Licensing Company: MTI
Ragtime Version 1
PROGRAMMED INSTRUMENTS
Keyboard 1
Keyboard 2
This sweeping musical portrait of early-twentieth-century America tells the story of three families in the pursuit of the American Dream.
PROGRAMMING NOTES
Version 1 is the larger 22 piece orchestration which has 2 keyboard books both with programming. This version was created specifically for the secondary licensing market based on the Original Broadway Production. Although some changes were made, it follows the Original Cast Recording pretty closely.
This show is orchestrated to be stick conducted from the podium and has 2 Keyboard books, both with lots of programming. Keyboard 1 is the primary piano book and has over 120 patch changes consisting of over 30 unique instruments. These include various acoustic pianos, celeste, brass, woodwinds, strings, harmonica, even a Hurdy Gurdy. This book requires an excellent pianist who can play ragtime, stride, and jazz stylings but who can also navigate the programming.
Keyboard 2 is heavily programming with over 200 patch changes to navigate. The programming for this book is primarily strings and orchestral padding to the live players but also includes brass, woodwinds, pianos, and percussion. There are also some unique instruments as well such as the Mammoth Clang, Bombard Tuba, Calliope, and the Magical Mystery Whistle. In many ways this book is just as difficult as Key 1 and will require an exceptional player who has lots of experience and familiarity with keyboard programming. Both books will require professional players as it is very difficult to see even an advanced level high school player being able to play either chair.
The Version 1 updated orchestration that MTI currently sends out has been typeset to make it easier to read. The downside of that is that are some pretty egregious copying errors in both books that include notes as well as patch indications (some missing, wrong patches, etc) that we have notated for you and corrected in the programming. If you are using our programming, make sure to spend ample time going through the programming and reading our notes while marking your part accordingly. This will make the rehearsals and the shows go much more smoothly.
If by chance you were provided the Original orchestration by MTI that has a mix of handwritten and typeset songs, check with them that you have gotten the correct version since this version has been cleaned up. Although almost identical, in that original orchestration, there is a Keyboard 3 part which is the exact same book as Keyboard 1 except with Harp Cues that are meant to be played for those productions who do not have a live harp player in the orchestra. The new cleaned up version however does not come with a Key 3 book. If you do not have a live harp player and would like a MainStage file of the Harp book for an additional player, please let us know and we would be happy to include that in your rental for an additional fee.
ORIGINAL MUSIC TEAM
Book by: Terrence McNally
Music by: Stephen Flaherty
Lyrics by: Lynn Ahrens
Based on the novel “Ragtime” by: E.L. Doctorow
Musical Director: James Moore
Music orchestrated and arranged by: William David Brohn
Conducted by: James Moore
Associate Conductor: Jamie Schmidt
Assistant Conductor: Sue Anschutz
Keyboards: Jamie Schmidt and Sue Anschutz
Concert Master: Rick Dolan
Violins: Elizabeth Lim-Dutton, Cenovia Cummins, Ashley Horn, Una Tone and Kiku Enomoto
Violas: Maxine Roach and Debra Shufelt-Dine
Celli: Laura Bontrager and Sarah Hewitt-Roth
Bass: Jeff Cooper
Harp: Barbara Biggers
Woodwinds: Katherine Fink, Lynne Cohen, Jonathan Levine and Todd Groves;
Trumpets: Timothy Schadt and Daniel Urness
French Horns: Patrick Pridemore and William DeVos
Trombones: Alan Ferber and Dan Levine
Tuba: Marcus Rojas
Percussion: Charles Descarfino
Drums: Rich Rosenzweig
Guitar: Greg Utzig
Musical Coordinator: John Miller
SHOW DESCRIPTION
Written by the award-winning composer/lyricist team of Stephen Flaherty and Lynn Ahrens (Once on This Island, Seussical and Lucky Stiff), noted playwright Terrence McNally, and based on E.L. Doctorow’s distinguished novel, Ragtime is the winner of the 1998 Tony Awards for Best Score, Book and Orchestrations, and both the Drama Desk and Outer Critics Circle Awards for Best Musical and Best Score. Called by TIME Magazine “A triumph for the stage,” and by the International Herald Tribune “the best musical in twenty years,” this acclaimed musical is filled with pageantry, emotion and hope, bursting onto the stage like no other musical.
At the dawn of a new century, everything is changing… and anything is possible. Set in the volatile melting pot of turn-of-the-century New York, three distinctly American tales are woven together – that of a stifled upper-class wife, a determined Jewish immigrant and a daring young Harlem musician – united by their courage, compassion and belief in the promise of the future. Together, they confront history’s timeless contradictions of wealth and poverty, freedom and prejudice, hope and despair… and what it means to live in America.
The Tony-winning score is just as diverse as the melting pot of America itself, drawing upon many musical styles, from the ragtime rhythms of Harlem and Tin Pan Alley to the klezmer of the Lower East Side, from bold brass band marches to delicate waltzes, from up-tempo banjo tunes to period parlor songs and expansive anthems.
VIDEO
MTI Access Code
If you have obtained the performance rights for this show, please enter the Access Code provided to your organization by MTI to automatically verify your license and proceed to payment. If you do not have this Access Code or have not yet obtained the rights, you can still proceed by choosing your programming and filling out the short form below. You will have an opportunity to upload your contract or have us manually verify your license prior to payment. Once that process is complete, you will receive an email with an invoice and link for payment before receiving download instructions for the programming.