Photo Flash: Wheels of a Dream! First Look at Starry RAGTIME on Ellis Island

Ragtime was presented in an invitation-only, one-night-only event on Ellis Island last night, narrated by two-time Tony Award winner and original Ragtime Broadway cast member Brian Stokes Mitchell. BroadwayWorld has a first look at the starry cast in action below!

The concert also starred two-time Tony Award nominee Brandon Victor Dixon (Shuffle Along, Motown) as Coalhouse Walker Jr., Olivier Award winner Laura Michelle Kelly (Finding Neverland, Mary Poppins) as Mother, Emmy Award winner Michael Park (Dear Evan Hansen, Tuck Everlasting) as Father, acclaimed stage and television star Andy Mientus (Spring Awakening, Les Miserables) as Younger Brother,Shaina Taub (Hadestown, Old Hats) as Emma Goldman, Aisha Jackson (Waitress, Beautiful) as Sarah, and Robert Petkoff (All The Way, Ragtime) reprising his 2009 Broadway revival role of Tateh.

Ragtime is a portrait of a turning point in American history as it follows three families in pursuit of the American dream at the start of the 20th century. In Ragtime, we meet an upper-class family from New Rochelle that must grapple with their notions of class and agency, we meet determined Latvian immigrants who come to New York through the gateway of Ellis Island, and we meet a daring young couple from Harlem who must combat racism and bigotry to ensure a bright future for their son. In a site-specific re-telling of this classic musical, these stories will be told in Ellis Island's historic Registry Room, through which 12 million immigrants passed between 1892 and 1954. The question of what it means to be and become American is just as relevant now as it was in 1902, and in asking that question in the very room where so many of our ancestors discovered the answer, Ragtime on Ellis Island offers an unprecedented opportunity to bring history to life in new ways.

Photo Credit: Jeremy Daniel