This is one Tennessee Williams woman you won't soon forget. Marisa Tomei plays Serafina, a widow who rekindles her desire for love, lust and life in the arms of a fiery suitor. Sharply directed by Cullman, Williams' lesser-known gem sizzles with humor and heart in sultry New Orleans. Serafina erupts from the depths of despair to the heights of passion in this Tony Award-winning Best Play.
None of this, mind you, is a total mess. Individual scenes are affecting, Tomei can toss off a funny line with the best of them, and you are, by the end, rooting for Serafina to find happiness again. Ella Rubin, as her daughter, Rosa, has an unexpectedly modern role to play-she's a teenager of 15 who really wants to get with her reticent older boyfriend-and she too has stage presence to burn. Tomei looks great, and the costuming does well by everyone. (The script includes a few remarks about the degree to which Serafina has gone to seed, but you'll just have to take that on faith.)
Tomei knows from Italian-flavored portraiture. (She won an Oscar playing a character named Mona Lisa Vito in 'My Cousin Vinny.') If, in the closefitting 1950s slips and dresses the costume designer Clint Ramos has provided, her affect is more cuddly pixie than temperamental colossus, she is nonetheless a bold and inventive comic performer. Unfortunately, she is in hard-fought competition with her environment. It's not that she's operating in a vacuum, which might be easier. Cullman has populated the stage with an ever-present chorus of singing Italian women and frantic children.
1951 | Broadway |
Broadway |
1966 | Broadway |
Broadway |
1995 | Broadway |
Broadway |
2019 | Broadway |
Roundabout Theater Company Broadway Revival Broadway |
Year | Ceremony | Category | Nominee |
---|---|---|---|
2020 | Drama League Awards | Distinguished Performance Award | Marisa Tomei |
2020 | Drama League Awards | Outstanding Revival of a Play | The Rose Tattoo |
2020 | Tony Awards | Best Costume Design of a Play | Clint Ramos |
2020 | Tony Awards | Best Original Score | Fitz Patton |
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