In a cabaret performance as timeless as the woman at its center, Rose Levine at age 92, took the stage at the Cherry Grove Community House Theater and delivered an evening of song, storytelling, and sheer joy that will not soon be forgotten. Titled The Unsinkable Rose Levine, the show celebrated a performer whose very presence is a tribute to the resilience, wit, and heart of Fire Island.
The show’s set list was a Broadway lover’s dream: more than 40 songs from musicals spanning nearly a century, including Bosom Buddies, Broadway Baby, Secondhand Rose, I Am What I Am, My Heart Belongs to Daddy, If You Could See Her Through My Eyes, and Maybe This Time. Rose sang them all live, with power and phrasing that belied her age, while interspersing personal anecdotes, costume changes, and cabaret patter with her signature comic timing. It was a performance worthy of the Cafe Carlyle but intimate enough to feel like it was happening in your living room.
Directed by Elliot Mattox, with musical direction and piano by Matthew Stephens, the evening was a collaboration between seasoned artists who clearly respect and love their star. Mattox joined Rose for a duet of You’re Just in Love, crooned a solo while she changed backstage, and occasionally stepped in to narrate when Rose’s stories stretched in the direction of memory. Their rapport was charming and unforced, adding warmth to the already glowing room.
The show was divided into two acts. The first featured show tunes and torch songs like Hello, Dolly, People, and New York, New York. They played like a love letter to the stages Rose never stopped dreaming of. But it was never just about nostalgia. Each number was animated with character, often tailored with new lyrics or subtle comic turns that made them unmistakably hers. At one point, she sang Broadway Melody while seated atop the grand piano, a perfect image of playful grandeur. Rose was not just performing songs. She was interpreting them through the lens of a life well lived.
The second act leaned more into vaudeville-era standards and classics from Rose’s early years on Fire Island, such as When the Red Red Robin Comes Bobbin’ Along, Wait ‘Til the Sun Shines, Nelly, and Ten Cents a Dance. These were not filler numbers. They were connective tissue, drawing a through-line from a pre-Stonewall Cherry Grove to today’s vibrant, aging, indestructible Rose.
Then came I’m Still Here, a showstopper that brought the room to its feet. Rose delivered it not as a quiet reflection but as a rallying cry. With full voice, sharp timing, and the weight of lived experience behind every phrase, she made the Sondheim classic feel like it had been written for her alone. “Good times and bum times, I’ve seen them all and, my dear, I’m still here.” The line hit like both a punch and a celebration. The audience responded with cheers, clapping in rhythm, many standing before the final note.
The applause had not yet faded when the stage lights lifted for a surprise. A representative from the Guinness Book of World Records stepped forward to present Rose with an official certificate naming her the oldest drag performer in the world. The crowd erupted. It was a fitting tribute for a queen whose story spans decades and who helped shape the very fabric of Fire Island.
To show just how far that legacy reaches, Rose told a story about being at a party on Fire Island in the 1970s when Broadway legend Ethel Merman spotted her and declared, “There’s Rose. She does me.” The crowd roared, but for those who had just heard Rose belt There’s No Business Like Show Business that night, it was clear the resemblance went beyond wigs and gowns. The spirit of Merman—brassy, uncompromising, unforgettable—lives on in Rose.
Rose’s costumes shifted throughout the evening, staying within a striking black, white, and red palette that reflected both her elegance and boldness. Some were gowns glittering with sequins and draped in feathers, while a sleek black bodysuit paired with a white or black jacket nodded to her Seventh Avenue past. The effect was theatrical but never cartoonish. It was a reflection of Rose’s own philosophy that drag, at its best, is about authenticity, not exaggeration.
Rose Levine arrived in Cherry Grove in 1955, already “Rose” in name, if not yet in performance. In the years since, she has become a fixture of Grove and Pines life. A columnist, activist, co-founder of the Invasion, and style icon long before RuPaul made drag mainstream, she has never stopped performing, writing, or mentoring. Her life has touched countless others, and on this particular night, the gratitude in the room was unmistakable.
As the lights dimmed, she sang Nobody Does It Like Me with a wink and a shrug that acknowledged the truth behind the lyric. No one does — or ever did — quite like Rose Levine.
