E. L. Doctorow News

?The story of Memorial Players' spring musical this year is almost prescient in its relevance to Baltimore (and the country) in 2016 - wealth inequality, abuse of power, corruption, the struggles of immigrants, collectivist organizing, cults of celebrity, the American dream lost and then found. What is almost more amazing is that it was selected by our Theater Committee more than two years ago.

At the beginning of Act II of Ragtime, Terrence McNally's masterful musical adaptation of E. L. Doctorow's novel, journeyman pianist Coalhouse Walker Jr., decimated by the murder of his beloved Sarah, sings, 'Say goodbye to music / Say goodbye to light.' This sums up my feelings about Theater League's production of Ragtime, which arrived for a brief four-day stay at the Thousand Oaks Civic Arts Plaza on Thursday night. The original 1998 Broadway production won a Tony Award for Best Score, but many patrons who packed the Fred Kavli Theatre on opening night were dismayed to discover that Lynn Ahrens and Stephen Flaherty's sumptuous, moving songs were being played from pre-recorded synthesized music tracks. Despite superb performances from the entire cast, Theater League's Ragtime suffers greatly from this omission, which was apparently a decision of Phoenix Entertainment, the independent theatrical producing and management enterprise in charge of producing the show.

The Grand 1894 Opera House presents RAGTIME: THE MUSICAL, tonight, February 20, at 8 pm, and tomorrow, February 21 at 3 pm.

The Grand 1894 Opera House presents RAGTIME: THE MUSICAL, Saturday, February 20, at 8 pm, and Sunday, February 21 at 3 pm.

Below, BroadwayWorld sends a fond farewell to those who passed away in 2015.

As millions of the faithful around the world light the last candles of their menorahs, we take a look at a handful of musical moments that have a decidedly Jewish flair. On the last night of Hanukkah, we want to celebrate some of our favorite Broadway tunes about the faith while honoring the contributions of our immensely talented Jewish legends who have helped mold the American musical into what it is today. Therefore, we have selected eight Jewish-themed showtunes for the occasion. You can watch a video of each below, along with an incredible film about the importance of Jewish writers to the history of the musical theatre.

Superb cast at Toby's is not to be missed.

»Ragtime« zahlt mit seinen bittersußen Geschichten aus dem New Yorker Leben, den vielen historischen Figuren - von Henry Ford bis Harry Houdini - und seinem unwiderstehlichen musikalischen Charme zu den ganz großen Broadway-Musicals. Der Erfolg 1998 in New York war immens und bescherte Komponist Stephen Flaherty und Buchautor Terrence McNally jeweils eine der begehrten Tony-Awards. Nach weiteren Erfolgen in London, Washington und abermals am Broadway erreicht »Ragtime« nun am Staatstheater Braunschweig endlich auch das europaische Festland. Die Premiere findet am 18. September 2015 statt, weitere Vorstellungen laufen bis Januar 2016.

Bay Street Theater & Sag Harbor Center for the Arts is pleased to announce Altman's Art, a screening of Gosford Park and a discussion of the work of one of Americas greatest filmmakers on Monday, June 8 at 7 pm. The evening will also include a talkback hosted by Bob Balaban, with Guilia D'Agnolo Vallan, and Kathryn Altman-the widow of Robert Altman. Tickets are $20 and are available online at baystreet.org or by calling the Bay Street Theater Box Office at 631-725-9500, open 11 am to Showtime daily.

Bristol Riverside Theatre explores what it means to be an American with its production of Ragtime tonight, March 17-April 12.

La Coral Ditirambo, junto a la orquesta del Conservatorio de Música de Molina de Segura, presentará próximamente en Murcia un concierto escenificado del musical 'Ragtime', ganador de 4 premios Tony y considerado como uno de los mejores musicales de la última época.

Bristol Riverside Theatre explores what it means to be an American with its production of Ragtime on March 17-April 12. The Tony Award-winning musical with book by Terrence McNally, music by Stephen Flaherty, and lyrics by Lynn Ahrens is directed by Keith Baker and features Leslie Becker, Derrick Cobey, David Edwards, Tamar Greene, Michael Thomas Holmes, Matt Leisy and Ciji Prosser. Supporting roles will be played by Ciaran Barlow as Edgar, Will Connell as Houdini, Jim Conte as Grandfather, Stephen Dagrosa as Willie Conklin, Sarah J. Gafgen as Emma Goldman, and Chelsey Jean as Evelyn Nesbitt. The ensemble includes Rajeer Alford, Amy L. Armstrong, Charles Michael Bendas, Daniel Bontempo, Elena Camp, John DiFerdinando, Jessica Gruver, Brian Michael Henry, Adam Hoyak, Angelica Jackson, Jessica M. Johnson, Walter E. Tucker, Dwayne Washington, and Paul Weagraff.

It's become a great Middlebury tradition: the combined forces of Town Hall Theater and the Middlebury College Department of Music presenting a major Broadway musical every January.

It's become a great Middlebury tradition: the combined forces of Town Hall Theater and the Middlebury College Department of Music presenting a major Broadway musical every January.

Not too many seasons back, at Theatre Works I saw a charming review of turn-of-the-century musical numbers (by the likes of Irving Berlin and others) entitled SIMPLE MELODIES. The songs were rendered by a small but talented ensemble, and I so enjoyed it that I returned more than once - basically, because I wanted to treat friends who I knew would appreciate it as much as I did. With Theatre Memphis' TINTYPES, conceived by Mary Kyte with Mel Marvin and Gary Pearle, and charmingly directed (often with a 'knowing wink') by Kell Christie, I may just have to contact those friends once again.

Four time Tony Award Winner Terrence McNally's IT'S ONLY A PLAY is opening on Thursday, October 9th at the Gerald Schoenfeld Theatre. In anticipation of McNally's upcoming opening night, BroadwayWorld is taking a look at his legendary career over the past several decades.

BroadwayWorld has just learned that Phoenix Entertainment has on its agenda a touring revival of RAGTIME to commence in the Fall of 2015. It will be helmed by Marcia Milgrom Dodge, who received a Tony Nomination as Best Director for the 2009 Broadway revival. This new tour will be much in the spirit of that production which was nominated for 7 Tony Awards in 2010.

On January 29, 2010, Deadline Hollywood broke an exclusive story and review of Salinger, a feature-length documentary about reclusive author J. D. Salinger that Salerno directed, produced and financed himself. The documentary was kept secret for five years. The film features interviews with 150 subjects including Philip Seymour Hoffman, Edward Norton, John Cusack, Danny DeVito,John Guare, Martin Sheen, David Milch, Robert Towne, Tom Wolfe, E. L. Doctorow, and Pulitzer Prize winners A. Scott Berg,Elizabeth Frank and Gore Vidal. Michael Fleming, the first journalist in the world to view the film, said Salerno's picture was 'arrestingly powerful and exhaustively researched'. Additionally, Fleming announced that Salerno had co-written a 700-page biography on Salinger with New York Times bestselling author David Shields.

The Dan's Papers $6,000 Literary Prize for Non Fiction contest is racing toward its conclusion. Entrants write short pieces between 600 and 1,500 words that reference eastern Long Island in a meaningful way. They enter them at the danspapers.com website. The final deadline for entries is approaching. The last day we will accept entries tonight, July 31 at midnight. Three prizes will be awarded, two for $500 for runners-up, and one prize for $5,000 for the First Prize winner. Those intending to enter have two weeks to do so!

The Dan's Papers $6,000 Literary Prize for Non Fiction contest is racing toward its conclusion. Entrants write short pieces between 600 and 1,500 words that reference eastern Long Island in a meaningful way. They enter them at the danspapers.com website. The final deadline for entries is approaching. The last day we will accept entries is July 31 at midnight. Three prizes will be awarded, two for $500 for runners-up, and one prize for $5,000 for the First Prize winner. Those intending to enter have two weeks to do so!