The Realization of Terrence McNally's Ragtime

Abstract

The story of Ragtime is testament to the heartbreaking truth that the America of the early 1900’s has far too many similarities to the America we live in today. The book was written in 1975, and in 1990, a Lynn Ahrens, Stephen Flaherty collaborated on a musical adaptation, which premiered in 1996. It tells the story of three groups of people who live in strikingly different worlds. Their worlds eventually collide and the characters are forced to the ugly truths rampant in the America in which they live. This story is relevant in today’s world, where people ignore their commonalities and instead focus on the differences, creating a turbulent environment. People are judged based on their skin color, their financial resources, their class and religious differences. These kinds of judgments have not, in so many ways, improved over time. People seem to lack the appropriate introspection to identify the common threads between others, even though they aren’t easy to initially recognize. Ragtime is a period show that feels all too familiar.