Synopsis
Set in the fast-paced world of 1950s New York City, Sweet Smell of Success follows powerful newspaper columnist J.J. Hunsecker, whose gossip column can make or break careers overnight. When his younger sister Susan falls in love with a struggling jazz musician, Hunsecker enlists ambitious press agent Sidney Falco to break them apart and protect his public image. As Sidney becomes entangled in J.J.’s web of manipulation, he discovers the devastating personal cost of chasing power and success. With a jazzy score by Marvin Hamlisch and lyrics by Craig Carnelia, this darkly stylish musical exposes the cutthroat world of media, ambition and moral compromise beneath the glittering lights of Broadway.
Review
“If Lithgow holds the show together, then Brian d’Arcy James drives it forward, unrelenting, inch by inch. Always the consummate musical theatre performer, his doomed press flack Sidney Falco is responsible for what emotional and musical impact the show has. Here, Brian d’Arcy James assumes the stature almost of a force of nature. The lust for the sweet life is right there on the surface and he plays it for all it’s worth in a performance that completely overpowers everyone else on stage. Sweet Smell only truly comes alive during his numbers.”
Talkin’ Broadway
Playbill’s My Life in the Theatre
On 2 December 2025 Playbill released an interview with Brian on Youtube under their My Life in the Theatre playlist. Below is a transcript from the video about his time with Sweet Smell of Success – you can watch it here.
“Sweet Smell of Success. This, in my mind, is a just a landmark, because if Titanic was an opportunity for me to do something in an amazing ensemble of actors, this was the first time I actually kind of wear the costume of a leading role. And to do it in tandem with, can you see it? [indicates the Playbill cover] Can you see the man, John Lithgow? And Kelli O’Hara, the first time I worked with Kelli.
I felt a great deal of responsibility getting it right because of the nature of the role, but also because the music was written by Marvin Hamlisch. The great, beautiful, concise, and revealing lyrics of Craig Carnelia. John Guare, writing the book. Christopher Wheeldon, with the choreography. I mean, this, if you had a pedigree of people that were going to create something, you’d want always to start there with those people, and you just think, you know, just why not? Just call it a day, have them do everything.
The other thing that I think about is that my daughter was born in this show. She was born right before we went to Chicago for the out of town tryout. So my wife and I, Jennifer and I, got into, you know, a car and drove with Grace, who was, you know, this big [gestures with hands] in the back of the car. You know, Jen was in the back seat. We didn’t just throw her in the back. But that was such an adventure because here I was climbing this mountain of the show, which was such a great part and such a great experience. And I was having this other experience of a lifetime learning what it was to be a father and to have a family and to be really nervous about all of it.
Um, so Chicago sticks out in my mind, um, maybe because that run lasted longer than the one on Broadway. I don’t know. I’d have to check the math. But I say that jokingly. And it is a heartbreaker that this show didn’t last longer than it did. That show will have its moment, I think, for sure. I mean, the score is just so, so incredible. And what he’s doing with the idiom of jazz, you know, American jazz music. Hamlisch himself is kind of an idiom unto itself. And of course, the musical theatre, you know, kind of vibe of it all. It makes for an incredible. I encourage everyone to listen to that album. It’s a great, great, great, great album and a great show.
John Lithgow, I’m not trying to gloss over Kelli because I’m hoping that she comes up somewhere in these pages ahead. I’ll just speak about John because he became a really, really important figure to me because he made that experience seem possible. And he made it feel like I deserved to be there, and never once did I feel like I was trying to… The door was always open, and it always felt like a partnership in terms of what I was capable of bringing, which was miles behind him, in terms of his experience, but never once did I feel that we weren’t doing this together, which gave me such… such confidence, and it was such a gift. He remains a dear friend. I just saw him in London about five days ago. The guy is a class act. When we, this is moving ahead, we were in LA, uh, long after this show, we went to LA with Grace, and we’re trying to figure out if we’re gonna live there, and Jen was working, she needed a car, and John’s like, [mimics John’s voice] take my Ford Explorer. Take it. You can have it. I mean, anyway, this is an ad for Ford Explorer.”