Grey Gardens produced by Front Porch Theatricals
“In an eccentric tale of the Edie Bouvier Beales — the equally eccentric
reclusive mother and daughter — librettist Doug Wright’s touching musical
featured Daina Michelle Griffith as the mother in Act 1 and daughter in Act
2. It might have made this list just on the strength of director Robyne
Parrish’s clever use of the ensemble to play the cats that infest the Edies’
“Once again, Front Porch earns its marks with this production of Grey
Gardens. Director Robyne Parrish and the producers have brought
together an incredibly talented group of actors and designers. Parrish
brings out the best of them, showcasing both the material and their
“Good, compelling theatre leaves you wanting answers. Front Porch
Theatrical with their mission to bring quality theatre to Pittsburgh’s
audiences, actors, designers, and directors succeed again, on all fronts,
James and the Giant Peach produced by Cup-a-Jo Productions
In one of the play's most enjoyable moments, we hear Grasshopper,
played by Chris Morriss, belt out a classical diddy leaving the audience
green with envy of those robust pipes.
This ensemble truly does act as one, which makes the familial bond that
forms between James and his talking insect friends seem all the more
Our “junkyard production” of James and the Giant Peach at the Glitterbox Theatre in Pittsburgh!
Disney's Tarzan produced by Pittsburgh Musical Theatre, Pittsburgh, PA
"This is the best PMT production I have seen, and kudos must be given
"Disney-style, this “Tarzan” has plenty of eye candy for the kids. For the
whole family, there is a mostly veteran cast going all out to charm and
"If Broadway ever decides to give the show a second chance,
producers need not look any further than this gifted ensemble to
Pool Play 2.0 by This Is Not a Theatre Company, New York, NY
"Chris Morriss brings adorable, wide-eyed sincerity to a young man
grasping to understand the logic of “whites-only” swimming pools in
Virginia. Later on, he is soulful and devastating as a tour guide of the
future showing a simulation of a pool because environmental damage
Titus Andronicus at Sixthreefour by Cup-A-Joe Productions, Pittsburgh, PA
"Written by a young Shakespeare for his bear-baiting-loving 16th-century
audiences, Titus Andronicus is short on logic but long in stagecraft and
"It takes a strong acting company to pull of Shakespeare and this is not
a group of first timers from the neighborhood. The cast is engaging and
Heathers: The Musical at the Ringwald Theatre, Ferndale, MI
Photo by Brandy Joe Plambeck
Versailles 2015 at an undisclosed apartment in Manhattan, New York, NY
"It would be hard to play along if the actors were not so compelling. Erin
Mee's directing is crisp and buoyant. She inspires her actors to be
fearless in the face of metatheatricality, to have fun playing with the
audience at her party...Brief and poignant, Versailles 2015 will linger in
"Though I was fully aware of the artifice of the party, it genuinely felt like
many NYC parties I’ve attended and I found myself, as did the other
audience members, relaxing into the situation and making the usual
get-to-know-you small talk, unsure of whether or not I was talking to a
genuine guest or an actor playing a guest. In fact, I actually was duped
and had a lovely conversation with a guest that I did not realize until
later was actually an actress in the piece. But the fact that this amused
rather than annoyed me speaks directly to the ingratiating tone of the
overall piece itself [...] Ms. Mee’s cast of charming young actors
appealingly rides this line beautifully. They effortlessly deliver the
moments of heightened language while making it appear
improvisational and natural. They all seem like people I know. It’s a
credit to the direction and performances that as much as we may want
to roll our eyes at their superficiality, we don’t. We smile and recognize
them. They work seamlessly as an ensemble, even when performing
solo in a kitchen or bathroom, and are so at ease in the contradiction of
their roles as party-goers and actors that I half expected them to
continue exiting with us as we descended back in the elevator and out
Photo by June Xie
Vanishing Point at Teatro SEA, New York, NY (2015)
"The acting is superb throughout, notably Chris Morriss as the husband
[...] the play ends, as it began, on a perfect note. Perhaps I only wanted
"A tense and highly emotional play exploring the deeper aspects of
"[T]he actors mostly seem to recognize that the most potentially
powerful moments in the play occur in the tiny spaces between
Readymade Cabaret at Judson Church, New York, NY (2015)
"Readymade Cabaret is an ambitious undertaking. It succeeds in
creating an entertaining and unpredictable atmosphere while packing
countless ideas into 60 minutes. Like all great Dadaist art, it is not
meant to be understood, or even appreciated; it is just meant to exist.
And though it may not be the most traditional (or traditionally absurdist)
piece of theatre around, it is a worthwhile contribution to the downtown
"Even a show that rigorously detested the idea of meaning couldn’t
escape its own meanings, reaffirmed over and over again through
tactful shifts of perspective, clever layering of plot, and the repetition of
movement, which eventually established rules and coherency for the
"I didn’t take away a meaning as much as a feeling, a sensation of
freshness, as though a breeze had blown through my inclination for
thinking about learning. In fact, in reflection, the ‘show’ seemed to be
more about behavior than meaning, as though looking at people on the
street or in customary places and being a fly on their cranial walls."
Next to Normal at the Van Fleet Theatre, Columbus OH (2014)
