The Rubicon’s production of Ragtime, a musical by Terrence McNally, Stephen Flaherty, and Lynn Ahrens, is a potent tale of kindness beyond race and class and the dangerous rage of society’s ignored demographics. Both music and book feature stirring battle cries for justice and equality in early twentieth-century New York, highlighting a nation not so unrecognizable — one in which the white upper crust tuts and whispers about the rise of minority culture and the tarnishing effect of immigrants flooding American shores.
Coalhouse Walker (Carter Michael) is part of the first generation of Black Americans to be born out of slavery. A popular ragtime pianist in Harlem, Coalhouse’s life exemplifies the possibility of Black Americans finding success despite the prejudice of the time. Heartbroken over his separation from the lovely Sarah (Marisa Moenho), Coalhouse aims to win back his girl (who has given birth to their son). Sarah and her baby have been taken in by a wealthy woman in New Rochelle, and Coalhouse tempts fate every week by driving into the affluent white suburb to beg her forgiveness. When a series of important losses are unheeded by an unsympathetic judicial system, Coalhouse activates into a violent revolutionary against racism and injustice. At the same time, Tateh (Danny Becker) and his young daughter (Amy Sorenson), Latvian immigrants who arrive in the first scene, stumble through the vicious wreckage of N.Y.C. poverty.
BEN MICHAEL, DANNY BECKER, and AMY SORENSON in the Rubicon’s 2026/2027 Season opener ‘RAGTIME,’ the Tony Award-winning musical masterpiece. | Photo: Loren Haar 
MARISA MOENHO and CARTER MICHAEL in the Rubicon’s 2026/2027 Season opener ‘RAGTIME,’ the Tony Award-winning musical masterpiece. | Photo: Loren Haar 
The case of Rubicon’s 2026/2027 Season opener ‘RAGTIME,’ the Tony Award-winning musical masterpiece. Based on the novel ‘Ragtime'” by E.L. DOCTOROW, this soaring musical epic is a portrait of a country – and its people – on the brink of change. | Photo: Loren Haar 
HILLARY BOYD, CHELLE DENTON, and CHANCE CHALLEN star in Rubicon’s 2026/2027 Season opener ‘RAGTIME,’ the Tony Award-winning musical masterpiece. | Photo: Loren Haar 
The cast of the Rubicon’s 2026/2027 Season opener RAGTIME, the Tony Award-winning musical masterpiece. | Photo: Loren Haar 
AMBER WRIGHT, DEANDRE SIMMONS, CARTER MICHAEL, CHRISTOPHER JAMES HESTER, and DEJA FIELDS star in Rubicon’s 2026/2027 Season opener RAGTIME, the Tony Award-winning musical masterpiece. Based on the novel ‘Ragtime'” by E.L. DOCTOROW, this soaring musical epic is a portrait of a country – and its people – on the brink of change. | Photo: Loren Haar 
BEN MICHAEL, CHELLE DENTON, GUY NOLAND, JACOB HAREN, and CHANCE CHALLEN star in Rubicon’s 2026/2027 Season opener ‘RAGTIME,’ the Tony Award-winning musical masterpiece. Based on the novel ‘Ragtime'” by E.L. DOCTOROW, this soaring musical epic is a portrait of a country – and its people – on the brink of change. | Photo: Loren Haar 
Guy Noland and the cast of the Rubicon’s ‘Ragtime’ | Photo: Loren Haar
Rubicon’s intimate production of Ragtime uses a quarter of the traditional cast size but is impressively stacked with powerful voices and heartbreaking harmonies. Standout moments include Michaels’s rousing “Make Them Hear You,” and Moenho’s gut-wrenching “Your Daddy’s Son.” Directed by J. Scott Lapp, this story of American bounty and cruelty plays out in dreamy brutality, and is the strongest production of Rubicon’s season.
See Ragtime in Ventura through November 15. See rubicontheatre.org/events/ragtime
