Reviews

THE ADVOCATE - SEPT, 2016

Star-crossed lovers meet in polished traditional masterpiece - by Bruce Bergun

"Haas and Bear are outstanding individually; together they are divine.Their chemistry is radiantly palpable."

"Bear makes a perfect Maria -- pretty, delicate, with a voice like an angel -- this Maria exudes the optimism of a young woman yet to be touched by sorrow. Too soon she will be." 

"...all of the voices blend beautifully, particularly in Tony and Maria's impassioned "Tonight" and Maria & Anita's aching "I Have A Love"."

Gambit/Best of new orleans - Sept 2016

"Maria and Tony are sheer perfection." Mary Rickard

WYES TV - SEpt 2016

"Magnificent singing on the part of the two leads...Their voice work as Tony and maria was absolutely excellent."

"Their acting in songs like the balcony scene, which we know of as 'Tonight' and 'One Hand, One Heart'  was absolutely soaring."

THE TIMES PICAYUNE/NOLA.COM - SEPT. 2016

Energetic dances, strong voices highlight JPAS' 'West Side Story' - by Theodore P. Mahn

"That vitality is best exemplified by the performances of the two leading actors, John Michael Haas and Tiffany Renee Bear as the young lovers Tony and Maria. The immediate connection they make palpably came across to the audience as genuine, as they captured the carefree and often blind exuberance of young love."

"The two are equally well matched vocally in their duets from the brilliant score."

" She has a sweet, bright soprano, and handled all those triple internal rhymes of "I Feel Pretty" with panache.

Charlotte Observer- FEB 2016

A Love Affair With Language - Lawrence Toppman

"...Parks makes the whole theater a playroom. You can never tell when actors will appear or disappear, even among the audience members."  

"Tiffany Bear plays a genial Glinda, though her main tasks are warm-voiced narration and to subtlety coach audience participants: Unexpected answers yielded entertaining ad-libs at Friday’s school show."

" We are constantly reminded, as five vivid actors onstage read excerpts from Baum’s books and letters, that imagination begins with words." 

 Mami 2 Mammy - Feb 2016

Audience Becomes Stars - Mami Daphne

"Journey to Oz was filled with lots of laughter and great fun! "

"One of the things that I loved about the performance is that the performers were very versatile in switching character roles and improvised when needed. They were great at making everyone feel like a part of the show."

Creative Loafing - Feb 2016

The Wizards of Winging It - Perry Tannenbaum

"Children and parents were invited onstage to play a wide assortment of characters from L. Frank Baum’s Wizard of Oz."  

"Parks has his five-member cast primed for the unexpected, that’s for sure."

"Tiffany Bear is vaguely dressed like Dorothy and wields the Toto wicker basket and puppet, but she’s more explicitly Glinda when she’s chaperoning the anklebiter Dorothys onto the stage, a very engaging emcee."