The Rose Tattoo

See it if you have a Williams bucket list. Not one of his top plays. Knowing his bio you'll understand its flaws. Tomei and esp Elliot are terrific.

Don't see it if you're expecting his brilliant poetic language. Mixed styles and inconsistent direction make this lesser play a mediocre production.

See it if You're a fan of Tennessee Williams' plays and Marisa Tomei's performances. It's a study of despair, passion lost & found.

Don't see it if You don't prefer Tennessee Williams' plays. The set is languid and sultry but confusing. There is too much mythology and mindless worship.

See it if you've never seen Rose Tattoo, & like Marisa Tomei. Not the greatest theater this season.

Don't see it if you'd dislike a set full of flamingos & seascape, several good but out-of-place voices, disjointed costuming & slow 1st act.

Also Great Marisa Tomei (Serafina) as a grieving widow & Enum Elliott as her new lover.

This did not blow me away but based on some of the reviews on Show-Score I expected much worse. Glad to have seen Rose Tattoo, but I won't see it again.

Take the time & energy to see a much better Tennessee Williams rendition (Cat on a Hot Tin Roof) instead, now playing at Gallery Players.... Read more Read less

See it if The show comes to life in Act 2 when the delightful Emun Elliott appears and sets his sights on Marisa Tomei. Their scenes are funny,

Don't see it if involving, joyous. A 3-act play done in 2 can be umbalanced & is so here. But some scene re-jigging at the finale nicely focuses on romance.

See it if you want to see one of Williams's most humorous shows. Loved the chorus, setting and ambiance of the show. Nice chemistry between the actors

Don't see it if you don't want to see exaggerated acting -- everything is at a high decibel. Serafina seems less complex than most of Williams' female leads

See it if Wonderful to see Marisa Tomei shine on stage under Trip Cullman's direction of this Tennessee William's play. It was a great night.

Don't see it if Reimagined classics are not your thing.

See it if You have nothing better to do with your time and don't mind sitting through a show with very little plot.

Don't see it if You want a show with an interesting plot.

Also I REALLY wanted to like this show. Tomei was great in the lead role, but this show is just so boring it was hard to get past that. There's too little plot for so much length. The staging was interesting (although the kids were annoying and unnecessary) and I liked the "chorus" of women, but overall this was a miss. Shout out to the cameo roles by Cassie Beck and Greg Hildreth who both brought a little fun and life into an otherwise snoozer.... Read more Read less

See it if You're a Tomei fan, a Williams completist, or an Italian American. Others will be less interested.

Don't see it if You don't like family drama or exaggerated ethnic stereotypes.

See it if you've never seen Rose Tattoo and you're interested...if you're a marisa tome fan.. AND if you want to see an INCREDIBLE cast esp EmunElliot

Don't see it if you think Tennessee Williams ALWAYS has to be dead serious

See it if you like Marisa Tomei or Williams. She's masterful!

Don't see it if you want a clear story that makes a 100% sense. The story is a little strange.

See it if You are a die hard Tomei fan or are a subscriber to RTC

Don't see it if you want to see a show with good acting, scenic design, script, or direction...everything is messy and weird

See it if you like Tennessee Williams, Marisa Tomei or just a good evening of theater.

Don't see it if you are looking for an elevation of the material. The play is good. The acting is great. That's it.

See it if you're a TW fan. Not his greatest work. Marisa Tomei is delicious

Don't see it if you're looking for a tighter more entertaining piece of theater

See it if Tomei great in capturing consuming grief of a young widow. but production played humor overly broad. Excellent set, haunting vocal music.

Don't see it if If you don't enjoy period pieces, dislike Tennessee Williams stylized Southern domestic drama, want high production value

See it if you like solid drama. Marisa Tomei is outstanding and that in its self is worth seeing

Don't see it if strong dramas where you have to get into the sole of the characters are not for you

See it if If you are a fan of Marisa Tomei or Tennessee Williams

Don't see it if If you don't like Marisa Tomei or Tennessee Williams

See it if You want to experience a classic play with the brilliant Marisa Tomei as the passionate and fiery lead. She nails it with a fantastic cast.

Don't see it if You dislike passionate plays with adult themes. While humor has its moments, the play seriously tests religious values.

Also The child actors only add to the essence of the play. The set is simple but effective. The singing is beautiful and haunting. Bravo. Not to be missed.... Read more Read less

See it if You want to see the movie star.

Don't see it if You want to see a not-so-absurdly-outdated love story, or just a well written one.

Also What’s the point of reviving this kind of ancient “romantic” story? The characters’ silliness offended me badly.
Act 2 is just a pure hot mess.... Read more Read less

See it if Well... Marisa Tomei is beautiful and does a good job with a hard role. Imagine her character from My Cousin Vinny as really depressed

Don't see it if So many elements don't hang together - the Italian Greek chorus, the flamingos, the humor played as slapstick.

See it if You want to see some fine acting by Tomei and to see a more comical take on the play.

Don't see it if You are expecting the play to be updated (it’s not even with some music added and interesting staging). Slow burn plays aren’t your thing.

See it if you want to see Marisa Tomei shine is a perfect role. She has great chemistry with Emun Elliott. Beautiful staging with a nice chorus

Don't see it if you can not understand plays with characters speaking with strong accents. Some words hard to decipher.

Also The play was more entertaining than I expected. Great memorable performances filled with emotion... funny and sexy too. See it if you are a Tennessee Williams.... Read more Read less

See it if You like the writing of Tennessee Williams and Marisa Tomei.

Don't see it if Don't enjoy the writing of Tennessee Williams.

See it if You want to see an excellent performance by Marisa Tomei, as well as a little-done Williams play.

Don't see it if You expect more emotional depth and an ending that is not just "nice," but is more affecting. You are troubled by stereotyping.

Also I had never seen any version of THE ROSE TATTOO (including the famous film). I did know the plot, having read a synopsis in advance. I thought Marisa Tomei was wonderful and I was amused by the comedy, but felt that this production went too far in that direction, becoming sit-com-y, when, in fact, to me the best comedies have emotional heft. The final scene didn't grab me the way I believe it should've. I also found the Italian accents to be cheesy, if not downright stereotypical. My husband wondered how the play would have been without any accents at all.

I was also really confused by the set design. Why a bunch of lawn flamingos, which are not found in that part of the country (live ones, that is)? Why the votive altar (yes, I know the church is important to the play, but it was not even facing the audience and it made the pivotal scene of smashing the urn with Serafina's husband's ashes rather limp)?

Still, I was glad to have seen this.... Read more Read less

See it if you want to see an over the top and all over the place production of a Williams play. Wonder what he would think...

Don't see it if you love this play. This production has no heart, not grounded at all, a lot of strange directorial choices.

See it if You are a fan of Tennessee Williams and won't be offended by the stereotypical portrayal of Sicilian immigrants in this play.

Don't see it if You're sensitive to the sound of whining & sing-a-song speech. It's a stereotypically authentic version of what an American thinks he hears.

Also The cast did an admirable job with this 1951 play, but the result feels dead on arrival. It didn't survive the trip to 2019. Stereotype and ridicule come across loud and clear, but the supposed Sicilian dialect, is simply a mish-mash of Italian language words recited in sing song to infinite nagging annoyance.

Expecting this play to represent the Sicilian immigrant experience in the Louisiana of the early 20th century, is tantamount to dragging Carmen Miranda with her fruit headdress back from the dead and declaring her a symbol of the Latin American experience. Some things should simply rest in peace and studied within their own historical contexts.

If I had been a producer with the Roundabout Company wishing to explore the historical Sicilian immigrant experience, within the present political climate where new immigrants are being ICE'd and children kept in cages, I'd have commissioned a new play instead about the lynchings of the 11 Italian immigrants in New Orleans in 1891.... Read more Read less