By Virginia Schneider
Photos by Sherry Rayn Barnett
Los Angeles, CA (The Hollywood Times) 2/22/2025 – A mother’s love for her child is unconditional. It may be worrisome, hysterical, filled with joy and pain, but as Margot Rose beautifully dramatizes, it is always Unconditional. This is a beautiful, rollicking, true story of two women, already in their mid-forties, who went to extraordinary lengths to have children. When thrown a painful twist of fate, the question to grapple with is, how do we remain a family? And as Ms. Rose asks, “How do we go on?”
A play with music, Unconditional… is written and performed by the extraordinary Ms. Rose with rock star vibrancy, great humor, and poignancy that will tear at your heart. It’s a study in acting, in writing and in how to engage an audience, therefore every creative in town should see this master at play.
Playwright and performer Margot Rose began her career Off-Broadway as Alice in the original company of I’m Getting My Act Together and Taking it on the Road at Joe Papp’s Public Theatre moving to Los Angeles with the show. Spanning an incredible career as an actor, songwriter and producer of Sidedoor Salon performance group, she has a great reputation as one of L.A.’s finest storytellers. So, it’s no wonder she is spellbinding in this 85-minute cruise.
With an incredibly talented group of musicians behind her including–Melina Young (who at times voices Rose’s daughter, Nora) Novi Novogg, Larry Tuttle, Justin Lottie and Aaron Benham, Ms. Rose takes us on a wonderful ride down her path of lesbian wife and mid-life mother. The musicians provide a subtle touch of emotional color which serves as a lovely backdrop to Rose’s story. Only a few times does Ms. Rose break into beautiful song with a voice as searing and powerful as Joni Mitchell.
The moment Rose walks on stage she is instantly in action, walking, talking, laughing, keeping her tempo upbeat. We are sucked in by her dry wit, emotional candor and often we abruptly come up short in the wake of a painful memory. Rose is so alive in every single moment of her tale that when she comes up short over a sudden ache, we too are slammed to an emotional halt, caught off guard by the change in circumstances.
We learn of her lesbian marriage and circle of friends (“we were ‘L’ before “L Word”) the risky decision to attempt pregnancy in her wife’s late 40’s and the two men who (for better and for worse) became surrogate fathers. When twins appeared in the ultrasound, Rose says, “there was our daughter Nora, raising her hand in a wave—I’m here!” Startled at how quickly life accelerates with children, Rose marvels, “how did I get a family?” She trippingly illustrates what makes a house a home—parties in the backyard, a shady tree, dinners with school children and their parents, the tooth fairy and cookies for Santa all come tumbling out like a sparkling waterfall.
As time marches on separation, empty-nesting, and the sale of the beloved home mark continual change. Family can be like a Jenga game–composed of many interlocking experiences and their tiny adjustments—if the wrong piece is removed it falls apart. Like watching home movies, we’re drawn into the little joys along Rose’s wonderful journey of happiness, wonder, and the astonishing blitz that’s “endless but never endless enough” — that is raising a family. Unconditional…is a rare gem of a story and of a storyteller.
Directed by Anne Kenny, produced by Rose’s son William Mellon, Musical Direction and Arrangements by Aaron Benham.
When: Previews 7:30pm on February 13, 14
Opened: 7:30pm Saturday, February 15, 2025
Schedule: 7:30pm on Thursdays, Fridays & Saturdays; 3pm Sundays
No performances on 2/28, 3/1, 3/2
Closing: March 9, 2025
Ticketing at: https://www.unconditionalmusical.com/. More information: 818-749-6842.
Ask about discounts for LGBTQ and victims of the L.A. fires.
https://www.unconditionalmusical.com/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/unconditionalmusical?igsh=Y3VvaXM5eGFnMXo3&utm_source=qr
Skylight Theatre
1816-1/2 North Vermont, Los Angeles, CA 90027
Box Office: skylighttheatre.org
Info: 213-761-7061