But those who plan to see the theatrical version, now in revival (***½ out of four) at the Neil Simon Theatre, are advised to put away their thinking caps and bring their hankies. As a work of social commentary, Ragtime, introduced on Broadway in 1998, is hokey and pedantic, much like that other, plodding musical adaptation of historical fiction, Les Misèrables.

Ragtime's unabashed sentimentality is more compelling, though, thanks to the relative wit and grace of its creators. The score, composed by Stephen Flaherty with lyrics by Lynn Ahrens, is hardly A-list, but the songs are well-crafted and on occasion are genuinely soulful. And Terrence McNally's book tugs at your heart and conscience with such artful aggression that only an ogre could resist the urge to weep at some points and smile at others.

In this new Kennedy Center-based production, which opened Sunday, those assets are exploited by a supple cast under Marcia Milgrom Dodge's vibrant direction. The creamy-voiced Christiane Noll provides a warm, elegant anchor as Mother, the upper-class matron who, while her haughty husband is off traipsing the North Pole with real-life explorer Robert Peary, crosses paths with a black couple and a Jewish immigrant.

Her first encounter with the immigrant – Tateh, a starving artist who will later reinvent himself as a film director – is fleeting. But Sarah, the desperate lover of a Harlem musician, becomes family after Mother rescues her baby son.

The musician, a good-natured, upwardly mobile young man named Coalhouse Walker Jr., tracks Sarah down and endears himself to Mother and her own young son. But after a run-in with a racist fire chief leads to tragedy, Coalhouse, having lost Sarah, turns to violence. Mother, meanwhile, meets Tateh again and feels drawn to him.

More anguish and joy follow, and other figures from history, from Henry Ford to Harry Houdini, appear to reinforce the era's shifting values. Savannah Wise has an impish turn as proto-reality star Evelyn Nesbit, who became a tabloid darling when her husband shot her ex-lover, while Donna Migliaccio gives radical activist Emma Goldman a booming voice and stern mien.

The fictional characters give Ragtime its authenticity, though, from Quentin Earl Darrington's noble Coalhouse to Mother's little boy, whom Christopher Cox plays with sweetness and spunk. Both Darrington and Stephanie Umoh, cast as Sarah, have powerful voices that can seem shrill or even pitch-shy in especially piqued moments.

But when Coalhouse and Sarah are finally reunited, in a way, at the end of the show, your heart will tell your ears to get over it. Emotion conquers all in this Ragtime, so check your skepticism at the door and enjoy.

Enlarge By Joan Marcus The way for young lovers Sarah (Stephanie Umoh) and Coalhouse Walker Jr. (Quentin Earl Darrington), a Harlem musician, is not smooth at the turn of an earlier century.