Evensong
by Mary Gage, reviewed August 2006
Anita
Gates, New York Times, August 16, 2006
Gwen Orel, Back Stage, August
21, 2006
Oscar Moore, Talk Entertainment,
August 8, 2006
Loria Parker, Theatre Scene,
August 20, 2006
William Kerns reviewed Angels in America: Perestroika
in the Lubbock Courier-Journal, April 28, 2006.
Lubbock,
TX -- "Directed by Lewis Magruder...this is undeniably powerful
theatre, guaranteed to affect and inspire those who have and have not
seen 'Millenium.'
...This production flows....because pain and passion are so believably
expressed and communicated....
Myra Yellin Outwater of The Morning Call reviewed
Cole!, November 2004.
ALLENTOWN,
PA — "Cole!" the musical/revue/biography of Cole Porter,
now in the Arena Theatre of Desales' Labuda Center, is an intimate,
entertaining and delightful little gem. Director Lewis Magruder has
infused this 1974 British revue...with show biz panache.
"Magruder
has used his imagination to take advantage of the black box theatre.
With props and costume accessories such as scarves, hats, canes, glitter
and treasure chests, he cleverly spotlights each member of the cast.
And they deliver. They effortlessly vary the tempo, bouncing back and
forth from barbershop quartet to torch song solos to cabaret to romantic
duos to folksy burlesque....
Jack
Eddleman reviewed A Christmas Carol, by Eberle Thomas and Barbara
Redmond, in The Brandenton Herald, December 10, 2002.
SARASOTA — "If you would like an exhilarating evening in the
theatre, hie you to the Asolo Theatre Festival for the remarkable revival
of Dickens' 'A Christmas Carol.' It is a fresh, vital and invigorating
new look at the holiday perennial that shakes the cobwebs off this classic
tale of one manÕs last change to rediscover his own humanity.
"From the opening song, we are swept into a refreshing, joyous
series of beautifully directed and stunningly played sequences. New
director Lewis Magruder has created theatrical magic with everything
he touches. Rarely have I seen an entire cast so turned on to the joy
of performing .Scenes shift have a delicious enery of their own, with
gorgeous freezes that vibrate with life.
"A certain stodginess that surrounded the adaptation and the staging
in the previous seasons is gone. Consequently the laughs start sooner
and are more numerous.
"Magruder and his gifted crew of artists and artisans have collaborated
on a truly memorable achievement. Go and let your spirits soar."
Kristen Schoonover reviewed Women of Troy,
by Euripides as adapted by Kenneth Cavander, September 1999.
NEW YORK
— "Lewis Magruder had directed a rousing interpretation of
Euripides' tragedy Women of Troy.
"The
situation could easily seem remote, but Magruder makes connections to
contemporary times by replacing the traditional Greek chorus —
one of the usual stumbling blocks for a modern audience — with
tape recorded testimonials of modern-day refugees. As women from Kosovo,
Burma, and the Nazi-controlled Netherlands speak of the terror and devastation
of leaving their homelands, they remind us that the more things change,
the more they stay the same."
Lucy
Komisar, Editor, American Reporter Theater Review, reviewed a production
of Cloud 9, by Caryl Churchill, January 10, 1998.
NEW YORK
— "The British playwright Caryl Churchill is one of the most
imaginative, biting, satiric social critics now writing for the theater,
and her 1979 work, 'Cloud 9,' gets a stunning staging by the
very talented Broad
Horizons Theatre Company in its debut New York performance.
"This work, ranging from British colonial Africa in the time of
Queen Victoria to present-day London, is an occasionally melodramatic
and sometimes verbally explicit farce that hits British colonialism,
racism, sexism, and rigid and hypocritical attitudes about sex encompassing
everything from infidelity (ho hum) and homosexuality to masturbation.
"It is very, very funny. The Broad Horizons troop performs its
acting chores brilliantly; this includes men playing women, a woman
playing a man, a white playing a black, and everyone switching roles
— and in some cases, gender — for the second act, set 25-years
later.
"The production is directed with panache and wit by company founder
Lewis Magruder."
Harry
Zimbler reviewed The Illusion, by Tony Kushner, in The Centre
Daily Times, November 18, 1996.
STATE COLLEGE, PA — "Great theater ought to be a journey to
revelation. This production, executed with great skill and artistry,
opened November 17 at the Pavilion Theater.
"Much
of the credit for this splendid URTC production must go to director
Lewis Magruder. He had the good fortune and, one suspects, the theatrical
savvy to bring together a stellar cast".
"Magruder's magic wand deftly keeps the action moving and focused
on stage. His attention to character detail and stage picturization
is most admirable. There is a playfulness to this complex play that
is most surely the result of a sensitive director working closely with
his actors."