It’s not often that high-school students can present a musical set in their hometown, but that’s the case this week when New Rochelle High School’s Theater Works presents “Ragtime,” the Stephen Flaherty-Lynn Ahrens musical based on E.L. Doctorow’s book.

“Ragtime” weaves three seemingly unrelated stories into one tapestry of a specific time in American history, roughly 1904-06.

There’s Coalhouse Walker Jr., an accomplished musician, fighting prejudice and hoping to build a life with Sarah and their child.

There’s Tateh, a Latvian immigrant whose dreams of America’s possibilities are dashed and then reborn.

And there’s Mother, a New Rochelle housewife whose explorer husband’s absence prompts her to develop her own voice and become her own person.

The musical will be presented Thursday through Sunday in the Linda E. Kelly Theatre, at the north end of the campus in the newly constructed wing of the school. Access to the theater is off North Avenue at Braemer Avenue.

Director Scott Zimmerman says the troupe couldn’t take on a show like “Ragtime” until it became fully integrated. “This used to be an all-white club,” he says. “That’s one of the things I’m proudest about is integrating the club so it’s a true reflection of the community.

“As I was thinking of what show to do, I thought ‘What better show to reflect the community than ‘Ragtime’?’ ”

New Rochelle is treated well and ill in the musical.

“Well, it’s New Rochelle,” Zimmerman says. “We left all the language in – every bit of it – otherwise the story falls apart.”

“I spoke to them about it during casting and as we were blocking things out. Here, you need the language for the message to come across – and to show the racism,” he says.

“Most people look at Coalhouse as the lead, but it’s really Mother – everything pivots off of her and her acceptance of everyone and everything and standing up for women’s rights and strength. She’s an amazing character,” Zimmerman says.

For Coalhouse, a proud man, his highest highs are followed by the lowest lows, as when his car is savagely attacked in New Rochelle by hoodlums. He’s played by Evan Grotevant, a sophomore who’s new to the school.

“We’ve talked about the dignity he holds until he can’t take it anymore,” Zimmerman says. “When Act 2 opens, you see the total transformation in his eyes and in his voice and when that gun comes out it’s a shocker. He’s a nice guy trying to do the right thing. It’s a powerful change.

“It has been a journey for him,” Zimmerman says. “It’s put him to the test and he’s really learned to use his voice correctly.”

On Broadway, “Ragtime” had a full-blown production, but producers are finding it works just as well in a minimal setting, as it did at the White Plains Performing Arts Center recently.

“Everything’s suggested and we use minimal bits of set, a couple of chairs, a bassinet when one’s needed – and we have a screen where we project images to help set the scene,” the director says.

The screen displays a series of images of patriotism and old photos of the city from the New Rochelle Public library, the historical society and from the Library of Congress archives.

“That’s all you need, because the story carries itself,” he adds.

The concept is this constant motion of entrances and exits, Zimmerman says, with the 52 cast members using the entire theater, stage, pit and aisles.

Junior Jordan Miller plays Tateh, the Latvian immigrant whose hopes for his daughter drive him to succeed. He arrives in America full of hope, but is soon disillusioned, poor and starving. Things turn around when a small gift for his daughter launches him in an entirely new career.

Tateh’s story intersects with Mother’s twice, the second time they sing the song “Our Children,” a sweet duet about hopes and love and the future.

Miller says playing a show set in New Rochelle is compelling.

“It happened here,” he says. “I don’t play someone from New Rochelle, but the people who do have to act the way New Rochellians acted back then. And it’s different than the way they act now.

“They were straight-backed and stuck up and I’d say New Rochelle now is more integrated and different,” he says. “Back then, black people and immigrants weren’t really seen.

“To think that people who lived here used to be racist is an eye-opener to what this area used to be,” he says.

Tateh – Miller learned his Latvian accent from listening to the cast album – is a man who comes to these shores knowing only that America is a land of hope.

“Later, the only thing I know is that I was lied to and it’s awful,” he says. “After a policeman hits my daughter, I have to say ‘I hate you, … America,’ because everything I’ve thought has been dashed.”

There are tender moments, too, as in the song “Gliding,” when he’s trying to console his daughter, played by senior Danielle Abelson.

Erin Pryor, admires Mother, the character she plays.

“She’s the ultimate woman,” Pryor says. “She starts off being led on a leash and being completely OK with it and goes to the opposite side of the spectrum where she no longer wants to be led.”

What she wants, in the end, is love on her terms.

When she takes in the black woman Sarah and her baby, Mother sees Coalhouse’s love for Sarah and wants that in her life.

“She falls in love with their love,” Pryor says.

In the independence she feels during her husband’s absence, she comes to realize she doesn’t have to settle for less.

There are many stories told here, Pryor says.

“You’ve got Houdini, Evelyn Nesbit, the black community, Emma Goldman, immigrants, white people – and they all intertwine. They all come together to show the growth of America, of the people. They may not all talk to one another, but it shows how what Emma Goldman is doing affects Mother’s life, because it’s affecting her brother.

“My friend lives in that house where (Doctorow) lived and I went up to see it to get a feel for it. And it was bizarre to think that E.L. Doctorow had all these thoughts about this family and living in this house and I’m portraying one of them.”

“My dad’s a retired firefighter and he did some research on what the Fire Department was like,” Pryor adds. “Were there guys who didn’t appreciate black people? Yes. But it wasn’t as tough as the show portrays it.”

“The show shows New Rochelle very well, but there are parts of it that are heightened and more dramatized to show what all of America was going through. That’s how I look at it.”

‘Ragtime’

Where: New Rochelle High School, 265 Clove Road, New Rochelle. The theater is at the north side of the campus, best reached off North Avenue at Braemer Avenue.

When: 8 p.m. Thursday, Friday and Saturday; 2 p.m. Sunday.

Tickets: $10; $7 for students and seniors.

Call: 914-546-3938.

With: Matt Turkle, Lauren Coote, Evan Grotevant, Jordan Miller, Danielle Abelson, Dana Mancuso, Nicholas Thomas, Isaac Assor, Jacob Backer, Liana Benyair, Brian Bradley, Chris Brown, Hadas Brown, David Cohan, Grace Deane, J.A. Ford, Alejandro Funes, Ciera Gardner, Allie Gendreau, Suzana Giashi, Cheyanee Herdeen, Anne Jacobs, Moire Kiyingi, Megan Klippert, Kristi Kuligowski, Elissa Levy, Kevin Levine, Alexander Long, Tyler Lopachin, Jake Meiner, Iris Malfetano, Marvill Martin, Benjamin McKnight, Isaac McKnight, Danielle McLean, Lauren Miceli, Suja Nair, Rich Powers, Erin Pryor, Julie Rigano, Darla Rivera, Russell Rothenberg, Julianna San Fillipo, Sharmany St. Martin, Sandra Tamarin. Freedom Weekes, Sarah Weissman, Donburn Wint, Amanda Brody, Maya Holmes, Morgan Pappas, Nathaniel Treffeisen, Matthew Baum, Ciara Grogan, Max Gordon, Matthew Gukowsky, Jake Haskel, Michael H. Klein, Jovan C. Richards, Steven Herzog, Samantha Carroll, Steven Beyer, Marissa Febbraro, Ralph Ferrara, Chris Freeman, Stacey Levine, Jenn Veres, Josh Whitinger, Sonia Ahmed, Ruben Barajas, Chiara Corso, Onasia Ford, Danny Franco, Linda Garaycochea, Joanie Giordano, Kelly Happaney, Sergio Hernandez, Sophie Hirsh, Arame Mbodj, Greg McCoy, Kelly Nagl, Maureen Neary, Silex Salazar, Naima Thomas, Lizeth Torres

New Rochelle marks all things ‘Ragtime’

New Rochelle will be awash in “Ragtime.” In addition to the musical:

– Throughout May, the school’s Museum of Arts & Culture, upstairs from the theater, will present an exhibit “Ragtime in New Rochelle.” The exhibit will include items on loan from Doctorow. Admission is free.

Theresa Kump Leghorn, director of the museum, says the exhibit “will put the book in context, providing historical background on the city during the years 1893 to 1914” and will “provide a window into E. L. Doctorow’s life in New Rochelle and his experience researching and writing the book.”

The museum is open to the public 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Mondays through Fridays, and 7 to 9 p.m. Tuesday and Thursdays.

– On May 10, City Winds Trio will present “Ragtime!” a concert and reception at 3 p.m. at the Ossie Davis Theater, New Rochelle Public Library. Admission is $2. – On May 12, there’s a 7:30 p.m. screening of the 1981 film, “Ragtime,” directed by Milos Forman and starring James Cagney. At the high school’s Kelly Theatre. Free. – On May 16, Doctorow will deliver a lecture at 7:30 p.m. in the Kelly Theatre – New Rochelle Library’s “One City, One Book” book club will be reading and discussing the book at several sites around the city. – The celebration ends June 22 with a 3 p.m. event at the New Rochelle Public Library.