History
The Rose was built at the corner of St.Marks and Vanderbilt in 1877, by Lord Carter Thomason. Thomason was an upper class Englishman who'd dreamed of being an actor in his youth. However, his parents were rather less than thrilled with the idea, so he went into law. Thomason became an even more wealthy man than he was to begin with; after his parents' deaths, he realized that he could use this money to pursue his dream. It was too late to act, but he could still be part of the theater.
So Carter Thomason, along with his nephew, Alan Sherbrooke, came to America to open The Rose. Thomason planned for it to be the finest theater in New York, furnished luxuriously and modernly equipped. Thomason loved the Rose like his own child, putting all his money and energy into making it a beautiful and successful theater. He hired some of the finest actors and actresses of the day and got the best crewmen available.
Thomason lived just long enough to see his dream fulfilled--he died rather mysteriously, shortly after the completion of the run of The Rose's first show. It was quite unexpected, despite his age. Theater people being a superstitious lot, there are some who claim that Thomason's ghost still wanders the halls of his beloved theater. The current owner, Michael Carraway, insists that it's all nonsense. McKay, the manager, agrees--or at least he claims to.
Thomason left the Rose to Alan Sherbrooke, but Alan had no interest in actually running a theater...his passion was acting. So he put it up for sale, and it was purchased by Michael Carraway. Carraway took the already lovely theater and turned it into a truly profitable business, a difficult thing to do. He improved advertisement, attracting larger crowds and a few more famous actors and actresses. When Thomas Edison lit the city in '79, Carraway had him install modern overhead lights on the stage.
Now, however, Carraway leaves control of the theater to manager James McKay. McKay, rather than starting out as an actor, like most theater managers, came up from the ranks of the stage crew. His talent as a carpenter and organizer got him the stage manager job, which led to taking over management when the former manager (Osborne Lee) quit and moved to Philadelphia. McKay has been responsible for greatly improving the safety of The Rose--replacing the rope set with the counterweight rigging system, enforcing call rules and shop safety.
McKay has also shown considerable skill at directing...the Rose's latest production, Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet shows considerable promise. The Rose in currently in search of actors, actresses, and crew.