Casting complete for "Ragtime"

Casting for the highly anticipated Broadway revival of Ragtime was announced yesterday. Many of the principal actors from the sold out Kennedy Center production will be transferring to NY, including Christiane Noll as Mother, Quentin Earl Darrington as Coalhouse Walker, Jr., Ron Bohmer as Father, Bobby Steggert as Mother's Younger Brother and Donna Migliacco as Emma Goldman. New to the cast are Robert Petkoff as Tateh, Savannah Wise as Evelyn Nesbitt and Stephanie Umoh as Sarah.

The show begins previews at the Neil Simon Theatre on October 23, with an opening night set for November 15. The original Broadway production ran for two years at what is now the Hilton Theatre, overshadowed by The Lion King and done in by criminal producing, it closed in the red after only 834 performances (in an ideal world, a show like Ragtime should have had the success of The Lion King). The revival won't be as expensive to produce as the original (I doubt we'll ever see anything near the likes of Garth Drabinsky's spectacles ever again), and has already been acclaimed for its emphasis on the story and characters over scenography. Plus, the revival will be using the entire original 28 piece orchestration.

My only qualm with the production has been the artwork - the new window card art has been released and while some find it superb, I find it rather lacking. Then again, I guess it would be hard to top that iconic image of the title emblazoned across the Statue of Liberty from 1998. However, I've never judged a musical by its poster; no matter my thought about the artwork, it's what's onstage that counts. And what Broadway has at the Neil Simon this fall is likely to be an epic win.

Here are a couple of brief interviews with Christiane Noll, Quentin Earl Darrington and director-choreographer Marcia Milgrom Dodge from earlier this year: