marin Mazzie (later Donna Bullock) as "Mother",
Peter Friedman (later John Rubenstein) as "Tateh",
Audra McDonald (later LaChanze) as "Sarah",
Brian Stokes Mitchell (later Alton Fitzgerald White) as "Coalhouse Walker, Jr",
Lea Michele (later Elizabeth Lundberg) as "The Little Girl",
and
Judy Kaye as "Emma Goldman".
The original production of RAGTIME was nominated for 13 Tony Awards in 1998. It took home 4 for BEST SCORE (for Flaherty & Ahrens), BEST BOOK OF A MUSICAL (for McNally), BEST FEATURED ACTRESS IN A MUSICAL (for Audra McDonald), and BEST ORCHESTRATIONS (for William David Brohn).
Following the success of the original production, the show went on to become a worldwide hit musical from Regional productions, London's West End, and several concert productions (including a concert production on Ellis Island back in 2016).
The 1st and most recent Broadway revival of RAGTIME happened in 2009 at the Neil Simon Theatre playing for only 93 performances. Members of that 2009 cast included…
Christopher Cox as "Edgar, The Little Boy",
Christiane Noll as "Mother",
Ron Bohmer as "Father",
Robert Petkoff as "Tateh",
Quentin Earl Darrington as "Coalhouse Walker, Jr",
Stephanie Jean Umoh as "Sarah,
Sarah Rosenthal as "The Little Girl",
and
Donna Migliaccio as "Emma Goldman".
The revival was nominated for 6 Tony Awards in 2010 (including BEST REVIVAL OF A MUSICAL) but lost all of it's categories.
Today, RAGTIME has been performed around the world with various school, community, and Regional productions everywhere.
How powerful is this show?
#NYBTTop30BroadwayAtMacysCountdown #ThisIsBroadway #HolidaysAreAlmostHere #LetsHaveAParade
#MacysThanksgivingDayParade #BroadwayAtMacys #NYBTTop30BroadwayAtMacysCountdown #ThisIsBroadway #HolidaysAreAlmostHere #LetsHaveAParade
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P8hJAvjUqPU
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