‘Ragtime’ hits Riverside stage, tackles wealth, poverty, freedom, prejudice

Ragtime has rolled onto the stage at Riverside Center for the Performing Arts.

The show tells the story of three groups in the U.S. at the turn of the 20th Century — blacks, white suburbanites, and European immigrants in New York City.

The show is based on a 1975 book, “Ragtime,” by Terrance McNally. The book was later adapted into a 1979 film, and the film into a show that enjoyed a Broadway run from 1998 to 2000.

Riverside describes the show:

At the dawn of a new century, everything is changing… and anything is possible. Set in the volatile melting pot of turn-of-the-century New York, three distinctly American tales are woven together – that of a stifled upper-class wife, a determined Jewish immigrant, and a daring young Harlem musician – united by their courage, compassion, and belief in the promise of the future. Together, they confront history’s timeless contradictions of wealth and poverty, freedom and prejudice, hope and despair, and what it means to live in America. With a Tony-winning score featuring musical theatre show-stoppers “Your Daddy’s Son” and “Make Them Hear You,” Ragtime is filled with pageantry, emotion, and hope, bursting onto the stage like no other musical.

The show at Riverside runs until May 7, 2023, and features a 25-member cast.

Tickets for the show are sold online and at the box office and range between $60 and $75 each for adults, $55 and $70 for children between ages three and 12, and $55 and $75 per ticket for seniors aged 55 or older. Those who purchase the higher-priced tickets will enjoy meal service before the show.

Thursday to Saturday, meals are served at 5:45 p.m. The show starts at 7:30 p.m. Ticket holders who want to see the show should arrive at 6:45 p.m. Riverside charges a $5 fee per ticket purchased online.

Riverside offers two matinee performances on Wednesday and Sunday. On Wednesday, meals are served at 11:30 a.m., and the show begins at 1:30 p.m. Those who come only for the show should arrive at 12:45 p.m.

On Sundays, dinner is served at 1 p.m., and the show starts at 3 p.m.

Riverside Center sits at 95 Riverside Parkway in southern Stafford County.

Later this year, the center plans to produce “Joseph and the Technicolor Dream Coat” and “42nd Street.”