Evento

Ragtime

Pleasant Valley Productions presents the epic historical musical Ragtime. Based on the 1975 E.L. Doctorow novel, Ragtime features a luscious score by Lynn Ahrens and Stephen Flaherty, with a book by Terrence McNally.

Ragtime is an epic musical that paints a nostalgic and powerful portrait of life in turn of the century America. Three distinct stories intertwine to poignantly illustrate history's timeless contradictions of wealth and poverty, freedom and prejudice, hope and despair, and love and hate. At the start of the 20th century, New York City was for many the land of opportunity. Through a Harlem jazz pianist out for justice, a poor Jewish immigrant selling wares on the street, and a wealthy Victorian couple offering aid to a runaway, that unique brand of American hope runs strong. Together, their stories celebrate the struggle between tradition and independence in pursuit of the American dream. Ragtime draws upon traditional Jewish folk sounds to color the haunting music of the European immigrants, Vaudevillian style to capture the spectacle of Anglo-American upper-middle-class society, and Joplin and Jazz to invoke the enlivened spirit and rhythms of African-American, working class Harlem.