![]() “When we first did the show on Broadway, it was huge - the sets were huge, everything was gigantic. “What we’ve learned over the years is that, in a way, smaller productions are more impactful than the large ones,” Ahrens says. Now having witnessed the true heart of Ragtime in scaled-down productions, Pomerantz believes it to be “one of the best musicals in the last 50 years … a masterpiece.” While believing that a famously large-scale musical is better when scaled down may seem like a hot take, one of the show’s creators, lyricist Lynn Ahrens, actually agrees. … I was like, ‘This is incredible material, actually, now that it’s really stripped down and I can see it in its essence.’ It was very revelatory, and after that, that’s when I went to Scott Schwartz and said, ‘We should really consider doing this show …’” It was done by teenagers, and they had about $15 to spend on it, and I was very moved by it. ![]() … Then I actually saw an even smaller production at, believe it or not, my daughter’s performing arts summer camp. “I saw the more recent Broadway revival, which I thought was more successful because it was scaled down. It was partly the scale, partly the architecture of the theater and party the approach, which I think was really clearly meant to be this giant almost pageant of a production,” Pomerantz says, adding that with each progressively smaller production he saw, he liked the show more. “I was impressed, but I didn’t find myself really drawn into the stories. It was a hit with audiences, as well, though Will Pomerantz, director of the upcoming, more intimate Bay Street production, admits he didn’t connect with it right away. It won four Tony Awards out of the 13 it was nominated for, as well as five Drama Desk Awards. ![]() premiere in Los Angeles) and featured a huge company, grand spectacle and impressive stage at the Ford Center for the Performing Arts. The show - which features music by Stephen Flaherty, lyrics by Lynn Ahrens and book by Terrance McNally - officially opened on Broadway in 1998 (after its 1996 world premiere in Toronto and 1997 U.S. For their final show of the summer, the Bay Street team is producing their largest production to date: the famously massive musical Ragtime. The sun is setting on Bay Street Theater’s summer 2022 MainStage Season, but it’s going out with a bang. ![]()
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