Stage Director

Nominated for 13 Tony Awards® including “Best Musical,” and winning for “Best Original Score” and “Best Book of a Musical,” Ragtime makes its premiere to Toledo Opera audiences! Based on the novel by E.L. Doctorow, this musical tapestry depicts an African-American family, a Jewish family, and a wealthy white suburban family in turn-of-the-century New York. As they collide in pursuit of the American Dream, they discover the surprising interconnections of the human heart, the limitations of justice, and the unsettling consequences when dreams are permanently deferred. Ragtime is a powerful portrait of life at the turn-of-the-20th century, exploring America’s timeless contradictions of freedom and prejudice, wealth and poverty, hope and despair. Ragtime stars baritone Derrick Davis (Toledo Opera’s I Dream) as Coalhouse Walker, Jr., Broadway soprano Raquel Suarez Groen as Mother, and baritone Joshua Jeremiah as Tateh. J. Ernest Green returns to Toledo to conduct, as James M. Norman brings this poignant musical to life.

EPSG:4326

Ragtime

Valentine Theatre

Just in time for Valentine’s Day and the 75th anniversary of its premiere, Toledo Opera presents South Pacific. Winner of 10 Tony Awards in 1950 including Best Musical and Best Original Score, South Pacific debuts to Toledo Opera audiences in a new production brought to life by conductor J. Ernest Green and stage director James M. Norman. Based on the anecdotes of a real-life U.S. Navy commander who was stationed on a island, South Pacific follows two intercultural love stories: Nellie, a spunky nurse from Arkansas, falls in love with Emile, a French plantation owner on the island who has two children from his late Polynesian wife; at the same time, U.S. Lieutenant Cable falls for a beautiful island native named Liat. Both Americans find themselves struggling to reconcile their own cultural prejudices with their amorous feelings, all the while under the dark cloud of a war that is coming ever closer to their island paradise.

James M. Norman

Stage Director

Events

Upcoming events

14 - 16 Feb, 2025

South Pacific · Toledo Opera

Past events

19 - 21 Apr, 2024

Ragtime · Toledo Opera

About

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