Ragtime (Musical)

[TATEH, LITTLE GIRL] A shtetl iz Amerike Amekhaye khlebn [TATEH, LITTLE GIRL, JEWISH IMMIGRANTS] Es rut oyf ir di shkinele [ITALIAN IMMIGRANTS] Merica, Merica. Bel massolino do fior. [TATEH, LITTLE GIRL] [JEWISH IMMIGRANTS] Mir zoln azoy lebn Mik khomes,...

EVELYN NESBIT: Whee! Let's run away to Atlantic City Let's feel the wind in our hair FATHER (spoken): Atlantic City is only a temporary answer, Mother, but I can't think of a better one. They can't take the child away from you if we're in residence down there...

There was a time Our happiness seemed never-ending I was so sure That where we were heading was right Life was a road So certain and straight and unbending Our little road With never a cross road in sight Back in the days When we spoke in civilized voices Wome...

Baron Ashkenazy Anyone can get lucky in America. I remind myself of this Every day The first nickel I ever earned I keep in a little silver frame It's how I gave my company a name Reminding me how very far I came! I was a Maker of the silhouettes Who made a...

NEWSBOY #1 Extra! Arsonist destroys Emerald Isle Engine Company! NEWSBOY #2 Negro gunman shoots three dead! NEWSBOY #3 Extra! Terror stalks New Rochelle! Murderer's demands revealed! COALHOUSE One--that my car be returned to me in its original condition Two...

Say goodbye to Music Say goodbye to Light Anything I cared for Take it from my sight Let me see no Future Let me hear no Sound Only Darkness and Pain The Anger and Pain The Blood and the Pain They buried my Heart in the ground In the ground When they buried Yo...

JUDGE (spoken): And now, testifying for the defense, Miss Evelyn Nesbit EVELYN: Hello, gentlemen.....whee! CHORUS GIRLS: La la la la La la la la la EVELYN: Whee! CHORUS GIRLS: La la la la La la la la la EVELYN: Your honor I was once the lady friend of Sta...

THE LITTLE BOY (spoken): The era of Ragtime had run out, as if history were no more than a tune on a player piano. But we did not know that then. YOUNGER BROTHER (spoken): After Coalhouse Walker's death, Younger Brother drove south to Mexico, where he joined...

ALL: Gettin' Ready Rag Gettin' Ready Rag Gettin', Gettin' Gettin' Ready Rag WOMEN: Anything it takes MEN: Anything you need ALL: You gotta find your girl, Coalhouse And win her back ALL: Gettin' Ready Rag MEN: Ready as you'll ever get COA...

TATEH (spoken): Shh. Don't cry. Don't be afraid. I'm here. We're together. Shh. Look! Shh. Look what I've made for you TATEH: See the silhouettes It's a little book of silhouettes When you flip the pages, they move Look how nice This is you on skates Turning...

[MOTHER] Goodbye my love God bless you And I suppose Bless America too You have places to discover Oceans to conquer You need to know I'll be there at the window While you go on your way I accept that But what of the people Who stay where they're...

LITTLE BOY: Harry Houdini Master Escapist Master of getting free HOUDINI: Holding his breath He dances with death As daring as he can be Enter the master Safe from disaster Making the people gay LITTLE BOY (spoken): Mother, Mother! MOTHER (spoken): Edgar, w...

YOUNGER BROTHER (spoken): I...I...I want to...I know that if... EMMA GOLDMAN: He wanted to say I am here because I have to be He wanted to say I am here for what is right Every day I wake up knowing What you've lost and what is owing I would shed this skin if...

FORD: See my people Well, here's my theory Of what this country Is moving toward Every worker A cog in motion Well, that's the notion of Henry Ford One man tightens And one man ratchets And one man reaches To pull one cord Car keeps moving In one direction A...

[PEOPLE OF HARLEM] His name was Coalhouse Walker [MAN 1] Was a native of St. Louis some years before [WOMAN 1] When he heard the music of old Scott Joplin [MAN 2] In St. Louis [WOMAN 2] Bought himself some piano lessons Working as a stevedore [...

FATHER (spoken): It's an honor to go on an expedition with you, Admiral Perry. It's men like you who have made this country great ADMIRAL PERRY (spoken): It's men like you who will keep it great MATTHEW HENSON: (spoken) All sails set, Admiral ADMIRAL PERRY...

COALHOUSE We'll see justice, Sarah And plenty of men Who will stand up and give us our due! TOWN HALL BUREAUCRAT Well, you can sign another complaint, Mr. Walker, but volunteer firemen are not municipal employees, and therefore do not Come under the jurisdict...

WOMEN AT VIGIL A day of peace A day of pride A day of justice We have been denied Let the new day dawn Oh, Lord, I pray! (We are outside the impressive facade of the Morgan Library. 36th and 37th streets have been cordoned off form Madison Avenue to Park The...

Coalhouse Go out and tell our story Let it echo far and wide Make them hear you Make them hear you How justice was our battle And how justice was denied Make them hear you Make them hear you And say to those who blame us For the way we chose to fight That so...

FATHER: Where have I been How did we change Caught in this strange New music Say, was I away too long MOTHER: Just like that tune Simple and clear I've come to hear New music FATHER: New music MOTHER: Why Why can't you hear the song YOUNGER BROTHER: His fi...

TATEH (spoken): Mister, please, where is this? CONDUCTOR (spoken): You're in New Rochelle. You can take the rope off her. This ain't the city LITTLE BOY (spoken): Mother! MOTHER (spoken): I see! I see! He's afraid of losing her. Immigrants are terrified of...

Mother How they play Finding treasure in the sand They're forever hand in hand Our children Tateh How they laugh She has never laughed like this Mother Every waking moment, bliss Both Our children Tateh See them running down the beach Children run so fast....

YOUNGER BROTHER (spoken): The Republican vice-presidential candidate was to be in the city that evening to attend a rally. The Secret Service was at the ready. The recent assassination of President McKinley had been a lesson well-learned. Guns were going off e...

[LITTLE BOY, spoken] In 1902, Father built a house at the crest of the Broadview Avenue hill in New Rochelle, New York, and it seemed for some years thereafter that all the family's days would be warm and fair [PEOPLE OF NEW ROCHELLE] The skies were blue a...

COALHOUSE (spoken): What's your name? SARAH (spoken): Sarah. COALHOUSE (spoken): I'm Coalhouse. Sarah (spoken): I know. COALHOUSE: There was no music In my heart tonight Melodies kept refusin' to flow One look at you Now every note feels right Comin' out a...

TATEH: I promised you America And little one, we're there IMMIGRANTS: America TATEH: Our feet are on the solid ground And hope is in the air IMMIGRANTS: America TATEH: You'll soon be eating apple pie From off a china plate Pretty dresses, pret...

MOTHER (spoken): Yes? COALHOUSE (spoken): I'm looking for a woman of color whose name is Sarah. She is said to reside in one of these houses LITTLE BOY (spoken): She's here. She's living in our attic COALHOUSE (spoken): Will you tell her, please, that Mr. C...

EMMA GOLDMAN (spoken): I have just arrived from Lawrence, Massachusetts where, eight weeks ago, the workers there went on strike. They are starving, their children are dying, but they are holding firm - and we must support them YOUNGER BROTHER: It was winter...

BOOKER T. WASHINGTON And I say to you, gentlemen, that every race or notion that has ever got upon its feet has done so through struggle and Persecution; and out of this very resistance to wrong, out of the struggle against odds, they have gained strength (CO...

COALHOUSE (spoken): No! SARAH'S FRIEND: There's a day of hope May I live to see When our hearts are happy And our souls are free Let the new day dawn Oh, Lord, I pray We'll never get to heaven Till we reach that day MOURNERS: It's a day of peace A day of pri...

FATHER (spoken): You'll like baseball. It's a civilized pastime FATHER: In a world gone mad There is comfort to be had In the game Father played at school Men of class Competing on the grass Where sportsmanship And fellowship And courtesy are the rule UMPIRE...

MOTHER (spoken): Get Kathleen! Get Kathleen, I tell you! Call the doctor! KATHLEEN (spoken): Is it alive? Oh, please, God, let it be! MOTHER (spoken): It's alive. It's a Negro child. A newborn baby boy MOTHER: What kind of woman Would do such a thing Why in...

[COALHOUSE] I see his face I hear his heartbeat I look in those eyes How wise they seem Well, when he is old enough I will show him America And he will ride On the wheels of a dream We'll go down South [SARAH] Go down South [COALHOUSE] And see y...

[SARAH] Daddy played piano Played it very well Music from those hands could Catch you like a spell He could make you love him 'Fore the tune was done You have your daddy's hands You are your daddy's son Daddy never knew That you were on your way He had other...