The Terrence McNally-Lynn Ahrens-Stephen Flaherty musical will be staged by its original director Frank Galati. Original choreographer Graciela Daniele will also return.

The pageant-rich musical based on E.L. Doctorow's novel merges three distinct communities (black, white and Jewish) in New York City circa 1906. The musical snagged Tony Awards for Best Book and Best Score in a season when The Lion King was a major artistic rival.

Ragtime will open April 8, 2008, at the New York State Theatre, where New York City Opera makes its home. Performances will include supertitles.

The staging, part of a season of operas, follows "the City Opera tradition of presenting classics of the American Musical Theater," according to the company.

David Loud, the show's original musical director, will conduct the production. Playbill.com has learned that some members of the original cast are being sought to re-create their roles. Audra McDonald won the Tony for Best Featured Actress in a Musical for playing Ragtime's tragic Sarah, a young woman in love with a ragtime pianist — and caught in the swirl of history.

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New York City Opera's 2007-2008 season, opening on Sept. 11, features six new productions and seven revivals, the company's general and artistic director, Paul Kellogg, announced Feb. 13.

The repertoire includes new productions of Richard Danielpour's Margaret Garner, with a libretto by Toni Morrison; a double bill of Mascagni's Cavalleria rusticana and Leoncavallo's Pagliacci; Massenet's Cendrillon; Barber's Vanessa; Purcell's King Arthur; and Ragtime.

Returning repertoire includes revivals of Handel's Agrippina, Verdi's Falstaff, Mozart's Don Giovanni, Puccini's Tosca, La bohème and Madama Butterfly, and Bizet's Carmen.

Subscriptions for the City Opera's 2007-2008 season are available online at www.nycopera.com, beginning Feb. 26; or by calling the subscription office at (212) 496-0600.