EP 7 Stephen Flaherty on the Prologue of Ragtime — Building a 10-Minute Broadway Masterpiece | Does It Sing?

In Episode 7 of Does It Sing?, David Goldsmith and Tony-winning composer Stephen Flaherty (Ragtime, Once On This Island, Anastasia, Seussical) dive deep into the Prologue of Ragtime — one of the greatest opening numbers in Broadway history.

🎭 This episode covers:
• How Flaherty & Ahrens constructed a 10-minute overture of characters, ideas, and themes
• Writing four spec songs to “audition” for Ragtime — and why Ragtime (Prologue) came first
• Flaherty’s trick of avoiding the tonic for 10 minutes to create explosive release at the end
• Integrating three worlds (New Rochelle, Harlem, and the Immigrants) musically and dramatically
• Weaving historical characters and motifs into a single evolving ragtime theme
• Lessons from Terrence McNally, Sondheim conversations, and the “small bouquets” clue in Doctorow’s novel
• Building inevitability, subtext, and tension into large-scale musical architecture
• CCM, Schubert Archives, Jerome Kern sketches, and Flaherty’s ragtime band The Fleeting Moments Waltz and Quickstep Orchestra
• Why Ragtime resonates even more today — and how Lincoln Center’s new revival is taking shape

🎧 This is Part 2 of a two-part conversation with Stephen Flaherty. Part 1 (Episode 6) covers The Lorax sequence cut from Seussical.

—

About Virtual Stage Lab
Virtual Stage Lab (co-founded by David Goldsmith & Paul Gordon) film-captures original musicals and plays to democratize development, viewing, and licensing. Watch full captures free on the VSL YouTube page.
Pitch a segment: [e-mail]
More: virtualstagelab.com

Fair Use note: Any audio/video excerpts are for commentary/education. Please support the rights holders by streaming or purchasing official recordings.

00:00 Welcome back — Part 2 of the Stephen Flaherty interview
03:00 How Ragtime (Prologue) became one of David’s 25 best songs of the century
07:15 Sondheim chats & harmonic language
11:00 Flaherty’s three “languages”: minor, hopeful major, and industrial
16:00 Dr. Seuss vs. Lynn Ahrens — seamless lyric writing
20:30 Mystery to flashback: signaling time jumps musically
26:00 Cat in the Hat “drive-bys” and Seussian sounds
32:00 The Colonial Theater: chaos, tarot cards, and “fire & smoke”
40:00 Boston breakdown: losing director, set, costumes — but forging trust with Lynn
47:00 Seussical’s “world’s most expensive workshop” and eventual happy ending
54:00 Transition to Ragtime: pitching the prologue at Café Un Deux Trois
59:00 Avoiding the tonic for 10 minutes — why the final Ragtime lands so hard
1:06:00 Writing four spec songs; reversing perspective from Colehouse to the Little Boy
1:13:00 Three worlds, three main characters, and musical assimilation
1:20:00 Lessons for conservatory composers: counterpoint, dissonance, clarity of melody & bass
1:28:00 Journey On preview — staging the impossible
1:34:00 La-la-la courage: Lynn Ahrens’ prosody challenges
1:40:00 Ragtime’s relevance today and the upcoming Lincoln Center revival
1:47:00 Closing reflections & Virtual Stage Lab info

#DoesItSing, #StephenFlaherty, #Ragtime, #RagtimePrologue, #LynnAhrens, #TerrenceMcNally, #Broadway, #TonyAwards, #MusicalTheatrePodcast, #BehindTheScenes, #SongwritingPodcast, #DavidGoldsmith, #VirtualStageLab, #OnceOnThisIsland, #Anastasia, #Seussical, #OriginalMusicals, #ComposerLife, #LyricistLife, #BroadwayRevival, #StageDevelopment

Ragtime prologue analysis, Stephen Flaherty interview, how Ragtime opening number was written, Terrence McNally collaboration, Lynn Ahrens lyric writing, avoiding tonic in composition, Broadway opening numbers, best musical theatre songs 21st century, Virtual Stage Lab podcast, David Goldsmith interviews

The Prologue of Ragtime is nearly 10 minutes long — but it feels inevitable.

Subscribe for more deep-dive episodes of Does It Sing? and catch Part 1 on The Lorax sequence in Seussical.