Discover the story of the song > Prologue: Ragtime – original broadway cast of ragtime: the musical

The protagonist's family lived in a big house in New Rochelle, where everything was happy and carefree. There was a type of music called "ragtime" that everyone loved. Meanwhile, in Harlem, a man named Coalhouse Walker Jr. played music that made people forget their problems. Booker T. Washington, a famous African American, preached unity between races, but some people were against him. Lastly, a man in Latvia named Tateh dreamed of a better life for his daughter, and a woman named Emma Goldman fought against American capitalism. All of this happened at the beginning of the 20th century, when ragtime music was popular.