BDT Stage Presents RAGTIME The Musical

Ragtime The Musical opens Friday, March 13 at BDT Stage in Boulder, CO. Previews at discounted ticket prices start Saturday, March 7.

Ragtime The Musical is an expansive musical portrait of early-twentieth-century America that tells the story of three families in pursuit of the American Dream. Set in the volatile melting pot of turn-of-the-century New York, three distinctly American tales are woven together - that of a stifled upper-class wife, a determined Jewish immigrant and a daring young Harlem musician - united by their courage, compassion and belief in the promise of the future. Together, they confront history's timeless contradictions of wealth and poverty, freedom and prejudice, hope and despair, and what it means to live in America.

Discrimination and social injustice are perennial themes in American art. While Ragtime deals with social inequality in the United States at the turn of the twentieth century, the show remains relevant today as we struggle to instill American ideals of fairness and justice in our society and institutions.

Based on E. L. Doctorow's 1975 novel by the same name, Ragtime uses sweeping music to fold together stories from three very different perspectives - African Americans in Harlem, immigrants from Eastern Europe, and upper-class suburban whites. The Tony-winning score is just as diverse as the melting pot of America itself, drawing upon many musical styles, from the ragtime rhythms of Harlem and Tin Pan Alley to the klezmer of the Lower East Side, from bold brass band marches to delicate waltzes, from up-tempo banjo tunes to period parlor songs and expansive anthems. Ragtime's musical score alone is a unique and powerful portrait of America.

The original Broadway production of Ragtime was nominated for 13 Tony Awards, and took home five of them, including Best Score, Book and Orchestrations, and both the Drama Desk and Outer Critics Circle Awards for Best Musical and Best Score. Written by the award-winning composer/lyricist team of Stephen Flaherty and Lynn Ahrens (Once on This Island, Seussical and Lucky Stiff), and noted playwright Terrence McNally, Ragtime is filled with pageantry, emotion and hope, bursting onto the stage like no other musical.

Tickets can be purchased at bdtstage.com or by calling the Box Office at 303-449-6000 or in person at 5501 Arapahoe Avenue in Boulder. Box Office hours are Tuesday 10am-3pm, Wed-Sat 10am-10pm, and Sunday 9am-10pm.