Daily News from New York, New York • 523

CM OaSDDO (p a 7 ipiill fiptf 3i: ois sn idi oD rvb i oni xf 3 Thrilled audience clamors for more By K.C. BAKER, ANANDA CHAUDHURI and CORKY SIEMAS2KO Daily News Writers "Ragtime" received a standing ovation last night from both the big shots and the huddled masses who kept clamoring for more long after the cur-tain came down on the musical's Broadway debut "It's terrific," said retired broadcaster Walter Cronkite. "It's one of the greatest productions we've seen in a long time." Former Cosmopolitan editor Helen Gurley Brown agreed. "The play is fabulous," she said. "It's got great music.

I love the clothes and the dancing and the singing." Director Frank Galati, who was too nervous to watch instead pacing along W. 42nd St during the show returned to the new Ford Center for the Performing Arts in time to be hailed as a genius. "It's the most exciting night of my life," Galati said. Backstage, actress Audra McDonald, who plays Sarah, stood in her bathrobe, weary but happy. "I'm relieved that we all lived through this," she said.

For months the anticipation over the $10 million turn-of-the-century epic had been building. And its opening was accompanied by a flurry of flashbulbs as celebrities including Tom Brokaw and Jack Palance wended their way from limos into the glittering new theater complex. Carol Channing, the "Hello, Dolly!" star and a veteran of many a Broadway opening, predicted "Ragtime" would be a big hit. "It's the best play, it's ail-American," she said, blowing kisses to the crowd. Close on the heels of the well-heeled were the ticket-bearing throngs who wanted to be a part of the history-making opening of a musical that is supposed to join "West Side Story," "Showboat" and "Carousel" in the pantheon of great American musicals.

"It's an epic story," said Andrew Hwang, 22, who saw the fledgling show in Toronto, his hometown. "It's fantastic. I've seen it evolve from where it started in Toronto." The Canadian producers of the $10 million musical are hoping to go from "Ragtime" to riches. "Ragtime," based on the 1975 E.L. Doctorow novel, is expected to have a long run in the Ford Center constructed by combining the historic Lyric and Apollo theaters.

It's the second mega-musical to debut this season. "The Lion King," opened across the street at the restored New Am 4 RAGTIME FROM PAGE fact of modern urban life: the shifting, inescapable masses. Such boldness is triumphantly vindicated in the staging by Graciela Daniele and Frank Galati. On Eugene Lee's breathtaking set, private lives and public desti nies, epic sweep and intimate moments are snutjiea witnxne. bS 4.

flit I DAILY NEWS SAVULJLCM DAILY NEWS THE STARS i- q.nea Hi GLITTERED Sr" for the stunning Broadway de.bojs but of "Ragtime" at the newfi-1Wi Ford Center for the Arts. Some of the celebrities attendance were Jack Palancet (top), Carol Channing (above), who pronounced it "the best play, it's ail-American," and Elaine Stritch (right). In photo at far right, cast member Marin Mazzie (center) shares an opening night moment with E.L. Doctorow (left), who wrote the novel on which the musical was based, and Garth H. Drabinsky, producer.

In the end, his story of injus- tice and anger emerges the mass of images to demand our attention. For "Ragtime'iis not just a thrillingly entartaiaM.il ing spectacle. It is a truthful parable for ourj times. It hums to the tune cgv tory, but beats with toe iw" rAmetfb JBHgfi Contemporar; mCHAJtO COKKEKY DAILY NEWS KKHARO COHKERY DAILY NEWS But there are also big, stirring choral numbers and some gorgeous melodies for the great voices of Marin Mazzie as Mother and Audra McDonald as Coalhouse's lover, Sarah. Even without a memorable anthem, Brian Stokes Mitchell's Coalhouse has a steely, com- pejujng SEVEN skill of an old card shark.

We are carried along, lost in the crowd, going with the flow. One result of this constant, fluid motion is that Stephen Flaherty and Lynn Ahrens' songs have to carry a load of information for the audience, which makes for some func- liojiaJ.music.aid murky AaaJt-i t. sterdam Theatepjv npam rneateivv" I i 5 noY wen jj 4.