Photo Flash: First Look at Kentwood Players' RAGTIME Opening March 15 at the Westchester Playhouse

Kentwood Players presents the 1998 Tony Award-winning musical "RAGTIME" with book by Terrence McNally, lyrics by Lynn Ahrens, and music by Stephen Flaherty from Friday, March 15 to Saturday, April 20 at the Westchester Playhouse, located at 8301 Hindry Avenue, Westchester, CA 90045. The production is directed by Susan Goldman Weisbarth, with Musical Director Bill Wolfe, Choreographer Victoria Miller, and produced by Margie Bates and Gail Bernardi by special arrangement with Music Theatre International. BroadwayWorld brings you a first look at photos from the production below!

"Ragtime" is the quintessential American musical that paints a powerful portrait of life at the turn of the century. Three stories are woven together that poignantly illustrate the struggle Americans faced dealing with class, race, money and justice in a country still struggling to find balance as they moved from the 19th to the 20th century. It was a tumultuous time when immigrants were looking to find hope in America, when former slaves and their children, now freed, were trying to establish their hold on the American dream, and the white upper middle class society struggled to maintain their lifestyle and expectations. Intertwined with the fictional characters are many historical figures including Emma Goldman, Harry Houdini, Henry Ford, Admiral Perry, Stanford White, Harry K. Thaw, Evelyn Nesbit, Booker T. Washington, and J.P. Morgan.

Featured in the cast are Greg Abbott, Jeannine Barba, Heather Barnett, Erika Brauer, JohAnna Rose Burwell, Jacquelyn Carr, Joanna Churgin, Jim Crawford, Sheridan Cole Crawford, Jacqueline Crist- Franzen, Terry Delegeane, Ruth Andrea Featherstone, Martin Feldman, Jackie Fiske, Drew Fitzsimmons, Shamika Franklin, Samuel Goldman, Logan Gould, Justin P. James, Spencer Johnson, Karen E. Kolkey, George Kondreck, Amanda Majkrzak, Bradley Miller, Patricia Miller, Rocky Miller, J. Paul Myers, Kolaiah Newkirk, Xavier Newkirk, Fiona Okida, Roy T. Okida, James Olivas, Michelle M. Pedersen, Darryl Maximilian Robinson, Judy Rosenfeld, Slater Ross, Megan Ruble, Bruce Schroffel, Deus Xavier Scott, Jennifer Sperry, Hollister Starrett, Christopher Stefanic, Jessica D. Stone, Courtney L. Williams, Ja'von Willis, Marcus Alan Wynn.

Tickets are $23.00 with a $2.00 discount for seniors, students, servicemen, and Metro riders. To purchase tickets, please call (310) 645-5156 during box office hours, Wednesday through Saturday from 4-7 PM. Visa, MasterCard, and American Express accepted, with a $1.50 convenience fee added per ticket charged to a credit card. You may also purchase tickets online at www.kentwoodplayers.org. For group ticket sales, call the box office.

For more information about Kentwood Players including the theater's Current Productions, upcoming auditions, and our Kentwood Kids Children's Theatre classes and productions, please visit the Kentwood Players website. You can also find Kentwood Players information on Facebook and Twitter.

To meet the "Ragtime" production team and learn more about Kentwood Players and what goes on at the Westchester Playhouse, the public is invited to attend our general membership meetings, which are free and held on the third Wednesday of each month at 7:30pm at the Westchester Playhouse, located two blocks west of the San Diego Freeway and two blocks north of Manchester at 8301 Hindry Avenue in Westchester, Calif.

Photo Credit: Shari Barrett