[laughs]

Uh, the show invites the audience to hold space together in a uniquely live way, where you're sitting there with over 1,000 other people that are feeling and breathing at the same time as you, and we're invited to think about essentially the, the meaning of America in this moment, which is more...

I- is so completely complex and different for every person in the audience.

But I think the reason that I believe Ragtime is resonating, uh, even beyond what we had hoped or, like, beyond our wildest dream, honestly-

Wow.

But we are hearing it differently because theater always is meeting us in the present moment.

And this story, looking at the early 20th century and the ways that different groups of people come together in pursuit of the American dream, some encountering, you know, great elation and promise, and others really facing, you know, holding the wounds of this country.

I think, um, it just is meaning a lot right now, and we're so grateful for it.

But for director Lear deBessonet, also a Tony nominee, Ragtime isn't the least bit dated.

Ragtime, for me, allows us to reconnect with our deepest feelings about the actual love that we have for this country and how deeply we want it to achieve the promises that it set out to, even if it has not fully achieved them yet, and that we are still believing in hope that isn't pretending that everything is okay.

It's, it's holding the pain, but it's moving forward in hope.

What was the biggest challenge or change you had to tackle because of the change in space?

We had to fully reconceive how we staged the show.

We spent eight weeks in a rehearsal room working before the actors got there to work on restaging because the Beaumont I think it is my favorite space in New York.

It also is a space that is uniquely epic and intimate.

But the fact that it has twice the depth of most Broadway stages, and then also you have this enormous thrust, really means that The thrust allows you great intimacy with the audience, right? The actors can feel like they are right there.

But also no two people have the same perspective in the audience.

So the actors have to be very meticulously, essentially choreographed so that everyone in the audience can see every moment emotionally and have it register.

What did you want to make sure, with a show that so many people are familiar with, came through in this revival?

[laughs]

Uh, the show invites the audience to hold space together in a uniquely live way where you're sitting there with over 1,000 other people that are feeling and breathing at the same time as you, and we're invited to think about essentially the, the meaning of America in this moment, which is more...

I- is so completely complex and different for every person in the audience.

But I think the reason that I believe Ragtime is resonating, uh, even beyond what we had hoped, or, like, beyond our wildest dream, honestly-

Wow.

But we are hearing it differently because theater always is meeting us in the present moment, and this story, looking at the early 20th century and the ways that different groups of people come together in pursuit of the American dream, some encountering, you know, great elation and promise, and others really facing, you know, holding the wounds of this country.

I think, um, it just is meaning a lot right now, and we're so grateful for it.

[laughs]

Uh, the show invites the audience to hold space together in a uniquely live way where you're sitting there with over 1,000 other people that are feeling and breathing at the same time as you.

And we're invited to think about essentially the, the meaning of America in this moment, which is more...

I- is so completely complex and different for every person in the audience.

But I think the reason that I believe Ragtime is resonating, uh, even beyond what we had hoped or, like, beyond our wildest dream, honestly-

[laughs]

[piano music] See the silhouettes.

It's a little book of silhouettes.

So Lear, why does Ragtime matter in 2025?

Oh, thank you for asking that.

It is, it has been such a thrill to bring it to an au- an audience today, right now in this moment.

And for me, the show, the show is a masterpiece.

I think it stands on its own at any time, but there are ways that it is finding a particularly unique resonance in this moment.

And it's a show that in a way has...

It's full of these riches of joy, including this unbelievably gorgeous score and so many different stories coming together that are both intimate and epic at the same time.

What were the biggest challenges for you as a director in making sure you have all of these storylines with so many different characters, how they can each have their moment to shine, but it can be a c- a cohesive experience?

"And can we please go see the Squirrel Lady?" And to this day, I still think it's one of the most incredible pieces of art I've ever seen.

This is now a new obsession of mine, and my question is, like, is she available?

... spectacle.

Yes.

And my dream is to sort of walk through life noticing those things and then to ask a person to do, like, whatever that thing is, to do, like, exactly that in the production and to somehow create the conditions within the story where that p- whatever that person is doing makes sense in a storytelling way.

That is my dream.

[upbeat music]