Nearly 12 years after it first opened on Broadway, the turn of the century musical "Ragtime" is back on the Great White Way. NY1's Roma Torre filed the following review.

"Ragtime" is a sweeping, powerful musical about a restless period in our history. But it is also an intimate story about love, loss and growing up. It is this aspect, not the broad epic quality, that director Marcia Milgrom Dodge went after and, with this nearly flawless production, she has struck a most resonant chord.

Based on E.L. Doctorow’s prodigious novel about turn of the century America, the stage adaptation transforms the book's sprawling story into a tightly woven tapestry. From the very first tableau we are introduced to the various threads, colliding cultures of hopeful immigrants, downtrodden blacks and snobbish whites finding their way on the road to enlightenment. Terrence McNally’s astute book expertly blends the various tales into Stephen Flaherty’s gorgeously melodic score with Lynn Ahren’s intuitive lyrics. An impressive work before, now it's even better. Director Dodge whittled away the excesses of the original production and gives us a more sharply focused experience.

On that versatile, beautifully lit multi-tiered set, Dodge adds dimension to the three families at the center of the book: the affluent, nameless clan in New Rochelle, the Jewish immigrant Tateh and his daughter, and the proud Coalhouse Walker with his love Sarah. And adding a historical perspective are scattered appearances from the likes of Emma Goldman and Evelyn Nesbitt.
The performances mostly match and even exceed those from the original production with glorious vocals enhanced by a wonderfully filled out orchestra.

There is a stronger sense of an ensemble at work in this production and while Stephanie Umoh's Sarah isn't quite the dynamo that Audra McDonald was in the original, the fact that she doesn't stand out works to the show's advantage. It shifts the spotlight to the other characters whose lives are more thoroughly explored.

Robert Petkoff's Tateh, an eternal optimist in New York's soul-killing tenements, delivers splendidly. The excellent Christianne Noll is a warmly dignified presence as the mother; and making his Broadway debut as the defiant Coalhouse Walker, Quentin Earl Darrington is a powerhouse of talent.

For all its virtues, "Ragtime" is not an easy show to stage. It requires a delicate balance combining textbook history with an emotional depth that touches both our heads and hearts. To say that this company got it right is an understatement. This "Ragtime" is one for the ages.