Summary
Set in the noirish nightlife of 1952 New York, this musical centers on J.J. Hunsecker, a powerful gossip columnist who rules the city’s social scene with an iron fist. He enlists Sidney Falco, a desperate and ambitious press agent, to destroy his younger sister’s relationship with a jazz musician.
Saturday, November 22, 2025 at 2:00 PM Nov 22, 2025, 2:00 PM
I’ve been meaning to write a little something-or-other about this. Sweet Smell of Success is a stylish noir musical probably best thought of as a cult classic—a not-terribly-well received show in the early aughts that nevertheless netted John Lithgow his second Tony and enjoys some latter-day following, particularly among stage-inclined teens.
This was a pretty excellent concert production led by a wish-fulfillment casting of Raul Esparza and strong supporting performances by Ali Louis Bourzgui and Noah J. Ricketts; Lizzy McAlpine’s here too, and, while her voice is beautiful, she’s still finding her footing as an actor. These one-offs and short run things tend to load up with casts of yesteryear’s Tony winners who aren’t currently starring in anything (love me some Santino Fontana), but this felt like they had actually made an effort to cast the show. Nobody was on book. The brassy music sounded great in a jazz hall backed by the MasterVoices choir. Choreo was solid. Build yourself a little set and you could drop this right on Broadway.
I inadvertently sat five seats away from a good friend who’s a longtime fan, and he told me afterwards over coffee that there were some significant alterations to the book, particularly at the very end. He thought it was better off for it; for my money as a first-timer, I thought the ending was satisfying. There was one funny technical hiccup at the beginning—Raul’s mic wasn’t on during his first song and they had to restart it.