Ben Levi Ross on Righteous Anger and Transformation in Ragtime

“I'm really drawn to a big arc,” says Ben Levi Ross. “I'm drawn to someone who's very changed through the length of the piece.” This is an appropriate sentiment for Ross, who goes from lovelorn Victorian to political radical throughout the course of Ragtime, the musical epic currently playing at Lincoln Center. Set at the turn of the century, Ross plays Mother’s Younger Brother, an idealistic pyrotechnician whose sheltered worldview is upended by exposure to racial violence and anarchic political views. Referring to his character’s arc, Ross says, “It's being able to rage against what's happening societally and also being able to sort of rage against the confines that he's been put in.”

Younger Brother makes a bid at heroism in Ragtime, but Ross wonders how his impressionable nature might fare in modern times. “I think about the internet, the rabbit holes he'd go down. Now, all those platforms are bought and purchased by men who are attempting to indoctrinate young men. You get onto these platforms and you're immediately inundated with pretty intense, pretty misogynistic, racist, xenophobic content. I would hope that this person had good at his core, but a lot of good people think that they're doing good when they fall down the far right rabbit hole or just fall down really hateful rabbit holes in general.”

In spite of this, Ross relates to Younger Brother’s fervor, saying, “I'm a little fiery as well. I'm a little angry at the world.” Ross first took on the role in last year’s New York City Center’s Encores! production before the show transferred to Broadway. Though he had some familiarity with the material, he was still something of a novice when he began his Ragtime journey. “I loved the score so much and I was shown it by my sister, who's six years older. She was also a musical theater lover and I remember her showing me Audra [McDonald] singing "Daddy's Son," and I was like, ‘What is happening?’ Vocally I was like, that's the craziest thing I've ever heard." He goes on, “I actually didn't know a lot about Mother's Younger Brother's music. When I discovered that he has two of my favorite songs in the show, I was so thrilled.”

Though Ross has enjoyed a wide-ranging career in the arts—from his solo musical project Boychik to his recurring role as Carrie Preston’s son on CBS’s dramedy Elsbeth—his roots are in musical theater. Ross caught his big break in Dear Evan Hansen, joining the cast in 2019 as an understudy before stepping into the title role on the show's national tour. He later reprised the role on Broadway in 2022. Reflecting on the similarities between Evan Hansen and Younger Brother, Ross says, “Evan comes into the show with this secret. That's sort of the thing that's bubbling underneath everything. With Younger Brother, something is also bubbling underneath it all. He says it in the beginning, that he has this want to find something to believe in.”

Ragtime has been known to elicit strong feelings from audience members, which is something that Ross himself has been privy to. Lin-Manuel Miranda, who Ross worked with on the mutli-hyphenate’s directorial debut, Tick, Tick…Boom! came to see the show and was noticeably moved. Says Ross, “He came backstage and he was puffy. He had been crying—not to out you—but he was very moved.” 

Toward the end of Ragtime, Ross performs the rousing duet “He Wanted to Say” with Joshua Henry, who plays the justice-seeking pianist Coalhouse Walker Jr. “I've never done a number like that where I am locking eyes with someone from beginning to end. It feels like a spiritual experience for me to share, to be able to sing with someone so exceptionally talented and have him sort of be changed.” You can experience this moment of onstage transformation in Ragtime from now until June 14, 2026.

Watch the full interview below.

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