Stephen Flaherty and Lynn Ahrens create such masterpieces together! “Ragtime” capitalizes on all of their strengths; following a book, forsehadowing, history, and gorgeous music. You will fall in love with this show and everything it has to offer. It follows the stories of a white family, an immigrant family, and most importantly Colehouse and Sarah of the African American community at the turn of the century. All of the characters reach out to each other against all odds and through the worst of circumstances. Let’s take a look at five of the most powerful songs from the show.
(1) “Your Daddy’s Son”: This song will disturb you and haunt you. It is desperate and passionate as Sarah explains why she buried her baby in the dirt outside of a wealthy family’s home. It is epic! It is unusual for such a terrifying topic to be tackled through a musical song, and it will never leave you. Audra McDonald’s voice enraptures this piece and brings it to amazing places vocally.
(2) “Wheels of a Dream”: Sarah and Colehouse talk about all of the possibilities and doors they want to open to their son. It’s a beautiful duet that shows the earnest desire to want better for your child than you had. You want these two characters to have a happy family, but foreshadowing shows us this will not be the case. At least, they get this beautiful, hopeful moment.
(3) “Sarah Brown Eyes”: After the loss of Sarah, we get a flashback to when Sarah and Colehouse first meet. It’s a flirty, lilty ragtime melody and it is easy to see why Sarah feel so hard for the attractive, charmer. As lovely as it is to see, it is all the more heartbreaking to watch at this point in the musical. You will cry your eyes out!
(4) “Back to Before”: Mother, who finds the baby when Sarah leaves it, is an integral part of the show. She is truly the loving and understand mother to everyone. This song represents her realizing that she is a different woman now. She can’t follow her husband blindly and be happy. She needs to move on. It’s a beautiful number.
(5) “Make them Hear You”: This is THE song from this show. It is so powerful, moving, and incredible. Colehouse has so much pent up anger, resentment, and fire. He lets it all out vocally on this inspirational and passionate song. It has a gorgeous melody and an intense build to the end. It’s a song that changes the world, just like Colehouse himself.
