Frederick P. Rose Hall

Sweet Smell of Success

November 30, 2025

The film version starring Burt Lancaster as sleazy yet powerful gossip columnist J.J. Hunsecker (similar to the notorious Walter Winchell) and Tony Curtis as hungry press agent protégé Sidney Falco was not a success as the ugly underbelly of tabloid journalism was not what filmgoers wanted from some of their favorite box office stars in 1957. Some of the same problems apparently recurred when nice guy John Lithgow took on the role in the stage musical in 2002. The reedited version by Guare and Carnelia (which is closer to what they originally intended) remains faithful to the original plot but gives a more humanizing backstory and a more palatable ending. They have also restored the original opening (“Rumor”) and a duet for Hunsecker’s sister Susan and her boyfriend Dallas (“That’s How I Say Goodbye”), cut on the road. [more]

The Frogs

November 9, 2023

MasterVoices acquitted itself well in this deliciously comic concert staging of "The Frogs." Why this Stephen Sondheim score is not better known or revived more often remains a mystery after seeing the fine production that fit the Fredrick P. Rose Hall of the Rose Theater. Hopefully, this concert will lead to more fully staged productions now that MasterVoices demonstrated how many star turns are available in this comic masterpiece by Shevelove, Lane and Sondheim. [more]

Angels in America (New York City Opera)

June 23, 2017

By eliminating most of the extended fantasy elements of the play, they reduced the storyline to the domestic turbulence of two couples and a deservedly ugly portrait of Roy Cohn. Add in a visit by the iconic Bethesda Fountain Angel (here totally generic) and some very dramatic, brass-heavy music and you have this intriguing production by New York City Opera that succeeds as an opera as long as one is not familiar with the source material. What seemed heavy going and existential in the original comes across on a much more human level in the opera. [more]

Florencia en el Amazonas

June 29, 2016

This production had two brilliant design/directoral conceits that worked hand in glove with the musical elements to tell the story. The first involved twelve dancers from Ballet Hispanico’s BHdos all in white body suits from head to toe, undulating virtually continuously down stage in front of the ship, representing the river and its secrets. With indefatigably choreographed by Nicholas Villeneuve and breathtakingly lit by Barry Steele, they, indeed, became a living part of the scenery, even interacting with the characters on the ship. [more]