''The Rose Tattoo'' is a three-act play written by

Tennessee Williams Thomas Lanier Williams III (March 26, 1911 – February 25, 1983), known by his pen name Tennessee Williams, was an American playwright and screenwriter. Along with contemporaries Eugene O'Neill and Arthur Miller, he is considered among the thre ...

in 1949 and 1950; after its Chicago premiere on December 29, 1950, he made further revisions to the play for its

Broadway Broadway may refer to: Theatre * Broadway Theatre (disambiguation) * Broadway theatre, theatrical productions in professional theatres near Broadway, Manhattan, New York City, U.S. ** Broadway (Manhattan), the street **Broadway Theatre (53rd Stree ...

premiere on February 2, 1951, and its publication by New Directions the following month. A

film adaptation A film adaptation is the transfer of a work or story, in whole or in part, to a feature film. Although often considered a type of derivative work, film adaptation has been conceptualized recently by academic scholars such as Robert Stam as a dial ...

was released in 1955. ''The Rose Tattoo'' tells the story of an

Italian-American Italian Americans ( it, italoamericani or ''italo-americani'', ) are Americans who have full or partial Italian ancestry. The largest concentrations of Italian Americans are in the urban Northeast and industrial Midwestern metropolitan areas, w ...

widow A widow (female) or widower (male) is a person whose spouse has Death, died. Terminology The state of having lost one's spouse to death is termed ''widowhood''. An archaic term for a widow is "relict," literally "someone left over". This word ...

Mississippi Mississippi () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States, bordered to the north by Tennessee; to the east by Alabama; to the south by the Gulf of Mexico; to the southwest by Louisiana; and to the northwest by Arkansas. Miss ...

who has withdrawn from the world after her husband's death and expects her daughter to do the same.

Productions

Maureen Stapleton Don Murray The Rose Tattoo 1951

The original Broadway play starred

Maureen Stapleton Lois Maureen Stapleton (June 21, 1925 – March 13, 2006) was an American actress. She received numerous accolades, including an Academy Award, a Golden Globe Award, a BAFTA Award, a Primetime Emmy Award, and two Tony Awards, in addition to ...

Phyllis Love Phyllis Ann Love (December 21, 1925 – October 30, 2011) was an American theater and television actress. Early years Love was born in Des Moines, Iowa. Her parents were Jack Love, who owned a food market, and Lois Love, who owned a cafe prior t ...

, and

Eli Wallach Eli Herschel Wallach (; December 7, 1915 – June 24, 2014) was an American film, television, and stage actor from New York City. From his 1945 Broadway debut to his last film appearance, Wallach's entertainment career spanned 65 years. Origina ...

. Other original cast members of the 1951 Broadway play included

Martin Balsam Martin Henry Balsam (November 4, 1919 – February 13, 1996) was an American actor. He had a prolific career in character roles in film, in theatre, and on television. An early member of the Actors Studio, he began his career on the New ...

and

Vivian Nathan Vivian Nathan (born Vivian Firko, October 26, 1916 – April 3, 2015) was an American actress and founding member of the Actors Studio, which opened in 1947. She served on the Actors Studio's board of directors until 1999. She appeared in the or ...

. The original production of ''The Rose Tattoo'' premiered February 3, 1951, at the Martin Beck Theatre (now known as the

Al Hirschfeld Theatre The Al Hirschfeld Theatre, originally the Martin Beck Theatre, is a Broadway theater at 302 West 45th Street in the Theater District of Midtown Manhattan in New York City. Opened in 1924, it was designed by G. Albert Lansburgh in a Moorish an ...

) and concluded October 27, 1951, with a total of 306 performances. It was produced by

Cheryl Crawford Cheryl Crawford (September 24, 1902 – October 7, 1986) was an American theatre producer and director. Biography Born in Akron, Ohio, Crawford majored in drama at Smith College. Following graduation in 1925, she moved to New York City and ...

, written by Tennessee Williams;

incidental music Incidental music is music in a play, television program, radio program, video game, or some other presentation form that is not primarily musical. The term is less frequently applied to film music, with such music being referred to instead as t ...

by David Diamond,

staged ''Staged'' is a British television comedy series, set during the COVID-19 pandemic in the United Kingdom and primarily filmed using video-conferencing technology. The first series premiered on 10 June 2020 on BBC One, and the second series prem ...

Daniel Mann Daniel Chugerman (August 8, 1912 – November 21, 1991), known professionally as Daniel Mann, was an American stage, film and television director. Originally trained as an actor by Sanford Meisner, between 1952 and 1987 he directed over 31 feat ...

scenic design Scenic design (also known as scenography, stage design, or set design) is the creation of theatrical, as well as film or television scenery. Scenic designers come from a variety of artistic backgrounds, but in recent years, are mostly trained ...

Boris Aronson Boris Aronson (October 15, 1898 – November 16, 1980) was an American scenic designer for Broadway and Yiddish theatre. He won the Tony Award for Scenic Design six times in his career. Biography The son of a Rabbi, Aronson was born in Kiev, ...

, costumes designed by Rose Bogadnoff, lighting designed by Charles Elson,

general manager A general manager (GM) is an executive who has overall responsibility for managing both the revenue and cost elements of a company's income statement, known as profit & loss (P&L) responsibility. A general manager usually oversees most or all of ...

John Yorke,

stage manager Stage management is a broad field that is generally defined as the practice of organization and coordination of an event or theatrical production. Stage management may encompass a variety of activities including the overseeing of the rehearsal p ...

Ralph De Launey, conductor and

harpist The harp is a stringed musical instrument that has a number of individual strings running at an angle to its soundboard; the strings are plucked with the fingers. Harps can be made and played in various ways, standing or sitting, and in orc ...

Nettie Druzinsky, musicians: Michael Danzi, Jack Linx and Frank Kutak, production associate Bea Lawrene, and press representative Wolfe Kauffman. The play was recreated for a July 5, 1953, hour-long

radio adaptation Radio drama (or audio drama, audio play, radio play, radio theatre, or audio theatre) is a dramatized, purely acoustic performance. With no visual component, radio drama depends on dialogue, music and sound effects to help the listener imagine t ...

on the program ''

Best Plays Best or The Best may refer to: People * Best (surname), people with the surname Best * Best (footballer, born 1968), retired Portuguese footballer Companies and organizations * Best & Co., an 1879–1971 clothing chain * Best Lock Corporatio ...

''. Recordings of the radio drama exist in

archives An archive is an accumulation of historical records or materials – in any medium – or the physical facility in which they are located. Archives contain primary source documents that have accumulated over the course of an individual or ...

and private collections. The play was revived in 1966, again starring

, with

Maria Tucci Maria Tucci (born June 19, 1941) is an American actress. She was nominated for the Tony Award for Best Featured Actress in a Play in 1967 for her performance in ''The Rose Tattoo''. She played Koula in the 2015 mini-series '' The Slap''. She als ...

replacing

in the role of Rose Delle Rose. Tucci was nominated for the

Tony Award for Best Featured Actress in a Play The Tony Award for Best Featured Actress in a Play is an honor presented at the Tony Awards, a ceremony established in 1947 as the Antoinette Perry Awards for Excellence in Theatre, to actresses for quality supporting roles in a Broadway play. The ...

for her performance. The revival ran from November 9 to December 31 at the Billy Rose Theatre (now known as the

Nederlander Theatre The Nederlander Theatre (formerly the National Theatre, the Billy Rose Theatre, and the Trafalgar Theatre) is a Broadway theater at 208 West 41st Street in the Theater District of Midtown Manhattan in New York City. Opened in 1921, it was desi ...

) with 62 performances under the direction of

Milton Katselas Milton George Katselas (December 22, 1933 – October 24, 2008) was an American director and producer of stage and film, as well as a Hollywood acting instructor and coach who trained under Elia Kazan and Lee Strasberg at the acclaimed '' Ac ...

. Scenic design by David R. "Tex" Ballou, costume design by Frank Thompson, lighting designed by Peggy Clark, stage manager Ray Laine, and press representatives Arthur Cantor and Artie Solomon. The second revival, starring

Anthony LaPaglia Anthony LaPaglia (, ; born 31 January 1959) is an Australian actor. He is best known for his role as Jack Malone in the television drama ''Without a Trace'' (2002–2009), for which he received a Golden Globe Award in 2004. LaPaglia won a Prim ...

and

Mercedes Ruehl Mercedes J. Ruehl (; born February 28, 1948) is an American screen, stage, and television actress. She is the recipient of several accolades, including an Academy Award, a Golden Globe Award, a Tony Award, a Drama Desk Award, two Obie Awards, an ...

, took place in 1995 from March 23 to April 30, running for 73 performances at the

Circle in the Square Theatre The Circle in the Square Theatre is a Broadway theater at 235 West 50th Street, in the basement of Paramount Plaza, in the Midtown Manhattan neighborhood of New York City. It is one of two Broadway theaters that use a thrust stage that extends ...

with casting by Stuart Howard and Amy Schecter under the direction of Robert Falls. Scenic design was by Santo Loquasto, costume design by Catherine Zuber, lighting design by Kenneth Posner, sound design by John Kilgore, hair and make-up design by Claus Lulla, wig design by John Aitchison, general manager Don Roe, management consultant Gordon G. Forbes, stage manager Peggy Peterson, assistant stage manager Wm. Hare, and dialect coach K. C. Ligon. New Directions Publishing reissued the play in 2010 with a new introduction by playwright

John Patrick Shanley John Patrick Shanley (born October 13, 1950) is an American playwright, screenwriter, and director. He won the 1988 Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay for the film ''Moonstruck''. His play, '' Doubt: A Parable'', won the 2005 Pulitzer P ...

. A third Broadway revival starring

Marisa Tomei Marisa Tomei ( , ; born December 4, 1964) is an American actress. She came to prominence as a cast member on ''The Cosby Show'' spin-off ''A Different World'' in 1987. After having minor roles in a few films, she came to international attention ...

and directed by Trip Cullman premiered at the

American Airlines Theatre The American Airlines Theatre, originally the Selwyn Theatre, is a Broadway theater at 227 West 42nd Street in the Theater District of Midtown Manhattan in New York City. Built in 1918, it was designed by George Keister and developed by brothe ...

in previews on September 19, 2019, and officially on October 15.

Controversy

On May 12, 1957, the

Pike Theatre The Pike Theatre was a theatre located in Herbert Lane, Dublin, Ireland.The building was the Mews for No 6 Herbert Place (now No 43 Herbert Lane and is now occupied as offices) History Established in 1953 by Alan Simpson and Carolyn Swift, the P ...

Dublin Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of th ...

, Ireland, staged ''The Rose Tattoo'' with

Anna Manahan Anna Maria Manahan (18 October 1924 – 8 March 2009) was an Irish stage, film and television actress. Manahan received two Tony Award for Best Featured Actress in a Play nominations for her performances in the 1968 production of '' Lovers'' an ...

as the lead and the Irish scenic artist Reginald Gray as the set designer. After a short run, the theatre was invaded by the

Irish police This is a description of law enforcement in Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland. Before the Republic (then called the Irish Free State) left the union in 1922, one police force — the Royal Irish Constabulary — policed almost the whole ...

and director Alan Simpson was arrested for producing "a lewd entertainment" for

miming A mime artist, or simply mime (from Greek language, Greek , , "imitator, actor"), is a person who uses ''mime'' (also called ''pantomime'' outside of Britain), the acting out of a story through body motions without the use of speech, as a the ...

dropping a

condom A condom is a sheath-shaped barrier device used during sexual intercourse to reduce the probability of pregnancy or a sexually transmitted infection (STI). There are both male and female condoms. With proper use—and use at every act of in ...

onto the floor. Williams' script calls for a condom to fall out of a pocket during the show but the Pike staging mimed the act, knowing it would cause conflict. An intellectual revolt against the closing of ''The Rose Tattoo'' came from not only Ireland but from the continent, led by playwrights

Samuel Beckett Samuel Barclay Beckett (; 13 April 1906 – 22 December 1989) was an Irish novelist, dramatist, short story writer, theatre director, poet, and literary translator. His literary and theatrical work features bleak, impersonal and tragicomic expe ...

Seán O'Casey Seán O'Casey ( ga, Seán Ó Cathasaigh ; born John Casey; 30 March 1880 – 18 September 1964) was an Irish dramatist and memoirist. A committed socialist, he was the first Irish playwright of note to write about the Dublin working classes. ...

and

Brendan Behan Brendan Francis Aidan Behan (christened Francis Behan) ( ; ga, Breandán Ó Beacháin; 9 February 1923 – 20 March 1964) was an Irish poet, short story writer, novelist, playwright, and Irish Republican activist who wrote in both English an ...

. Simpson was later released. The presiding judge, Justice O'Flynn, ruled: "I can only infer that by arresting the accused, the object would be achieved of closing down the play." One of the results of this case was that any charges brought against theatre would have to be proven before the show could be forced to close.

Cast

Film adaptation

A film adaptation starring

Anna Magnani Anna Maria Magnani (; 7 March 1908 – 26 September 1973) was an Italian actress.Obituary ''Variety'', 3 October 1973, pg. 47 She was known for her explosive acting and earthy, realistic portrayals of characters. Born in Rome, she worked her ...

was released in 1955. Magnani won an

Academy Award The Academy Awards, better known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international film industry. The awards are regarded by many as the most prestigious, significant awards in the entertainment ind ...

for her performance.

Awards and nominations

1951 Original Broadway Production

1966 Broadway Revival

1995 Broadway Revival

2019 Broadway Revival

References

External links

* *
1953 ''Best Plays'' radio adaptation of original play
at

Internet Archive The Internet Archive is an American digital library with the stated mission of "universal access to all knowledge". It provides free public access to collections of digitized materials, including websites, software applications/games, music, ...

Ralph Delauney papers related to Tennessee Williams's The Rose Tattoo
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Special Collections, University of Delaware Library
{{DEFAULTSORT:Rose Tattoo, The 1951 plays Broadway plays American plays adapted into films Plays by Tennessee Williams Plays set in Mississippi Tony Award-winning plays New Directions Publishing books