Talk about a meteoric rise: Nehemiah Timothy Lewis is leaping from Morristown’s Calvary Baptist Church Youth Choir into a touring production of Ragtime.
Granted, it’s only for one show — Thursday, Jan. 28, 2016, at 7:30 pm in the Mayo Performing Arts Center–but you can’t expect a 4-year-old to be traipsing across the country, can you?
Young Nehemiah will play Young Coalhouse, the “sweet and innocent boy of Sarah and Coalhouse Walker Jr.,” in a walk-on part in the moving final moments of the musical.
In his spare time, Nehemiah studies with Ms. Grace in the Children on the Green preschool program and loves to rap, dance and play sports.
According to the Mayo Center, the Randolph boy “can warm anyone’s heart with his big smile. He is the youngest of three, but has the soul of a 30-year old. He has been entertaining his family since he was a baby.”
He’ll be making his debut in a Phoenix Entertainment production described by Bloomberg News as “explosive, thrilling and nothing short of a masterpiece.”
Based on the best-selling 1975 novel by E.L. Doctorow, Ragtime is a turn-of-the-century story about an upper-class wife, a Jewish immigrant and a young Harlem musician brought together by dreams of a brighter future.
The story became a movie in 1981 and hit Broadway in 1998, winning a pair of Tony Awards. The Stephen Flaherty/Lynn Ahrens score includes Wheels of a Dream, Back to Before and the title song.
Tickets are $49-$79. MPAC is at 100 South St. Call 973-539-8008 for more.
