REVIEWS

IMPOSTORS THEATRE: FOOTHOLDS 2019

​"THE FEARS, SELF-LOATHING, AND CRITICISMS WE GET FROM SOCIETY AND CARRY WITHIN US ARE LITERALLY ON DISPLAY IN STEPHANIE LEWIS'S AGITA, WHICH PLAYS OUT AS AN IMPACTFUL DANCE. DREW MICHELE, AS WOMAN, DOES A WONDERFUL JOB OF SILENTLY COMMUNICATING THE SOCIAL ANXIETY WE ALL STRUGGLE WITH...IN NATALIA TERZIC'S HILARIOUS THE PIPER'S CALLING, A GROUP OF TEEN GIRLS OBSESSED WITH POPULARITY DECIDE TO SACRIFICE ONE OF THEIR NUMBER TO THE DEVIL BECAUSE "DEATH IS THE KEY TO SOCIAL IMMORTALITY." SARAH BACINICH, RAVEN NICHOLE, AND MICHELE ARE COMPLETELY HYSTERICAL IN THIS OVER-THE-TOP, SMART SATIRE OF TEEN ANGST." - CHICAGO READER, 2019

​THE HIPPODROME STATE THEATRE: THE ELEPHANT MAN (2016)
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"JULIANA DAVIS AND DREW MICHELE ALSO TAKE ON NUMEROUS ROLES...BUT MOST MEMORABLE ARE THESE ACTORS’ PERFORMANCES AS THE TWO PINHEADS. CAUSED BY A CONDITION KNOWN AS MICROCEPHALY WHICH REDUCES THE SIZE OF THE HEAD HALF-SIZE AND RESULTS IN DIMINISHED BRAIN CAPACITY—THESE ‘FREAKS FROM THE CONGO’ ARE THE MOST MEMORABLE AND RESONATE AS SOME ETHEREAL METAPHOR AMONG THE THEMES OF THE PLAY...THEY PERMEATE THE PLAY LIKE SPECTERS. SOMETHING BENEATH THE SURFACE LOOMS WITH EVERY APPEARANCE. DAVIS AND MICHELE FIND A WAY TO PLAY THE PINHEADS THAT IS RESPECTFUL, AND NOT A CRUDE IMITATION OF DEFORMITY OR RETARDATION. THESE CHARACTERS WILL HAUNT YOU." - MILLERWORKS, TOM MILLER 2016