COEUR d'ALENE - It's hard to resist the bright, distinctive music and arresting voices emanating from the rehearsal room at the east end of Boswell Hall, as Coeur d'Alene Summer Theatre prepares to present the regional premier of "Ragtime: The Musical."

The award-winning score that opened Thursday is soaring and ambitious, with more than 50 songs, drawing from Scott Joplin to Jewish folk songs, gospel, marches and vaudeville.

"Audiences are going to hear some amazingly beautiful voices in this show - some of the finest that you'd hear anywhere in the Northwest," said Kirk Mouser, who directs Ragtime. "It's a huge production, with more than 40 in the cast. We've brought in veteran actors from Seattle, New York, Texas and Portland, and of course, we have our local favorites like Callie McKinney Cabe, Andrew Ware Lewis, Patrick Treadway and Reed McColm."

Ragtime paints a powerful and nostalgic portrait of the lives of a family of upper-class WASPs, an African-American couple and a Latvian Jewish immigrant as they try to make a success in America at the beginning of the 20th century. Interweaving historical figures with fictional characters, the show illustrates poignant issues of the day, from immigration, racism and politics to industrialization and social upheaval.

The 1998 Broadway production of Ragtime: The Musical received 13 nominations for Tony Awards, winning four. It was then revived in 2009, and nominated for six more. It is widely considered to be one of the finest American musicals written in the past two decades.

The story is based on the 1975 novel "Ragtime," by E. L. Doctorow. Lyrics and music are by the award-winning duo of Lynn Ahrens and Stephen Flaherty (respectively), who have collaborated not only on musicals such as Ragtime, "Once on this Island" and "Seussical," but also on the Twentieth Century Fox animated musical film "Anastasia."

Mouser, who is artistic director for Portland's Stumptown Stages, previously directed "Les Miserables," "Miss Saigon," "Hairspray" and "The Sound of Music" for CST. Musical direction is by Steven Dahlke, who returns to CST for his 17th consecutive season. Choreography is by Beth Raimer, who also choreographed "Brigadoon" for CST.

Ragtime runs Aug. 16-26 in North Idaho College's Boswell Hall Schuler Performing Arts Center. Performances are held Thursdays through Saturdays at 7:30 p.m., with Sunday matinees at 2 p.m.

Tickets can be purchased online at www.cdasummertheatre.com, or by calling the box office at (208)769-7780. Tickets are $39.95 for adults, $35.95 for seniors and $31.95 each for groups of 10 or more.