What: Sweet Smell of Success
Where: Jazz at Lincoln Center
10 Columbus Circle
New York, NY
When: This event took place on November 21 - 22, 2025
Sweet Smell of Success is a short-lived 2002 musical based on the movie of the same name. The plot revolves around a gossip columnist who is overly involved in his sister's life, and the young up-and-comer who becomes ensnared in his nefarious plot to control her love life. The show, with its emphasis on the need for fast news and the propensity for airing people's dirty laundry without regard for the truth, is extremely timely. A limited-run concert version of the show was staged by the MasterVoices with special guests on November 21 and 22 at Jazz at Lincoln Center.
The show benefited greatly from the participation of the two living creators: book writer, John Guare, and lyricist, Craig Carnelia (the third member of the team was composer, Marvin Hamlisch). Thus, a new version of the show was presented, which combined elements of the pre-Broadway tryout with aspects from the eventual Broadway version. If you are familiar with the show, the current version does seem a lot tighter, has a better opening and closing, and includes a nice song or two that was cut from the Broadway production.
However, the production was marred by the casting of singer Lizzy McAlpine in the role of the columnist's sister, although she gave a decent performance in the recent Floyd Collins at Lincoln Center; here, she was underwhelming. She also had no chemistry with her love interest, played by Noah J. Ricketts, which detracted greatly from the story. Rickett's performance was good, however, as was most of the rest of the cast, especially Alina Mayagoita as the up-and-comer's fiesty girlfriend and Raul Esperaza in a powerhouse performance in the role of the gossip columnist. The voices, as usual for a MasterVoices show, were lovely.
And that's our view. MasterVoices next production will be Sins and Grace on March 23 and 24 at Alice Tully Hall at Lincoln Center. For more information or to purchase tickets, go to www.mastervoices.org/upcoming-performances
Tune in tomorrow for this week's Sunday Scoop.
Photo credits:
All Sweet Smell of Success production photos by Toby Tenenbaum
Images used in this post were sent by publicists, artists, and/or PR firms and are used by permission. Address any concerns regarding image usage here.
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