Ripped From the Headlines (of the 1950s): Ethel Sings Opens Off-Broadway

Joan Beber’s Ethel Sings celebrates its opening night on June 6 at Theatre Row’s Beckett Theatre. The off-Broadway premiere, under the direction of Will Pomerantz, stars Tracy Michailidis as real-life convicted spy Ethel Rosenberg. The drama will play through July 13.

Ethel Sings follows Ethel Rosenberg, the determined mother, singer, writer and actress, and her husband Julius, played by Ari Butler, who become swept up in the fatal Red Scare hysteria of the 1950s. Julius’ need to “save the world” becomes his undoing, and Ethel’s love for her husband becomes hers.

In addition to Michailidis and Butler, the cast includes Adrienne Moore, Kevin Isola, David Fierro, Tanesha Gary, Sheira Irving, Kenneth Lee, Joel Leffert and Serge Thony.