Reviews & Links
Reviews from 10 different productions over the last 4 years.
10. Defending the Caveman at the Hobby Center (Houston TX):
“Houston’s incarnation of the comedy stars Raymond McAnally, who brings to the role a marvelous philosophical bent (this should come as no surprise; he earned his B.A. in philosophy at Sewanee University) and a sincere sympathy for the differences between women and men."
and
“McAnally does a wonderful job of revering women. He’s at his best in the show’s quieter moments, discussing how an about-to-be-dad is building a backyard fort for a kid who’s not even born, for example. And he’s spot on when he doesn’t talk at all, letting facial expressions and body language take over (his pantomime of a guy fishing trip is one of the funniest things I’ve ever seen).”
-Houstonartsweek 06/06/2009
9. The Foreigner at Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park:
"The word gag is funny, but what makes it utterly endearing is that Ellard (delightfully embodied by McAnally), who is constantly shouted at and talked down to, finally gets to be the smart one"
-The Cincinnati Enquirer 03/13/2009
“Newcomer Raymond McAnally is sly and on target as a waysmarter-than-he-seems handyman. He ignites the play’s funniest sequence when he thinks he’s teaching Charlie to read.”
-Citybeat 03/18/2009
8. Defending the Caveman in Duluth MN:
"The audience at the DECC, though, roared with laughter throughout Raymond McAnally’s roughly 100-minute solo routine.
… a first-rate standup comic’s sense of timing and talent for mimicry… having everybody else in the place hooting and shrieking with glee…”
-Duluth News Tribune 04/19/2009
7. Sa Ka La at 45 Bleeker with Olso Elsewhere:
“Frank Harts and Raymond McAnally, the two fine actors who play Henning and Johannes respectively, generate a lot of laughs with their arch delivery…”
-BlogCritics.org by Jon Sobel 09/08/2009
6. Mere Mortals at Two River Theatre:
Over all: "The evening resembles an extraordinary episode of Saturday Night Live, though director KJ Sanchez certainly chose players who are more than ready for prime time"
Words, Words, Words- "The former [McAnally] is able to get out those screechy, breathy sounds that are an orangutan's trademark."
Arabian Nights- "McAnally's innocent face makes his corrupting almost every exchange all the more hilarious."
"All three guys shine in Mere Mortals, as a trio of construction workers show they have much loftier opinions of themselves."
Newark Star Ledger, NJ USA
By Peter Filichia
“Each of the actors rates star billing. Ericka Kreutz is the lone female; she and Raymond McAnally, Glenn Peters and Ariel Shafir are as expressive physically as they are with Ives's words. Each has outstanding individual moments, but it's in various combinations of twos, threes and all four where they really show their stuff.”
“The sixth bit, "Degas C'est Moi," is a variation on that same theme. A man [McAnally] wakes up and decides that he'll be Edgar Degas for the day. More to the point, that he is Degas that day. I, for one, believed him.”
Two River Times
A Supremely Funny Six-Pack "Mere Mortals" at Two River Theatre By Philip Dorian
Degas C’est Moi- “McAnally brings a sweet Chaplinesque quality to the role, and , at the end of his day, a few kind words restore his acceptance of his true existence.? There is a gentle humor throughout which holds melancholy at bay.”
“[ In the sketch Mere Mortals] These three working class dreamers, Charlie Petrosian (Glenn Peters), Frankie McCorra (Arel Shafir), and Joe Morelli (McAnally)… Adopting regional working class accents and only the slightest of comic inflections, this trio of actors delivers verisimilitude and humor in full measure.”
“A crackerjack cast delivers each play to maximum effect. Each actor creates a gallery of distinctively amusing characters.”
TALKIN’ BROADWAY.COM
Mere Mortals: Breezy Comedy with a Top Notch Cast
5. 2008 God's Ear Press
"The brilliantly written and staged "God's Ear" is an original and inventive theatrical experience... humor and whimsy pervade the current off-Broadway production at the Vineyard Theatre... The actors move around fluidly, at a dreamlike pace."
- 'God's Ear' explores a child's death By Jennifer Farrar
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
"The superbly realized production of "God's Ear" that opened Thursday night at the Vineyard Theater is the same one that was presented to much acclaim last year by the adventurous Off Off Broadway theater company New Georges.... All contribute fine work here..."
- The New York Times
By CHARLES ISHERWOOD
Published: April 18, 2008
"The excellent actors match the crazy energy of the dialogue."
- A CurtainUp Review By Jenny Sandman
"God's Ear, now playing at the Vineyard Theatre, is a highly original piece of art... There isn't a moment where the production loses sight of what it's about... All--cast, director, and technical support--contribute substantially to the play's focus...
The cast is just plain marvelous... Raymond McAnally, as a guy in a bar, pelts the characters with rapid-fire jokes that under other circumstances would be groaners, but here, simply comprise a polished performance."
- nytheatre.com review
Jo Ann Rosen · April 12, 2008
"All the actors -- and let me not leave out Raymond McAnally's rootin'-tootin' "normal" Guy -- have such remarkable ranges that the staggering scale of this script seems to be no trouble at all."
- http://thatsoundscool.blogspot.com/2008/04/gods-ear.html
"The performances from all of the production's original cast members have deepened considerably since the play's premiere. ... and whether it's being seen for a first time or revisited, God's Ear packs a wallop."
- Backstage By Andy Propst
4. A Midsummer Nights Dream at Mile Square Theatre:
"Raymond McAnally delivering a superb performance as Bottom, the weaver who believes he's an actor, too, and ripe for every part in "Pyramus and Thisbe." His scene in which Pyramus dies is particularly delicious. Protracted death scenes can wear out their welcome on stage, but McAnally dies in so many resourceful ways that he should go on even longer."
- Hoboken's Shakespeare has the edge Newark Star Ledger - NJ, USA
"O'Connor's cast captures the complexities and confusion of love, nailing Shakespeare's one-liners and even adding some original hilarity to their performances (the death scene, where McAnally's Bottom plays a John Wayne-esque Pyramus, is particularly entertaining)."
-The Current
3. God's Ear by Jenny Schwartz (2007 Press, 1st Run):
(With outstanding reviews from Variety and the NY Times, this is the most succinct blurb about the production from the blog Prawfsblawg.blogs.com- SO VERY PROUD TO HAVE BEEN A PART OF THIS ONE!)
Jenny Schwartz, has authored a play called God's Ear that's just debuted off-Broadway to rave reviews in the NYT and Time Out. Just to whet your appetite, Helen Shaw from Time Out says:
"Director Anne Kauffman keeps her nonpareil cast skating across Kris Stone's clever, trapdoor-riddled set, and has everyone treading lightly in this odd, delicate play. It's a remarkable event, a rare piece of total theater. Take it from my lips: Go to God's Ear."
And here's what the NYT review had to say:
"Ms. Schwartz is a real talent and she is trying something ambitious, which deserves praise. The state of American drama is always being lamented, but the situation isn't quite as bleak as it seems from the seats of Broadway and our major nonprofit theaters. Look downtown and you will find a new generation of adventurous writers like Ms. Schwartz, Anne Washburn, Will Eno, Young Jean Lee and Sheila Callaghan who aren't trying to compete with the realism of television. Instead, in their very modern way, they are making a rather old-fashioned case for the power of the written word."
2. A Midsummer Nights Dream at Long Wharf Theatre, New Haven, CT:
"The finest of the mechanicals (and fairies) was the outsized Snug (Raymond McAnally), an innocent giant whose meek manner, shamefast gestures, and soft, lisping Tennessee twang made him an endearing joiner and a pussy-cat lion."
-Lawrence Manley, Yale University
1. The Burial at Thebes at La MaMa E.T.C., New York, NY:
"actor Raymond McAnally has wonderful comic timing and charm in portraying his character as remarkably guileless and well-intentioned."
- nytheatre.com review Lauren Marks. January 27, 2007
"McAnally's scene would be good in any staging of the play... In McAnally's best moment, the guard arranges members of the chorus to represent parts of the landscape in the story he's telling. They comply, and eventually he lets them stand back up. "Here's your stick," he mutters as he hands one "Greek warrior" his staff between lines."
- By Sam Thielman Backstage.com February 01, 2007
"Raymond McAnally is also pitch perfect as the Guard. Bearing bad news in a playful Southern lilt, McAnally crammed his lines with all the shades of wit, anxiety, confusion, and defiance that his minor role could handle. He was easily the most natural performer of the bunch."
"The actor playing the fateful messenger [Raymond McAnally] definitely provides such deft wit and presence..."
- New York Theatre Wire
Reviewed by Ellen W. Lytle Feb. 6, 2007
"Heaney even gives the play a comic touch by turning the Guard (the excellent Raymond McAnally) into a country bumpkin whose practicality and lack of moral backbone is understandable in a man of his rank."
- New York Theatre Wire
Reviewed by Paulanne Simmons Feb. 8, 2007
"A welcome respite from the uncomfortable breaking of the fourth wall is The Messenger, played by Raymond McAnally. McAnally creates a bumbling, fearful and obedient servant, akin to Pseudolus in "A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum"..."
- By: Jennifer Margulis Posted: 2/2/07
