RAGTIME: Florida Children's Theatre Raises Their Voice

The Florida Children's Theatre raises their voices, taking on Ahrens and Flaherty's most complex score, "RAGTIME". Teaming up, this time around, to lead this production are the powerhouse directing duo of Sean Cutler & Darius J. Manuel. Both of these fiery and thought-provoking directors are the most recent BroadwayWorld Award winners for "Best Director of a Musical" for their work at the Florida Children's Theatre: Sean Cutler for "Sweeney Todd" in 2015 and Darius J. Manuel for "Carrie the Musical" in 2016, which also won him the Best Choreographer Award and Best Musical for the company! With both of their energies and visions spearheading this project, it is bound to resonate deep in our souls and ring throughout the community.

Florida Children's Theatre, Inc., a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit organization, is an educational center for theatre arts serving children and families across South Florida. The oldest documented children's theatre in the state of Florida, FLCT was founded in 1952, but the theatre quickly grew to be the first cultural organization in Broward County to purchase its own building and the first to perform A. Parker Playhouse, the Broward County Main Library Theatre and Dillard Center for the Arts. Each year, FLCT produces a season of five mainstage productions and offers year-round classes in acting, creative drama, and other theatre-related skills. A full range of arts and educational outreach programs, a vibrant summer camp, and a variety of other performances round out the programming. FLCT is headquartered at the Galleria Mall and offers programming at locations across Broward County and beyond, impacting over 25,000 individual each year.

This particular production is a part of the Florida Children's Theatre's Teen Repertory Series which serves to facilitate the growth of young artists by challenging them, pushing boundaries and giving them the chance to charge our community with the loaded and hard questions. "RAGTIME" does just that.

"RAGTIME", a musical about an America panicked by changes, is no small feat for teenagers. Based on E.L. Doctorow's 1975 novel - the source of this 1996 musical with a book by Terrence McNally, music by Stephen Flaherty and lyrics by Lynn Ahrens - is about many things at the turn of the 20th century, including the ongoing manifestation of the original American sin of racism, the persistence of immigrants in a cruel landscape, the spurt of radical socialism and the smug complacency of the American elite. But it is fundamentally a show about motion and the inevitability of change that you do not want to miss.

"Ragtime" will play at the Lauderhill Performing Arts Center, March 2nd at 7:00pm, March 3rd at 7:00pm and March 4th at 2:00pm. Tickets are on sale now! For purchasing and more information, please visit FLCT.ORG or call (954) 763-6882. Parental Advisory: contains mature themes and racially charged language.

"It was the music of something beginning
An era exploding, a century spinning
In riches & rags and in rhythm & rhyme
The people called it: RAGTIME"

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