More "Ragtime"

To get the full effect of the spine-tingling opening number, watch the original cast's performance from the 1998 Tony Awards. Even though the number is abridged (in the musical, it runs a full 10 minutes and introduces the main characters), it will give you a better sense of what on earth is going on. As an added bonus, you can play "Hey, isn't that...?" Besides Audra McDonald and Brian Stokes Mitchell, the original cast featured Marin Mazzie and an incredibly young Lea Michele (long before she played Wendla in Spring Awakening or Rachel on Glee)