On March 26, 2021, cast and crew members of the original Broadway production reunited for a livestream on the web series Stars in the House. According to The New York Times, "The chief competition for The Lion King was Ragtime, a lavish musical." The New York Times also noted that "The season was an artistic success as well, creating one of the most competitive Tony contests in years, with a battle in almost every category capped by the titanic struggle for the best musical award between Ragtime with 13 nominations and The Lion King with 11." The Broadway production was not financially successful, and some Broadway insiders consider its lavish production to have been the financial "undoing" of Livent.
The musical won awards for Best Featured Actress (McDonald), Original Score, Book, and Orchestrations. Ben Brantley's review in The New York Times was headlined "A diorama with nostalgia rampant." It led the 1998 Tony Awards with thirteen Tony Award nominations, but Disney's The Lion King won as Best Musical. The production received mixed reviews, with critics noting that the dazzling physical production (with a $10 million budget, including fireworks and a working Model T automobile) overshadowed problems in the script. The production was conducted by David Loud. The original cast featured many of the actors from the original Toronto production, including Brian Stokes Mitchell, Marin Mazzie, Peter Friedman and Audra McDonald, all of whom were nominated for Tony Awards, as well as Judy Kaye, Mark Jacoby and Lea Michele. Directed by Frank Galati and choreographed by Graciela Daniele, Ragtime closed on Januafter 834 performances and 27 previews. It was the first production in the newly opened Ford Center for the Performing Arts. The Broadway production began previews on Decemand officially opened on January 18, 1998. The US premiere was at the Shubert Theatre, Los Angeles in June 1997. The musical had its world premiere in Toronto, where it opened at the Ford Centre for the Performing Arts (later renamed the Toronto Centre for the Arts) on December 8, 1996, produced by Canadian impresario Garth Drabinsky and his Livent Inc., the Toronto-production company he headed. Production history Original Toronto and Broadway production 1.1 Original Toronto and Broadway production.
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