Review: THE STORY OF A ROSE: A MUSICAL REVERIE ON THE GREAT WAR at NVCC'S Schlesinger Center

If you were to ask a modern day student what they know about WW1, they probably would give you a short answer seeing as it is rarely taught nowadays.

Powerhouse Broadway performer Melissa Errico wants to change that and has done so brilliantly with her own creation entitled The Story of A Rose: A Musical Reverie on the Great War. Complete with a seven piece orchestra, superb arrangements by Tedd Firth, and mostly top notch technical elements, this show does a lot to teach us all about a forgotten generation of military and the time period in general.

Ms. Errico frames the show around her great Aunt Rose who was a performer in the famed Ziegfeld Follies. As she performs many famous period songs like “Over There” and "Funiculi, Funicula", she also regales us with many stories about the time period. I was particularly shocked to learn that composer Jerome Kern was so drunk one morning that he overslept and missed his sailing on the doomed Lusitania. Can you imagine how musical theatre would have been if he had stayed sober the previous night?

There are two musical moments in this show that I found to be the most moving. The first being “The Lads in Their Hundreds” which is a song from 1911 by George Butterworth (Music) and AE Houseman (Lyrics) and the other being a poem written in 1919 by Siegried Sassoon called “Everyone Sang” which was set to music by Tedd Firth. These two moments alone summed up what Errico was going for overall.

George Abud was a great support for Errico throughout the show as he played several characters within the story. These included performer Eddie Cantor and of course a military doughboy.

Ms. Errico was backed by a superb seven piece orchestra which featured Tedd Firth (Musical Director, Pianist, Arranger), David Finck (Bass), Mark McLean (Drums), Aaron Heick (Reeds, Bruce Harris (Trumpet), Tallie Brunfelt (Violin), and Peter Douskalis (Guitar and Banjo). The ensemble played Firth’s arrangements to musical perfection. There was a lot of music for Firth to arrange but because he is such a high caliber of musician, everything sounded in period and was a pleasure to listen to.

I said at the beginning that the technical elements were mostly top notch. Veteran Lighting/Sound Designer Matt Berman did wonders with only the day of the show to program everything. For those of you who think that’s easy to do, trust me it’s not. It also helped that he brought veteran Sound Mixer/Designer Matt Kraus along for the ride. Those two gentleman represent many years of talent and if they are on your show, there is no need to worry. Kristin Chenoweth can’t be wrong.

The one part of the technical side that I found not to be on par was the projector placement for the images. I assume this was because of what Northern Virginia Community College’s Schlesinger Center could accommodate. There was a choice to do rear projection over front which unfortunately caused you to see the glow of the projector the whole show as there was no dowser for the lens when not in use. It was blinding at times and an overall distraction.

Director/Choreographer Lisa Shriver did a great job of bringing cohesion to the proceedings. The show, as of now, does feel like there is a little too much going on as the second act goes modern a third of the way in as if Melissa Errico is onstage at 54 Below. Maybe that’s how the show should start and end.

The Story of A Rose: A Muscal Reverie on the Great War was created for The Doughboy Foundation which is the organization that runs the WWI Memorial in DC. It’s a new monument on Pennsylvania Ave. and I urge you all to go see it if you are in the area. Several of the organization’s musicians were featured in the production.

Overall, Melissa Errico has taken on a mammoth task creating this show. If it can be streamlined just a little it will be all the more powerful.

Running Time: Two Hours and fifteen minutes including one intermission.

The Story of A Rose: A Muscal Reverie on the Great War was a one night only event at Northern Virginia Community College’s Schlesinger Center on May 7th, 2025.

Lead photo: L-R Melissa Errico, Members of The Doughboy Foundation, and George Abud in The Story of A Rose: A Muscal Reverie on the Great War.

Photo by Glenn Cook.