Ragtime

“That was the best show I’ve ever seen,” is what I frequently overheard and what I have seen written on message boards about this new production of Ragtime. Indeed, this show is the current top contender for the 2026 Tony Award for “Best Revival of a Musical.” From the stunning costumes to the lighting design to the perfect sound and jaw dropping vocals, this show is indeed momentous. The story is timely, and this musical from 1996 based on the 1975 novel hits hard in 2025.

This production of Ragtime ties with Hadestown for being my favorite musicals I have seen this year. This is on my short list of shows where I plan to return to New York with my kids for them to get to experience it.

This production is directed by Lear deBessonet and is playing at the Vivian Beaumont Theater at Lincoln Center. Everything about this production feels as close to perfection as you can get.

At my performance, we stopped the show multiple times for standing ovations. Out of 58 shows this year, this has only happened one other time for me, which was for Audra McDonald at the Saturday night performance of Gypsy the night before The Tony Awards.

The standout performances are Nichelle Lewis as Sarah and Joshua Henry as Coalhouse Walker, Jr. They each kept somehow taking their performances to the next level. Just when you think they are peaking in a musical number, they then give you even more.

In the Original Broadway production, Audra McDonald won the Tony Award for “Best Performance by a Featured Actress in a Musical” for her portrayal of Sarah, and Brian Stokes Mitchell was nominated for the Tony Award for “Best Performance by a Leading Actor in a Musical.” Fast forward to 2025, and Lewis and Henry as of this moment would absolutely get my votes, if I were voting.

This entire cast is phenomenal, and everyone in this company should feel very proud both of their individual performances and for being a part of this magical production. The full list of the cast and creative team is available at https://www.lct.org/shows/ragtime/whos-who/

Early in the show, one of the first impressions is the quality of the stunning costumes, designed by Linda Cho. These beautiful costumes of course also pop due to the exceptional lighting design by Adam Honoré. Kai Harada’s sound design and James Moore’s musical direction is perfect, and the sound engineering and sound levels are exactly as they should be. My pet peeve is sound engineers who ruin beautiful vocals with ridiculously high sound levels (I had one of these experiences Off-Broadway this week, and it ruined the show for me), and I so much appreciate the competence and quality of the sound engineering in this production.

Ragtime at Lincoln Center Theater at the Vivian Beaumont is currently in previews with Opening Night scheduled for Thursday, October 16. The show is currently scheduled to close on January 4. This show is frequently sold out, and it can be hard to get tickets, so definitely plan ahead to experience this best show of the year.

See more show reviews from 2025.