AMES ADAMSON SAG AEA
THE CRITICS...
Illyria at the Shakespeare Theatre of NJ
"Ames Adamson is dandy as Malvolio turns from finicky secretary into an out-of-his-mind lovesick fool. The smile he adopts is priceless. Think of what Teddy Roosevelt's would have been after a minor stroke." Newark Star-Ledger by Peter Filichia (This quote I shall cherish...ah Peter Peter Peter!)
"Ames Adamson is a devilishly
delicious scene-stealer as Malvolio, the vain and vulnerable tragic steward.
Duped by the carousing Sir Toby Belch and his cronies, the foolish pawn finds
himself wooing a startled countess with misguided ardor. Adamson (repeating
the role he originated in the 2002 Prospect Theater Co. production) not only
captures the broad comic cartoon of the character, but reveals his subtly tragic
core. He also turns "Malvolio's Tango" into an artful, amusing spin."
Variety by Robert L. Daniels (whew!)
"Ames Adamson's leering tango proves Malvolio's undoing" The
New York Times by Naomi Seigel (I thought leering was such lovely choice
of words)
"Adamson is an unhibited actor fo great range, and his Malvolio is a broad
comic gem. His number "Malvolio's Tango" opens the second act; its
a tour de farce"
The Two River Times by Philip Dorian (I owe this man a bottle
of ale I am sure!)
"Ames Adamson (as Malvolio) is bang-on John Cleese in pompous idiot mode.."
Talking Broadway by Bob Rendell
"Ames Adamson is no slouch as top banana among others, as he invests "Malvolio's
Tango" with more Theda Bara than Valentino" Curtain Up by
Simon Saltzman (good heavens...are there ANY Theda Bara fans left?)
Old Clown Wanted PICS of the show
Ames Adamson, who's Niccolo, can get a laugh just from way he walks across the stage. But he does much more than that in this physically demanding show. In the second act, he has a protracted mime scene that he turns into one of the standout moments of the season. When it comes to body English, Adamson shows that he's a genuine valedictorian.
What makes this scene funnier, though, is that Adamson leavens it with frustration, for he expects the other two to guess what his mime means. They can't. Or are they pretending not to, so they can make him think that he's lost his edge, and thus ruin his confidence? Peter Filichia - Newark Star Ledger
Mr. Adamson offers extraordinary
intensity as the delusional and physically spent Niccolo. From his opening salvo
of a nose-blow -- a foghorn that raises this modest act to the level of Grand
Guignol -- Mr. Adamson gives a striking performance.
Naomi Siegel - New York Times
Indeed, each of these fine
actors (who originally performed the play as a script-in-hand reading at NJ
Rep in 2003) gets his chance to shine, but none more so than the always-impressive
Adamson who carried this season's "Circumference of a Squirrel" by
his lonesome and who delivers a very lengthy, very physically demanding and
very hilarious demonstration of misconceived mime that's the high point of this
production. While nowhere near as old as the clown he portrays, the actor does
a pretty convincing codger when he has to -- often looking for all the world
like he stepped off the cover of Jethro Tull's classic rock album "Aqualung."
Tom Chesek - Asbury Park Press
Three excellent actors form
a smooth ensemble. The first arrival, Niccolo (we may view him as the dreamer),
the most insecure of the three, is played by Ames Adamson. Niccolo is the centerpiece
of the play and of the hilarious extended second act set piece in which the
three depict routines from their glory days as circus clowns. Adamson is appropriately
hilarious, ridiculous and poignant in a performance that evokes memories of
the great Bill Irwin. Adamson would be even more poignant if he did not let
his youthfulness show through. However, in total, his is a very superior performance.
Bob Rendell - Talkin' Broadway
Ames Adamson, fresh from his giddy comic perf as Holoferenes in "Love's Labour's Lost" at the Shakespeare Theater of New Jersey, is Niccolo, the disillusioned, dusty clown who mourns the fact the circus is not what is used to be: "Nobody laughs at somersaults anymore."
In a desperate attempt to prove his point, Niccolo demonstrates with an exhaustive pantomime of a man who ascends a staircase, steals a melon and is chased and beaten by an angry pursuing crowd. Unable to convince his doubting colleagues that the skit is an inspired piece of comic business, he repeats the routine again and again. Adamson turns the long sequence into an inventive tour de force of frustrated desperation. Robert L. Daniels - Variety
Love's Labor's Lost
Holofernes, the schoolmaster, is acted with manic grace by Ames Adamson. Robert Daniels - Variety.com
The weirdly wonderful Adamson is quickly building a reputation as one of New Jersey's best and most versatile actors. William Westhoven - Daily Record 6/18/04
Foreign Exchange
Luther is played
by Ames Adamson, who is fast becoming New Jersey theater's most valuable player,
for this is his third impressive performance, each dispensed on a different
stage, in a 90-day span. Adamson looks like a young John Lithgow, and appears
to be just as versatile. Here he starts out as kind and patient when teaching
newcomer Karen, then mild-mannered and careful when courting her
Later, though, he's capable of a strong explosion, and later still, can crumble
like a malted milk
ball under a dinosaur's foot. Peter Filicia - Newark Star Ledger 3/1/2004
http://www.nj.com/search/index.ssf?/base/entertainment-1/1078126304119190.xml?starledger?eth
Circumference of a Squirrel
"A job superbly done." Peter Filichia - The Newark Star Ledger 1/27/04
http://www.nj.com/theatredance/ledger/index.ssf?/base/entertainment-1/1075186751273260.xml
Nominated one the 2003-2004 Season's Most Unusual Theatrical Experiences by Peter Filichia
"Alternating
between raw grief, tender regret and a wry sense of humor, Mr. Adamson
gives an extraordinary performance." Naomi Siegel
- NYTIMES read
the whole review
"Adamson pulls off the conceit with flair." Backstage.co
http://www.backstage.com/backstage/members/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=2088721
"the actor (Adamson) is more force of nature; grounded and at harmony with his stage environment." Tom Chesek - The Asbury Park Press 1/27/04
http://www.app.com/app/story/0,21625,895320,00.html
The Lying Kind
Steve Ahern and Ames Adamson work well together as the boobie bobbies, Ahern's pomposity playing a good Hardy to Adamson's Laurel.
(Peter Filichia- The Newark Star-Ledger 12/10/03 http://nj.com/search/index.ssf?/base/entertainment-1/107103903485800.xml?starledger?eth)
Ames Adamson and Steve Ahern are amusing as the dumb and dumber bobbies.
(Bob Rendell - Talkin' Broadway http://www.talkinbroadway.com/regional/nj/nj30.html
Maggie Rose
"Ames Adamson is appropriately silly." and " ...performs with a professional sheen"
(Peter Filichia - The Newark Star-Ledger) http://www.nj.com/theatredance/ledger/index.ssf?/base/entertainment-0/1029229825156682.xml
"Ames Adamson, who has the outrageous role of Mr. Deluca, takes this undertaker turned hollywood agent to the absurdly ridiculous. His performance is over the top, but it works."
(Eric Grissom - RedBank.com) http://www.redbank.com/film/theater090102.php
"Ames Adamson is a zany agent hopeful with a terrific tantrum."
(Alvin Klein - New York Times; Saturday, September 1, 2002)
"And, as he was in June's production of "Panama", Ames Adamson as Mr. DeLuca is a physical and comedic force of nature you can't take your eyes off."
(The Tri City News 8/22/02)
"...the show's biggest moments for the characters of Reverend Billey and mortician Mr. DeLuca. As respectively portrayed by Tom McNelly and Ames Adamson (who proved his mastery of physical schtick five times over with his turn in the recent "Panama"), these frustrated, barely functional pillars of the community get to faint, grovel, go into seizures and deliver a hilarious pair of comic confessions -- all to hang their pathetic needs upon the shoulders of the reluctant miracle woman."
(Tom Chesek, Asbury Park Press) http://www.app.com/app2001/story/0,21133,601569,00.html
PANAMA
"...The remaining
five characters are portrayed by a rubber-faced and fully poseable action figure
named Ames Adamson; the manically mugging Mr. A affects both lightning-fast
costume changes and wonderfully atrocious accents to the point where he seems
a thing more of pen-and-ink than flesh-and-blood."
(Tom Chesek, Asbury Park Press)
Another performance of special note is that of Mr. Adamson, who serves as all of the minor, though memorable, characters along the way, including the Doctor, the hayseed Cop, and flamboyantly funny Theatre Director, an archetypical Hollywood Producer, and a German mad Scientist, whose mannerisms and quirks both amuse and disturb. Mr. Adamson's appearances on stage tend to reinvigorate an already electric cast
(Dan Johnson - Redbank.com) http://www.redbank.com/film/theater071902.php
"...Because
Ames Adamson's second (!) appearance in "Panama" will have you screaming
with laughter. Not to worry, though; Adamson will be back in other incarnations
with equal impact. To let you know more now would spoil the fun."
(TriCity News)
"...Ames Adamson,
who plays the mad -- and madly funny -- Scientist, plus a Hollywood producer
who seems interested in Man's quest, a doctor, a hilarious posturing sheriff,
a ditzy theater director and a few other odd-balls, makes "Panama",
with Adamson, something you don't want to miss."
(Robert F. Carroll
for The Coaster)
"...The amazing versatile Ames Adamson shows up in several roles. They all end abruptly, but the audience has the joy of anticipating his next appearance..."Madeline
(Marie Schulman and Milt Bernstein for The Link)
"Adamson offered an amusing, if almost over-the-top, interpretation of a blustering and effeminate production manager." OOBR.com http://www.oobr.com/top/volEight/twentythree/prospectoneacts.htm
Illyria
http://www.nytimes.com/2002/04/30/arts/theater/30ILLY.html
from the NY Times, Tuesday April 30, 2002, page E5
"...Ames Adamson as Malvolio invents a whole catalog of walks, gestures
and glances that almost.
convince you self-delusion is a physical disability. " (Reviewed
by D. J. R. Bruckner)
"http://www.oobr.com/top/volEight/thirty/0428illyria.htm
...And as Malvolio,
Ames Adamson minced his way around the stage, his British accent and Gilbert
and Sullivan
doggerel labeling him a classy but ridiculous snob. (Review by Miranda
Lundskaer-Nielsen - www.OOBR.com April 24, 2002)
http://www.theatermania.com/news/reviews/index.cfm?story=2099&cid=1
It must take a lot
of nerve to musicalize a play by Shakespeare. The primary conceit of musical
theater is that
when characters
reach a point where they can no longer express their feelings in words, they
sing. But Shakespeare, the
most poetic and inherently musical of all English-language playwrights, already
sings. How can a songwriter possibly
use Shakespeare’s words as the takeoff point for his own music? Astonishingly,
Peter Mills accomplishes this with Illyria,
his new musical adaptation of Twelfth Night. (THEATERMANIA Reviewed By:
Brooke Pierce April 22, 2002)
Cara Reichel's and
Peter Mill's adaptation of Shakespeare's "Twelfth Night" successfully
transports its audience to a
"land of fools, where madness rules." The musical is genuinely
witty, inspiring new life to Shakespeare's characters
as the actors of Prospect Theater Company ally touching ballads with burlesque
numbers, and revamp Shakespearean
innuendos.(Vaessen - The Village Voice - April 16, 2002)
Hey...and from a friend's office:
"Pandora"
is an electronic bulletin board we have here at my office. Imagine my surprise
and delight at reading the
following posting yesterday:
"First, the credibility statement: I have never recommended a show on Pandora
before, and wouldn't do so now if
the show weren't truly exceptional. That being said:
RUN, DON'T WALK to see Prospect Theater Company's "Illyria,"
an original musical based on Shakespeare's
"Twelfth Night." I laughed so hard I cried, and I am still humming
the songs. The writer, Peter Mills, is a rare genius
- a Village Voice review of one of his previous musicals, ("The Taxi Cabaret")
billed him as the next Sondheim, and I
fully agree. The cast, director and choreographer are also all wonderfully talented,
and the production does justice
to this clever and jubilant work. I can honestly say that this was one of the
most enjoyable nights of theater I've ever
spent.
The show only runs through April 28th at the Hudson Guild Theatre on West 26th
Street in Manhattan.
See http://www.geocities.com/prospecttheater/index.htm for more details."
The Taming of the Shrew
http://www.oobr.com/top/volEight/twelve/1111shrew.htm
"...what a production! Leering comics; baggy pants; women in bustiers, high heels, and feather boas; everything played with a wink and a leer; and there was a sound effect for every punchline - horns, whoopee whistles, wood blocks. And while this Shrew was fast it was also wonderfully clear, with some terrific performances that kept the concept from overwhelming the play. Petruchio (Ray A. Rodriguez) had the look of Bud Abbott and the bravura of Groucho Marx, Kate (Nicole Godino) was a coarse version of Joan Blondell, Grumio (Ames Adamson)'s model was Gabby Hayes..."
RAGS
June 7 - 17, 2001 New Flushing Town Hall Theater, Queens, New York
"Nathan, convincingly portrayed by Adamson as a slick, quick study of New
World politics."
Newsday June 15, 2001,
by Steve Parks
"Adamson's Nathan is appalling, which is a compliment to the actor. Having
arrived in the United States a few years before his wife and son, he's changed
his name to Harris ("Herkovitz is too ... you know," he explains),
has become a tool of Tammany Hall, and worst of all, is happy to disdain the
people he came from, including his wife (at one point he refers to Bella as
a "Jew girl"). One figures he'll become rich and powerful in the Fourth
Ward where he becomes boss, then
probably endure a great fall, like Boss Tweed himself, and it will serve him
right." The Flushing Times
Ledger June 14, 2001,
Arlene McKanic (read
the story)
"Ames Adamson as Nathan characterizes what the poor are up against. Mr.
Adamson is an excellent actor
who pays attention to every detail of his acting. With his can, up-market clothes
and acquired airs, he is the
up and coming grease-ball that greases the wheel."
Queens Ledger June 14, 2001, Judi Willing
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cell 917 817 6604 email amesadamson@gmail.com