Lincoln Center Theater has announced today that incoming Artistic Director Lear deBessonet’s inaugural season will open with a new production of her acclaimed New York City Center Gala revival of Ragtime, starring Tony nominee Joshua Henry, Olivier and Grammy nominee Caissie Levy and Tony Award-winner Brandon Uranowitz.
Ragtime will begin previews on Friday, September 26, and open on Thursday, October 16 at the Vivian Beaumont Theater and will play a limited engagement of 14 weeks only through Sunday, January 4, 2026. Tickets will go on sale to the general public on Wednesday, May 28 at 12 pm ET.
As previously announced, the 41st season at Lincoln Center Theater will be under the leadership of a new executive team, consisting of Artistic Director Lear deBessonet, Managing Director Mike Schleifer, Executive Producer Bartlett Sher, Producer Nicole Kastrinos, Executive Director of Development & Planning Naomi Grabel, and LCT3 Artistic Director & Producer Maria Manuela Goyanes.
Ragtime is a sweeping musical adaption of E.L. Doctorow’s novel that follows three fictional families in pursuit of the American Dream at the dawn of the 20th Century: Black pianist Coalhouse Walker, Jr. (Joshua Henry) and his beloved Sarah, Jewish immigrant Tateh (Brandon Uranowitz) and his little girl, and a wealthy white family led by matriarch Mother (Caissie Levy). All grasping for the same dream, if only they can hold onto it.
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.
LCT Artistic Director Lear deBessonet (Tony-nominated for her celebrated 2022 revival of Into the Woods) directs a new production, envisioned for the Vivian Beaumont stage. “Ragtime feels like the perfect way to begin my tenure as Artistic Director of this very sacred place,” said deBessonet. “As we celebrate the legacy of LCT and the level of art that has been achieved over the last four decades, it is important for us to continue to be inspired by the sublime possibilities of theater through stories that demand to be told. Such a story is Ragtime.”
Ragtime is produced by Lincoln Center Theater in association with Tom Kirdahy, Kevin Ryan, and Robert Greenblatt. Complete cast and creative team for Ragtime will be announced soon.
Terrence McNally (Book, 1938-2020) was an American playwright, librettist, and LGBTQ+ trailblazer, described by The New York Times as “the bard of the American Theater.” One of the few playwrights of his generation to successfully pass from the avantgarde to mainstream acclaim, McNally redefined American playwriting for six decades and was the recipient of five Tony Awards (Ragtime, Kiss of the Spider Woman, Love! Valour! Compassion!, Master Class, and the 2019 Tony Award for Lifetime Achievement). He received the 2011 Dramatists Guild Lifetime Achievement Award (Vice President of the Guild from 1981 to 2001), the 2015 Lucille Lortel Lifetime Achievement Award, and inductions into the American Theater Hall of Fame (1996) and the American Academy of Arts and Letters (2018). McNally’s legacy lives on through his final creative act— the Terrence McNally Foundation—which champions early career playwrights and LGBTQ+ causes, as McNally did throughout his life.
Lynn Ahrens (Lyrics) and Stephen Flaherty (Music) are thrilled to be back at Lincoln Center Theater. For the original Broadway production of Ragtime, they won the Tony Award, Drama Desk and Outer Critics Circle Awards and received two Grammy nominations. The show was revived on Broadway in 2009, and this production marks Ragtime’s third Broadway incarnation, as well as their fifth show at Lincoln Center Theater. Ahrens and Flaherty were nominated for two Academy Awards and two Golden Globes for the animated feature film Anastasia, which they subsequently adapted for Broadway.
E. L. Doctorow (Author of Ragtime, 1931-2015) was an American novelist, editor, and professor, best known for his works of historical fiction. He wrote 12 novels, three volumes of short fiction, and a stage drama, including the award-winning novels Ragtime (1975), Billy Bathgate (1989), and The March (2005).
