Mollie Vogt-Welch and Sam Simahk Photo by Mikki Schaffner

Vogt and Friedman have gently touched up a few stories in their show about "Rosie," as her friends called her, but the show still uses her popular songs–some upbeat, some melancholic–to spotlight the ups and downs of her life. They unfold as she has therapy sessions with a kindly psychiatrist following a 1968 mental breakdown, brought on by addiction to pills and a lot of emotional trauma from a difficult childhood, an unhappy marriage, and being close with Senator Robert F. Kennedy during his presidential campaign: She was nearby at the Ambassador Hotel in Los Angeles when he was assassinated.

The pretty blonde singer had a girl-next-door persona that belied most of the angst she repressed. This show isn't shy about portraying it, and actor Mollie Vogt-Welsh ably conveys both Rosie's sunny onstage moments and the darkness behind her emotional challenges. She argues with her mother, pushes hard at her unfaithful husband, and is sharp and resentful with her doctor at the outset of counseling. She also speaks lovingly about her children.

Vogt-Welsh surely looks the part, and she effortlessly sings 19 numbers that became standards from the American Songbook thanks to Rosie's performances, including "It's Only a Paper Moon," "Count Your Blessings (Instead of Sheep)," "Someone to Watch Over Me," and the show's title song, "Tenderly." She's backed by three musicians: Matthew Umphreys on piano; Nick Greenberg on bass; and drummer Brian Malone.

Her conversations with "The Doctor," played by Sam Simahk, are the launchpads for various memories, good and bad, from Rosie's tumultuous life. In addition to playing a supportive and insightful shrink, Simahk quickly transforms into a dozen or so other characters, male and female: the singer's mother and sister; her husband, the famous actor Jose Ferrer; an array of well-known performers from Bing Crosby to Frank Sinatra, whom she starred with in films and concerts; and numerous other quick takes as a nervous attorney, a stage manner, and more. Simahk makes those shifts smoothly with just a quick change of or removal of glasses, a jacket tossed casually over his shoulder for Sinatra, a simple fedora and a pipe for Crosby. With changes to his voice and demeanor, he's easily accepted in each of these roles.

Tenderly: The Rosemary Clooney Musical is not a jukebox musical by any stretch of the imagination, even though its momentum comes from the songs that uncannily reflect Clooney's moods and circumstances. In fact, it's a meaningful drama about a complex woman who overcame some serious life challenges. Clooney found her way to happiness and satisfaction later in life, thanks to her second marriage to Dante Di Paolo, a choreographer and longtime friend, and to her willingness to take on some new forms of music and singing. After wearing a simple blue dress through most of the show, Vogt-Welch becomes a mature Rosie in a sparkling gown for the closing number, a woman able to return to the song "Come On-a My House," the upbeat tune she had angrily disavowed so many years earlier.

For an engaging portrait of an iconic performer and a woman to be admired, Tenderly: The Rosemary Clooney Musical is a show to enjoy and learn from.

Tenderly: The Rosemary Clooney Musical runs through May 17, 2026, produced by the Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park, 962 Mt. Adams Circle in Eden Park, adjacent to Mt. Adams, Cincinnati, OH. For tickets and information, please visit cincyplay.com or call 513-421-3888.