A few weeks after receiving her first Tony nomination, Nichelle Lewis found herself seated at the annual luncheon celebrating this year’s nominees—and it was there that the reality of the honor really sunk in.
Speaking on Zoom ahead of a Friday night performance, she recalled exactly how that felt: “I was [thinking], I have this plaque with my name on it, and I'm here with all these other people who once had a dream. That was what hit me, just the fact that I got to be in this room full of so many of my friends and so many people that I love and have looked up to for so long.”
Nichelle Lewis stars as Sarah in Ragtime.
Lewis, 26, earned that nod for her role in Ragtime, the stirring Broadway revival of the 1996 musical from Terrence McNally, Stephen Flaherty, and Lynn Ahrens (which is based on E.L. Doctorow’s 1975 novel by the same name). The story is grand in scale: it follows three groups of people in turn-of-the-century America—Black Americans, Jewish immigrants, and the white upper class—as their fates, hopes, and futures all intersect during a period of immense social change.
As Sarah, one of the story’s central characters, Lewis goes on an emotional journey that spans despair, hope, love, and tragedy. It’s one of the banner roles for Black women in musical theater—Audra McDonald won one of her six Tony Awards for playing Sarah in the original production—and Lewis has poured herself into making the character her own.
"There’s so many things that have helped me build this story," Lewis says, "including all the research I've done, talking to my family, and also all the knowledge that I have as a Black woman."
Here, she speaks with Marie Claire about the cosmic way the role came to her, drawing on her grandmother for inspiration, and how the body keeps the score when portraying a painful—but also hopeful—story that still resonates today.
Marie Claire: You made your Broadway debut in 2024 as Dorothy in The Wiz. Coming off of that, what made Sarah a role that you wanted to play?
Nichelle Lewis: I really loved the depth that she has. Coming off of The Wiz, where I got to play this character that signifies Black joy and love and finding home—what “home” means to you—I wanted to do something that, not only encompassed that, but also the pain that Black people, especially Black women, go through on a daily basis, whether back in the day or now. I just wanted to really dig in, do more research, and feel connected to my ancestors, all the things that mean something special to me.
MC: Two other actresses were initially cast as Sarah before Ragtime opened Off-Broadway, but both had to drop out—and then it became yours. Did that change how you approached the role at all?
NL: I didn't really let it. One of the things that I live by is “When it is the right time, it's the right time.” I also live by this quote—it sounds so stupid, but, “Everyone has their own Crock Pot, so we all cook at different times.” The women who came before me, Joy Woods and Joaquina Kalukango, they’re both so incredible. They went on other really big exciting opportunities, and then [the role of Sarah] was just there for me to step into. I felt like the path was right for all of us, and everything happens for a reason.
"The very first day we did our reading, the characters just had this spark, and everyone in the room felt it," Lewis says of her costar Joshua Henry.
MC: What, or who, did you draw on as you were deciding how you wanted to play her?
NL: I definitely drew from my grandmother. She’d planned to come see this show before she passed, and I remember being so nervous for her to come see it, because I knew that she had a lot of trauma. A lot of people don't realize that this really wasn't that long ago. When I think about my grandmother, I think about the fact that she was alive at a time where she was turned away from a lot of restaurants, and she was around when Ruby Bridges went through the doors of that school building [in 1960]. I watched her as I grew up. I watched how, because of her history and her trauma, when she would interact with a lot of white people, she would shrink herself. She would look down, she wouldn't really look them directly in the face. And I feel like it got better as she got much older and started to not care, but I derived the way that I move my body in this show from how she moved. When Sarah is around other Black people, or with immigrants, she’s a little bit taller, but when she’s around white people, I might make myself smaller. That’s all from her knowledge that she shared with me. But also, just from everything I know of that time, how they were just set free from slavery, there's no world in which Sarah would not be traumatized from these things. There’s so many things that have helped me build this story, including all the research I've done, talking to my family, and also all the knowledge that I have as a Black woman as well.
MC: Sarah goes on such an emotional journey over the course of the show. We meet her at her absolute lowest point, but then see her find love and hope before her story becomes tragic. How do you prepare yourself to go to those places eight times a week?
NL: It’s really hard because I do allow myself to go to a deep and painful place every night. I just feel it’s my duty as someone who hasn't had to live through things like the Tulsa massacre. I have to hold this weight and spread both the joy and the pain, and so I think that that’s something that gives me strength every day to do it. But my body does carry it, and I often get chills as I come off stage. It’s a really weird sensation when your body decides, “I know what you're doing, so I'm going to do it too.” But I find that I also feel extremely strong, and I wonder if that's similar to things my ancestors felt—it’s the pain, but also the strength that comes from it. I think that's what's so beautiful about this story in particular, and why it’s been resonating with people.
"I have to hold this weight and spread both the joy and the pain," Lewis says of Sarah's journey.
MC: You and Joshua Henry, who plays Coalhouse Walker Jr., are just incredible together. Your big duet, “Wheels of a Dream”—where he and Sarah are singing about their hopes for their son and his future—is so powerful. Tell me about building your characters’ relationship with him.
NL: The very first day that I met Joshua, and the very first day we did our reading, the characters just had this spark, and everyone in the room felt it. It was the most insane feeling. I remember we sang “Wheels of a Dream,” and we both felt so energized. I can’t explain how the souls of those characters just locked into one another so quickly, but it was immediate. I feel like a lot of us say theater is church, but it does feel like that, especially after “Wheels of a Dream,” when we have this moment of joy together and their connection just fills up a whole entire theater. It's the most wonderful thing ever.
MC: How has your performance changed over the course of the run? You’ve had so much more time with her now.
NL: Oh, it has changed and deepened in so many ways. I think I've learned a lot about myself and about Sarah and Coalhouse, and all the relationships Sarah builds and grows in. I feel like I find new things every night, somehow. Because everybody in the cast are such generous actors, it feels right every time. I don't know how it’s possible, but it’s one of those shows that continues to just blossom every night.
MC: Audra McDonald was the original Sarah, and I know that she gave you some advice about leaving Sarah at the theater when you go home. Are you able to do that, or is it hard?
NL: So it was very hard for me for a while, because again, I might be able to leave it, but my body remembers it; the body keeps score. There are just so many people that come into play here that help me to keep going, because without them, I don't know if my body could withstand the trauma that this character goes through eight shows a week. Some people can move throughout space and not go through that on stage every night, but for me it's important to allow myself to go through those things. I come home, I take a deep breath, I sit with my dog, maybe watch a few TV shows, do what I have to do to get my mind out of that place, and hopefully relax my body. I do try really hard to take what she told me, and remind myself that it's okay to let it go and come back tomorrow.
Ragtime earned 11 Tony nominations—the most of any musical revival this year.
MC: When this is done, you'll get to pay it forward and give that advice to the next Sarah.
NL: Yeah! I'm gonna be like: Get you a heated blanket, get you a therapist, a psychiatrist— all the things.
MC: This show takes place more than 100 years ago, but we’re still dealing with versions of what these characters experienced—people of color, immigrants, women. Why do you think Ragtime is speaking so strongly to us today?
NL: I think people, when they come and they sit in those seats, they're like, “We're still living through these stories.” We all came together and talked about the ending—Sarah and Coalhouse both have passed, and their little baby goes to a white family even though Sarah still has family down in the South—it’s not the most beautiful ending, you know? It's messy, it's raw, and it's sad. We all just sat in a room one day and we just said, “How can we make sure this feels the way it needs to feel?” And Lear [DeBessonet, the director] said, “We're not going to be sitting around with big smiles on our face, because it’s a moment filled with so many things.” That pause right before we all sing the word “dream” is so important, because it allows people to really feel all those things. I think that's why it’s resonating, because we allow them to come into our world and feel the things that we feel as well.
"I think doing this role has made me realize this is how we [make an impact]," Lewis says. "It's by telling stories that may feel difficult, that may be challenging to take on, but are also beautiful and hopeful, and it gives people something to hang on to and to think about when they leave the theater."
MC: You’re so right—it leaves that hope that the future will be better. But I also thought about everything Sarah and Coalhouse’s son would have lived through in America over the 20th century. It’s not a fully happy ending.
NL: Yeah, it’s not. Maybe that isn't talked about enough. I feel like a lot of people talk about the hope, and there is a lot of hope, but hope a lot of the time comes with pain. Because when we feel this pain, we feel like the world needs to change. That's when we start holding on to hope that things will change for the better.
MC: How has this experience made you think differently about the kind of performer you are?
NL: I don't know if this has really changed my perspective, but it has expanded my perspective. I've always wanted to change others' lives, and that has always been the biggest thing for me since my father passed. I remember just realizing the impact people can make while living, and even after they've passed. I wanted to make an impact and a positive one at that. I just didn't know how—I think doing this role has made me realize this is how we do it. It's by telling stories that may feel difficult, that may be challenging to take on, but are also beautiful and hopeful, and it gives people something to hang on to and to think about when they leave the theater. It has helped it grow into something so much bigger, and I just hope to be able to continue impacting people's lives and to continue sharing the love and the joy that I have and the stories that I have to share.
This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.