Video: Inside Lear deBessonet’s Commute to RAGTIME’s First Rehearsal at LCT

On her morning commute, moving between home life and the world she is creating on stage, Lear deBessonet, the new Artistic Director of Lincoln Center Theater, heads to the first rehearsal for her new production of Ragtime. “There could not be a project that I felt more strongly this city needed – and this country needed – than RAGTIME. This is my dream. This is our dream," says Lear deBessonet, Kewsong Lee Artistic Director, LCT. 

Joining the previously announced Joshua Henry, Caissie Levy, Brandon Uranowitz, Colin Donnell, Nichelle Lewis, Ben Levi Ross, Tony Award-winner Shaina Taub, John Clay III, and Rodd Cyrus, will be Anna Grace Barlow as ‘Evelyn Nesbit,’ Nick Barrington as ‘The Little Boy,’ and Tabitha Lawing as ‘The Little Girl.’

They will be joined by ensemble members Nicholas Barrón, Lauren Blackman, 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 off-stage understudies for the production will be Eean Sherrod Cochran (dance captain), Kerry Conte, Nick Gaswirth, Jackson Parker Gill, Jenny Mollet, Matthew Scott, and Ellie May Sennett.

Featuring a lush score by Stephen Flaherty and Lynn Ahrens, a stirring book by Terrence McNally, and original orchestrations by William David Brohn, all of whom won Tony Awards for their work, Ragtime weaves fictional narratives with real historical figures and events, creating a rich tapestry that blurs the line between personal struggle and national identity, making history feel both intimate and epic.