Video: ‘This Is the Best Work I’ve Ever Done’: Margot Rose on UNCONDITIONAL

Margot Rose is bringing her deeply personal new musical memoir, Unconditional, to New York City! The production, written by and starring Rose, will play La MaMa from October 15-25, and she recently sat down with BroadwayWorld’s Richard Ridge to discuss the emotional journey of bringing her family’s story to the stage.

Featuring music by Rose and Aaron Benham and directed by Anne Kenny, Unconditional explores love, family, and the unimaginable experience of losing a child. The musical draws from Rose’s own life, including raising twins with her partner and the tragic loss of her daughter, Nora, in 2018.

“Unconditional is, I describe it as a love letter to my family and a promise I have kept and keeping to my daughter,” Rose explained. “It’s about loss, it’s about family, it’s about a queer family who have children when they’re in their 40s. And as I say in the play, there’s nothing so ferocious as the love of middle-aged lesbians making children. We know how lucky we are. We know how much it took us to get there.”

What began as a way to process her grief became a six-year creative journey, with Rose turning memories of her family into a musical celebration of their lives together. Though the process has been transformative, she admits that telling this particular story comes with complicated emotions.

“This is the best work I’ve ever done in my life. I wish it was any other story. I wish it was any other story. But as my son Will says, it’s my destiny. And I don’t know if that’s true, but this is the story I’ve ended up needing to tell.”