"Cathy McKenzie's costumes were impeccably flawless. The failing was in the people who wore them."

-From a review of Riverwalk Theatre’s "Ransom of Red Chief," July 18, 2007

“If an eternity in Hades is being sequestered forever … in the most insipid, irritating and inconsequential moment possible, an evening spent with Lansing Community College’s ‘The Miss Firecracker Contest’ could well serve as a harbinger for a life not well lived.”

-From a review of LCC’s “The Miss Firecracker Contest,” July 5, 2007

“All to frequently … the meritorious epithet ‘artist’ is immoderately applied to actors in general. That aggrandizement is roughly equivalent to calling an organ grinder a virtuoso.”

 -From a review of BoarsHead’s “Driving Miss Daisy,” Feb. 4, 2009

“[Director and cast] are only up to the task of eviscerating everything that is magnificent about the show except its running time.”

-From a review of LCC Theatre’s “Angels In America,” Feb. 22, 2006

The playwright [has] a number of things to say. The trouble is she’s determined to say all of them in one, overlong, play.

-From a review of MSU Theatre’s “The Waiting Room,” Feb. 8, 2006

“One of [actor Jeff] Boerger’s final lines tells us that ‘nobody commits suicide because of bad reviews.’ Well, let’s hope not.”

-From a review of Lansing Civic Players’ “Rehearsal for Murder,” Jan. 25, 2006

“Rarely does a playwright so succinctly reflect our own fatalistic inclination to sell our souls for a pipe dream of success.”

-From a review of MSU Thetare’s “As Bees in Honey Drown,” Sept. 19, 2007

“Watching and listening to [Danielle Silverman] is akin to staring at a loop of Celine Dion holding her favorite note for eternity.”

-From the same review of “As Bees in Honey Drown.”

"Each [actor] bends stiffly at the waist forming a sideways ‘V,’ extending both hands as if attempting to catch falling rain.

-From a review of Riverwalk Theatre’s “Someone Who’ll Watch Over Me,” May 16, 2007

“There is little to say about the direction because there doesn’t appear to be any.”

-From the same review of “Someone Who’ll Watch Over Me.”

“There wasn’t a single moment of self-focus by any actor. Each of them was always committed to the other two, something we so rarely get to see on local stages.”

 -From a review of Williamston Theatre’s “Every Christmas Story Ever Told,” Nov. 29, 2006

“It is rare anywhere, Lansing to Broadway, to get the chance to see a truly superb actor at the very top of his game. Aral Gribble, as Max Farley, is just that actor.”

-From a review of BoarsHead Theater’s “All Childish Things,” Oct. 22, 2008.

“Brilliantly disregarding the charismatic, feisty persona of [Gore] Vidal's script, [actor Jayke] Pell instead merges an ancient Strom Thurmond with an even older Jed Clampett. The result is not to be believed.

-From a review of Riverwalk Theatre’s “The Best Man,” Oct. 17, 2007

“In taking a significantly dated play that lives or dies on intensity and organic fervor and turning it into a perfect representation of a late night legislative session, Riverwalk Theatre has broken new ground. It is as though C-SPAN has come to a theater near you.”

-From the same review of “The Best Man.”

“[The production] is still worth seeing, just not believing.”

-From a review of Peppermint Creek’s “Fiction,” Oct. 3, 2007

— Compiled by Lawrence Cosentino & Eric Gallippo