THEATRE

THE GLASS MENAGERIE
(2006)

Lisa recently starred as Amanda in The Glass Menagerie by Tennessee Williams at The Colony Theatre in Burbank, CA.  The brilliant Jessica Kubzansky directed. 

Reviews …

L.A. Weekly – RECOMMENDED! GO! … 
“Within minutes, LISA PELIKAN MAKES THE ROLE OF AMANDA WINGFIELD HER OWN, rising to the challenge of creating an identity different from that of the legendary Laurette Taylor’s in the original production of this Tennessee Williams play. Pelikan savors the baroque Southern language and plays out her pretensions as passionately as she does her powerful, smothering love for her children.”

Glendale News Press – 
“A TOP-NOTCH CAST and crew bring only their best to the Colony Theatre Company’s production of “The Glass Menagerie,” breathing fresh life into Tennessee Williams’ well-worn classic.”

Back Stage West – 
… Also working beautifully … are the tender moments: when Amanda is alone and PELIKAN LETS EXQUISITE RAW SADNESS OVERWHELM HERSELF … it’s the truth that affects the audience every time.”

L.A. Times – CRITICS CHOICE!” …
“ABSORBING REVIVAL” … The players, whom Kubzansky casts for quality over type, reward her — and Williams — by gripping the house … Pelikan’s Amanda will be CONTROVERSIAL! … the heroic Lisa Pelikan BRILLIANTLY CONVEYS the ‘little woman of great but confused vitality’ whom Williams requests… HER TECHNIQUE IS IMPECCABLE … VIVID! HEARTBREAKING! … This quirky, absorbing Colony Theatre revival of Tennessee Williams’ deathless memory play may inspire debate. Director Jessica Kubzansky has audacious tricks in her pocket that recast truth and illusion. Even so, players Louis Lotorto, Lisa Pelikan, Mandy Freund and Johnathan McClain grip the house, with a haunting denouement.”

Hollywood Reporter – 
“A POIGNANT AND STUNNING REVIVAL! … Amanda (THE BRILLIANT LISA PELIKAN), an aggressive belle of the Old South, complete with all the gestures and attitudes that make her hectoring and heroic at the same time … ANGUISHED, LOVING AND HEROIC.”

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ACCOMPLICE
(2005)

Lisa recently received rave reviews for her “brilliant comic timing” in ACCOMPLICE at the Colony Theatre.  Scroll down and read the wonderful reviews below.

Reviews …

L.A. Times –
RICH, SATISFYING BLEND OF COMEDY AND SUSPENSE! …
“‘Accomplice’s’ rapid-fire high point … the comically insistent [Lisa] Pelikan — aptly named here, as she scoops up swaths of scenery in her finely set mouth — effortlessly usher this mounting exchange into farcical territory… a stunning, petite redhead… her best moment is one of queenly delicacy, as she takes her sweet time getting into position for a scene while her fellow actors dutifully wait.”

ReviewPlays.com, 2/25/05 …
” … and especially Lisa Pelikan, who can somehow conjure the delivery of both Lauren Bacall and Lucille Ball at one time … There’s not much that could be written about Accomplice without giving away the breakneck twists and turns of the plotline, except to say that, unlike the work of dear Ms. Christie, this one revolves as much around sex (and Pelikan’s nicely distracting gams) as murderous intentions.

Variety – 
AMUSING! … 
” … a mystery that spoofs the genre … SLICKLY CONSTRUCTED by Edgar Award winner Rupert Holmes … STYLISH PORTRAYALS lend zip to backstage barbs and Noel Coward-ish witticisms … Lisa Pelikan isn’t afraid to layer her personalities with a tart, nasty edge. She’s at her best in a noisily sexual encounter under a blanket with Boehmer … When Pelikan plans to poison Cedar and he stubbornly refuses to accept the drink she offers him, the bit is hilarious.”

Back Stage West – CRITIC’S PICK! – 
LAUGH-OUT-LOUD! … 
“Director Simon Levy does an admirable job of keeping the myriad red herrings swimming in theright directions, and he reaps the benefits from an adept cast… [Lisa] Pelikan nails the tone of her character perfectly and squeezes maximum value from each comic line.”

Daily News – *** (3 stars!) – 
MYSTERY LOVES YOUR COMPANY IN ‘ACCOMPLICE’! … 
Simon Levy’s production at the Colony has four performers
who are enthusiastically game for the Ira Levin-meets-Noel Coward style of performance Holmes’ play calls for… Lisa Pelikan vamps and schemes with dipsomaniacal gusto as the plotting wife.”

Hollywood Reporter – 
“A GENUINE CROWD-PLEASER!!! …
Written by clever wordsmith Rupert Holmes, ‘Accomplice’ is one-half A DELIGHTFUL PARODY of the British whodunit mystery thriller and one-half broad comic farce … the cast at the Colony is savvy, willing and accomplished… the talented J. Paul Boehmer … the lovely Lisa Pelikan … the droll and outstanding Larry Cedar … sexy airhead Samantha Raddock… [this] ‘Accomplice’ has enough plot misdirections to SATISFY EVEN THE MOST ARDENT MYSTERY THRILLER DEVOTEE.”

Tolucan Times – 
BLOODY GOOD FUN! … 
“Simon Levy’s fast-paced, skilled and fun-loving direction guides his fine cast of four actors, inspiring razor sharp, brilliantly over the top performances throughout … THE PERFORMANCES ARE ALL TOP-NOTCH, AND THE COMEDIC TIMING BETWEEN THIS QUIRKY QUARTET IS IMPECCABLE! Lisa Pelikan (Erica), J. Paul Boehmer (John), Larry Cedar (Derek) and Samantha Raddock (Melinda) are perfectly cast in these roles and seem to have a ball playing them.”

CurtainUp – 
“Rupert Holmes’ DEFT, DAFFY, COMPLEX COMEDY OF TERRORS which is given the SPIFFY PRODUCTION it deserves by the Colony Theatre. There are twists and turns in every scene and this is a cast that knows how to slither through them … Lisa Pelikan is deliciously lethal.”

NoHoLA – ****RECOMMENDED! – 
“You will have a wonderful theater experience with lots of laughs with four very accomplished ‘accomplices’ … LISA PELIKAN IS A BEAUTIFULLY VERSATILE ACTRESS WHO CAN CONVINCE WITH THE MOST SUBTLE LOOK OR GESTURE. Larry Cedar, J. Paul Boehmer and Samantha Raddock are equally gifted, making a classy quartet of actors! Simon Levy’s accomplished directorial hand guides a TOPNOTCH EVENING IN THE THEATRE.”

Burbank Leader –
“Cleverly directed by Simon Levy, the actors take us for a ride through a play within a play within a play, twisting the plot in wholly unexpected ways … LISA PELIKAN shows brilliant comic timing by injecting silly body moves and hilarious facial expressions at just the right moment … a funny and clever mystery with more twists and turns than a game of Mousetrap.”

Tolucan Times/Canyon Crier –
ACCOMPLICE …
“This zany British whodunit, written by Rupert Holmes with riotous upper class English humor and more twists ‘n’ turns than a roller coaster is bloody good fun! On a detailed, beautifully creative set designed by the incomparable Desma Murphy, we are in a lovely Moorland vacation cottage in the ‘70s. Shon Le Blanc’s playfully attractive costumes, Kathi O’Donohue’s lighting and Drew Dalzell’s sound perfectly set the mood for the outrageous shenanigans to come. Talk about a superstar design team!  Simon Levy’s fast-paced, skilled and fun-loving direction guides his fine cast of four actors, inspiring razor sharp, brilliantly over the top performances throughout.
        Why, you ask, am I covering the technical efforts before mentioning the actors or revealing the plotline? I’ll tell you why. There are so many wacky surprises and unpredictable switcheroos in this play that it would totally spoil your fun if I talked about them. I’m at a bit of a loss of words. I can tell you that this comedic murder mystery thriller is a rousing delight full of madcap antics that will keep you guessing until final curtain. This is shocking, ingenious, sexy, sassy, stuffy and screamingly funny in turns. You spend the whole time trying to figure out who is the culprit, who is the victim, who is sleeping with whom … and why? The moment you think you’ve got it, it all changes again. Devilishly clever and deliciously naughty, I was gleefully entertained!
        It involves two wealthy out-of-town couples with hidden agendas and sordid secrets, as each outwit the others (and us) repeatedly.
        The performances are all top-notch, and the comedic timing between this quirky quartet is impeccable! Lisa Pelikan (Erica), J. Paul Boehmer (John), Larry Cedar (Derek) and Samantha Raddock (Melinda) are perfectly cast in these roles and seem to have a ball playing them. I wish I could tell you more, but I dare not. Do catch this one. It’s good medicine for whatever ails you!
        Running at the Colony Theatre (a beautiful theatre space) located at 555 North Third St. in Burbank through March 13. For seats and times, call (818) 558-7000.

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DAISY IN THE DREAMTIME
(2004)

Reviews …

Under Simon Levy’s savvy direction, this Fountain Theatre production infuses history with visceral urgency in Lynne Kaufman’s cautionary drama based on the true story of Daisy Mae Bates. A feisty Irishwoman who abandoned her family (and all the creature comforts of civilization), Bates spent 30-plus years living in a tent among the Aborigines, gaining their trust and trying to shield them from the corrosive influence of progress. As Daisy, the riveting Lisa Pelikan evokes a complex, finely nuanced portrait of the amateur anthropologist-turned-crusader who roamed the punishing outback in her prim Edwardian garb. Daisy’s uncompromising resolve is depicted in both her steadfast loyalty to a local tribesman, ironically named King Billy (Anthony J. Haney), and her steely opposition to a missionary (Suanne Spoke) who is bent on converting the Aborigines to more socially respectable behavior.

Although celebrating Bates’ life is one of Kaufman’s principal goals, the personal history that led her to the outback is saddled with the fragmentary dialogue and exposition that too many modern plays use in place of fully developed characters hashing things out.

Pelikan and the supporting cast (Lance Guest, Jay Bell and Eve Brenner) consistently impress with their ability to work with one- or two-sentence snippets.  It’s Haney’s masterful turn as King Billy, however, that supplies the show’s heart and soul. A gregarious bear of a man who embraces her as the “Great White Queen of the Never-Never,” the homeless Billy is a paradox by civilized standards. “A child ­ but a wise child,” Daisy calls him, as he pokes fun at the Western culture of “Thou shalt not,” and initiates her into Aboriginal “Dreamtime” (the archetypal, extra-temporal reality at the root of all things).

Through evocative lighting, scenic design and the eerie didgeridoo music played by Andrju Werderitsch, Levy makes this a felt world rather than an intellectual concept, which makes the Aborigines’ fate all the more poignant.

Despite Daisy’s best efforts, she failed to prevent the corruption of her adopted people, and Pelikan illuminates the full depths of her rage, passion and not-inconsiderable hubris. At a government conference, her plea for funding to create a protected reservation for Aborigines aches not only with concern for them, but also with her naive delusion that their welfare would be a self-evident priority for her audience.

Daisy faced a hard lesson in cultural arrogance, to be sure, but we can take solace in the fact that the near extinction of a noble indigenous population is a travesty that could only occur on some other remote continent.

Despite having the longest continuous cultural history of any group on earth (stretching possibly 65,000 years), the Australian Aborigines have a worldview that is still only partially understood by anthropologists. How indeed can clock-checking Westerners even begin to grasp an understanding of reality that weaves past, present, and future into one “dreamtime,” where spirits and ancestors are present not just everywhere but “every when.” Yet with this ambitious production, all elements combine to bid us entry into this world: a uniformly stellar cast; Simon Levy’s inspired direction; Desma Murphy’s magical desert set gorgeously lit by Kathi O’Donohue, making use of projected Aboriginal art so beautiful as to be otherworldly; onstage didgeridoo player Andjru Werderitsch; choreography by Jamal; and the consulting expertise of Aborigine descendant Lewis Burns. Kaufman’s play tells the remarkable story of Irish-born Daisy May Bates (played by an infectiously brave, enthusiastic Lisa Pelikan), a woman who abandoned her family to spend 30 years living amid the Aborigines in a tent, studiously recording their customs, languages, and ceremonies. Over time, she grows so passionate and paternal about them that she sets out to be the “official protector” against what she sees “her” people facing: the threat of cultural extinction. This era (1866-1951) was indeed a time in which Aborigines suffered a government so bent on “civilizing”‘ them that it felt the need to confiscate their children and take their land, directly and indirectly transforming a large number of them into beggars, prostitutes, and drunks. Bates immediately locks horns with the newly arrived Lutheran missionary, Annie Lock (a determined yet movingly human Suanne Spoke), who has come to spread the gospel as well as the comforts of “civilization”: quinine, shelter, food, clothing. Despite their competing purposes, early on we see that these two are cut from the same cloth–both are single, white middle-aged woman who have crossed the globe to “save what isn’t theirs.”  The cornerstone of this production is the extraordinary performance of Anthony J. Haney in the role of King Billy, the only Aborigine we meet onstage. Whether describing the Aboriginal view of conception, performing a ceremonial dance, or teaching us how to catch a kangaroo, Haney offers a magnetic, unpatronizing turn, his infectious laughter revealing a personality so intriguingly free of the insidious doubt that seems like such a common piece of the modern psyche.  Tragic and perhaps a little too tidily concluded, this play does not raise a new topic in asserting that “progress” of a certain kind is unstoppable. It does, however, speak knowledgeably and eloquently about its cost.

The Daily Variety – (3/24/04)
By Julio Martinez

The facts behind the stranger-than-fiction history of Irish lass-turned-Australian Outback wonder woman Daisy Bates (1863-1951) are much more compelling than scripter Lynne Kaufman’s overly simplified survey of Bates’ life. In her attempt to consolidate the many thematic tributaries in Bates’ life, Kaufman actually lessens the impact of her lifelong efforts to save her beloved Aborigines from the genocidal contamination of Western civilization. More effective in this Fountain Theatre preem are Helmet Simon Levy’s intuitive staging, Lisa Pelikan’s transcendent portrayal in the title role, an outstanding supporting cast and the hauntingly evocative, synergistic production designs of Desma Murphy (sets), Kathi O’Donohue (lights), David B. Marling (sound), Naila Aladdin-Sanders (costumes) and Marc Rosenthal (multimedia).

Kaufman utilizes Daisy (Pelikan) as narrator, looking back with twinkle-eyed irreverence at a life highlighted by the 30-plus years she spent living in her tent in the outback among the Aborigines. Various characters from her life flow in and out of focus, chronicling her adventures from her childhood in County Tipperary, Ireland, to her spiritual visage commenting on the honors heaped upon her at her death in 1951.

The scripter never quite finds the right balance of focus as Kaufman unsuccessfully attempts to capture both the panoramic sweep of Daisy’s life and the mystical essence of “Dreamtime,” the spiritual force that explains the origins and culture of Aborigines and their land.Daisy’s interactions with such characters as her nurturing Irish Grandma Hunt (Eve Brenner), macho wild-horse drover husband John Bates (Lance Guest), anxious-to-please German nun Annie Lock (Suanne Spoke) and self-important pendant Radcliffe-Brown (Jay Bell) offer tantalizing character interactions but provide less than illuminating insight into Daisy herself.

What does work to perfection is Daisy’s ongoing synergistic relationship with her friend King Billy (Anthony J. Haney), a charismatic native who proves to be Daisy’s human Rosetta stone, providing access into the wonders of Aboriginal life. Haney’s Billy is a radiant soul; it is easy to believe Daisy would find constant enrichment in a community that reflects King Billy’s exuberant love of life and deep insight into the spiritual essence of his people.

The timeless aura of “Dreamtime” is evoked by King Billy’s captivating reveries, complemented by the sumptuous, interdependent designs of the production team.

The most haunting contribution is provided by the onstage artistry of didgeridoo player Andrju Werderitsch. As he manipulates what may be the oldest musical instrument in human history, Werderitsch provides a primal undercurrent to the proceedings that does more to give veracity to Daisy’s tenacious love of “her people” than Kaufman’s text can explain.

KABC Radio – Adventure in the Desert
by Cynthia Citron

To the Australian aborigine the “Dreamtime” is “the time before time.”  From the dreamtime come all the creation stories, the story of the land, and of the animals, and of The Law.  It is where you were before you were born, and where you will go when you die.

The people of the desert became “my people” to an Irish-born woman named Daisy Bates, who lived with them for 30 years, from 1902, and chronicled their stories, their language, their way of life, their medicines, and their interactions with the spirits who dwelt among them.

In a powerful new play by Lynne Kaufman, “Daisy in the Dreamtime,” Daisy Bates is brought to life by Lisa Pelikan, as she tells her history from the spare tent she lived in for all those years.  She is aided by King Billy (Anthony J. Haney), an aborigine in a loincloth who tells her the stories and performs the spirit dances.  And always, in the background, there is the haunting twang of the didjeridu, played by Andrju Werderitsch, who sits nearly immobile on an outcrop in the background, balancing this long musical instrument with the ball of his foot.

Daisy Bates was known as Kabbarli (grandmother) to “her” people, but she preferred to translate that tribal name as “great white queen of the Never Never.”  It was a small indication of the condescension she felt for the people, even while admiring their simplicity.  She was fascinated by their sense of time: they called themselves the “people of the dream” and the white people “the people of the clock.”  For the aborigine, she discovered, the past, present and future are all one, and the spirits around them control the outcomes of all their actions.  And “God is everywhere and everywhen.”

Working on a stage covered with deep red sand and not much else, Pelikan conveys her heroine’s quirky personality, the solitude and isolation of the Australian desert, and the difficult life that Daisy endured for so many years.  Although she had married and birthed a son, she abandoned both her husband and child to make her life among her people.  But she never abandoned her full Victorian skirts and shirtwaists, her brimmed hat, and the umbrella given to her as a child by the Queen.

To her dismay, Daisy lived to see the “black snake”—the railroad—encroach upon her people’s land, desecrating the territory, defiling sacred places, and turning the aborigines into vagabonds in shabby western clothes, filled with liquor and disease and bereft of their heritage.  It was the same scenario that had been enacted in America a few decades earlier, as western-traveling pioneers confiscated the land of the Indian peoples.

Among Daisy’s other nemeses was the church, in the form of Annie Lock (Suanne Spoke), a missionary who came to bring religion to the aborigines.  “It’s wonderful,” King Billy tells Daisy.  “You just say ‘Thank you, Jesus’ and you get a bellyful of food!”

It’s a sad but courageous story, and one that evokes the controversy between the potential benefits of progress and the desire to retain the old ways and traditions.  But it is always a losing battle.  Once progress is introduced by a powerful new group, the old ways don’t have a prayer in hell.  And Daisy knows this and is left to lament what has been lost.

“Daisy in the Dreamtime” will be performed through April 25th at the (Inside) the Ford Theatre.  It’s a co-production with the Fountain Theater, and is superbly directed, as usual, by The Fountain’s Simon Levy, who directed last year’s marvelous “Going to St. Ives” and this year’s “Master Class.”  The setting is beautifully conceived by Desma Murphy and lit as bright as a blistering desert sun by Kathi O’Donohue.

I think everyone will enjoy the story of Daisy Bates.  But it’s worth going to see this production if only to listen to the didjeridu.  It makes as hair-raising a sound as the blowing of the shofar at the end of Yom Kippur.

CurtainUp^TM 
The Internet Theater Magazine of Reviews, Features, Annotated Listings
www.curtainup.com – (4/7/04)

Daisy in the Dreamland. This beautifully mounted production is rich on content but poor in drama. Monologues by Daisy Bates, an Irish woman who lived for 30 years with Australian aborigines, are mesmerizingly delivered by Lisa Pelikan. For me, what distinguishes Kaufman’s play from others of its ilk that expose the colonial exploitation of a native culture is the time and depth given to the aborigines’ beliefs and folk tales.

The more dramatic second act brings Daisy to Adelaide where she tries unsuccessfully to persuade Parliament to leave the aborigines in peace. Simon Levy’s powerful stage imagery reinforces the dreamtime that enchants Daisy. He teases vivid performances out of an excellent cast, highlighted by Anthony J. Haney as King Billy; Suanne Spoke is bustling and devout; beautiful Eve Brenner holds the stage in her dual roles as Grandma Hunt and Queen Victoria; Lance Guest is dashingly mustachioed as Daisy’s second husband Jack Bates (too bad they didn’t include her first husband, Breaker Morant); Jay Bell, is an exuberantly pompous Radclife-Brown; and tAndjru Werderitsch makes dreamtime come true with his skill on the ancient aboriginal wind instrument, the didjeridu. Ultimately this is Lisa Pelikan’s play. She projects Irish passion, stubbornness and a faith that blurs the lines of organized religion in a doomed and heart-felt effort to blend with and protect the Dreamtime.  This Fountain Theatre production is the final selection in The Hot Properties series, whose mandate is to produce new plays by Los Angeles-based theatre companies. At Inside The Ford, 2580 Cahuenga Blvd, Hollywodo, Phone: (323) 461-3673, March 11-April 25, 2004. 

The Tolucan Times – (3/24/04)

Daisy in the Dreamtime – This is a powerful, mesmerizingly beautiful story that will linger in the hearts and minds of all who see it, long after closing curtain. Flawlessly presented by The Fountain Theatre group, it tells the gripping true tale of Daisy Bates, a remarkably independent woman.  In 1913, this amazing Irish woman, fed-up with a materialistic world, left civilization behind, and headed for the outback in Australia. The first female ever to do so, she pitched a tent and lived a solitary life with the spiritual aborigines for more than 30 years. Studying their customs and beliefs, single-handedly fighting for their rights and entering their “dreamtime,” became her passionate life’s mission. Written with heart, sensitivity and years of research by Lynne Kaufman, this audience was captivated throughout!

Highly-acclaimed director Simon Levy, long enthralled with the aboriginal culture, has masterfully crafted and staged a stunning production, guiding his entire cast to gut-wrenching performances. I’m sure this year there will be many theatre nominations here.  Lisa Pelikan is absolutely brilliant in the challenging and dedicated role of Daisy Bates! Feisty, strong and endearing in turns, with so much dialogue, (she is never offstage) this is a triumphant performance. Wonderfully hypnotic and heartfelt portrayal by Anthony J. Haney as King Billy, Daisy’s closest aboriginal friend and confidant. In pivotal, important supporting roles, a quartet of impressive performances were handled by Lance Guest as Daisy’s Aussie ex-husband, Suanne Spoke as Annie Lock, a fanatical German missionary, Eve Brenner as Grandma Hunt, and Jay Bell as Radcliffe-Brown.

From the opening moment when haunting onstage musician, Andrju Werderitsch blows into his didjeridu, (an ancient Australian five-foot. long percussion/wind instrument) perched on a rock on Desma Murphy’s eerie and gorgeous outback set, we are drawn into a “dreamtime” of our own.  Rounding out the splendor is: the pulsating sound design of David B. Marling, the moody lighting of Kathi O’Donohue, the wonderful costuming of Naila Aladdin-Sanders, and the multi-media genius of Marc Rosenthal.

Lisa Pelikan’s 
“Daisy in the Dreamtime” Interviews click here

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COMMUNICATING DOORS
(2002)

Reviews …

Union Jack – America’s Only National British Newspaper  (9/20/02)
“Lisa Pelikan’s Ruella is a feisty, true blue English woman possessed of steel knickers and an iron will, and she keeps the plot kettle boiling at full steam in a beautifully ranged performance.”

L.A. Weekly (8/16-22/02)
“Pelikan’s Maggy Smith-like maternal Ruella is a delight … Pelikan … is tragically funny and humorously sad.”

Variety (8/6/02)
“Fortunately Pelikan’s Ruella gives the situation a potent charge … with class, charisma and charm.”

Daily News  (8/23/02)
“Pelikan – in an homage to Dame Maggy Smith – is delightful.”

Backstage West (8/15/02)
“… the excellent Lisa Pelikan … looks like a finely crafted Lladro figuerine, a delicate flower, but Pelikan is Maggy Smith in miniature and Ruella is a warrior spirit.”

Malibu Times (8/29/02)
“Standing out is Lisa Pelikan … Hollywood should snatch her up.”

American Radio Network, Gerri Garner’s Entertainment File (8/7/02)
“Lisa Pelikan is brilliant as Ruella.”

Hollywood Reporter (8/6-12/02)
“Lisa Pelikan is engaging and wonderful.”

L.A. Times (8/9/02)
“The greatest enjoyment comes from … Pelikan’s sisterly, shrewd Ruella.”

The Beverly Hills Outlook (9/02)
“… a fast paced, funny, would-be murder mystery.  It’s a story tastefully done, brilliantly acted by all concerned, and entirely credible in its own impossible way.  A thoroughly enjoyable, brain-twisting treat!  Total credit must be given to director Barry Phillips and a first-rate cast, especially Lisa Pelikan as Ruella.”

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ONLY A BROKEN STRING OF PEARLS
(1995)

Reviews …

Los Angeles Times
Pelikan is gifted … very funny … witty and full of life.

LA Weekly
There’s something extraordinary in the way that Pelikan’s delicate face transforms from a youthful glow to world-weariness with just the turn of her head.

LA Reader
Lisa Pelikan is stunning … The performance is brimming with a vehement force.

Beverly Hills NewsPelikan is heartrending.

Santa Monica Outlook / Daily Breeze
Pelikan is fascinating … Dynamic solo performance.

American Radio Network
Wonderfully humorous performance.

LA Village View
Pelikan is incandescent …a dazzling star turn, painting a richly layered portrait of a gallant doomed woman.

Drama-Logue
Lisa Pelikan’s portrayal is a personal triumph … You’ll love Lisa Pelikan as Zelda Fitzgerald.