The Goree All-Girl String Band

April 13, 2020  /  Rachel Rosenthal

The Goree All-Girl String Band

Music by Artie Sievers, Book and Lyrics by Michael Bradley

NYMF, Theater Row
July 2017

Photos by: Shira Friedman

“Directed by Ashley Brooke Monroe, it arrived at the festival with an enticing star in Lauren Patten, an impressive new prize from the Kevin Spacey Foundation and an intriguing premise inspired by a true story: A group of female inmates in 1930s Texas form a band, hoping to get on a radio show...this cast is abundantly talented.”
— New York Times
“For anyone wondering if the New York Musical Festival has a genuine hit in this year’s line-up, The Goree All-Girl String Band is it in flying colors. Michael Bradley, responsible for book and lyrics, and Artie Sievers, the composer, have taken a real-life story and turned it into a rousing two-act evening of fun and genuine social concern...this score is entirely new and rousing as all-get-out.”
— Huffington Post
“The a capella singing is tight and the actors play the instruments with the cohesion one would expect of a longstanding band...country music is “a hard sell” in New York musical theater, but solid direction by Ashley Brooke Monroe helps close the deal.”
— Broadway World
“Imagine A Prairie Home Companion staffed by felons, or Orange Is the New Black with yodeling and a washboard. It’s a production that deserves a longer run...Hopefully, the producers will find their way to a lengthier sentence. It would be a crime not to.”
— Front Row Center
“One of NYMF’s best offerings this year… a sweet story of female friendship, the reclamation of agency, and the healing power of music — It’s the story that hooks you, but it’s the music that keeps you there.”
— Theatre Mania

Fun Home

April 13, 2020  /  Rachel Rosenthal

Fun Home

Music by Jeanine Tesori, Book and Lyrics by Lisa Kron

Cape Rep Theater
September - October 2018

Photos by: Bob Tucker, Focalpoint Studio

“The music is breathtaking. The acting is stellar. The story is unforgettable. “Fun Home,” now playing at Cape Rep Theatre in Brewster, is a success in every way.  Under Ashley Brooke Monroe’s deftly clever direction, the excellent cast make the most of every minute.”
— Wicked Local Cape Cod
“This production has a well-written script, incredible cast and superb direction… which adds up to a must-see for Cape Cod theater-goers.”
— The Cape Cod Chronicle
“The entire ensemble works together to create poignant and unforgettable live theater. Don’t expect to walk out unmoved, unaffected or unchanged. “Fun Home” is powerful stuff.”
— Cape Cod Times
“Everything about this production was, dare I say it, perfect. The music. The direction. The lighting. The set. I could list everyone who deserves being called out, but just go to the show and look at the program: everyone in it gets an A+.”
— pTownie.com

In a Tilted Place

April 13, 2020  /  Rachel Rosenthal

In A Tilted Place

by Troy Deutsch / Co-Directed with Courtney Ulrich

IRT
August 2015

Photos by: Hunter Canning

“Directors Ashley Brooke Monroe and Courtney Ulrich work their way through the text with dexterity, leaping from fantastical moments to frank confessions, to near slapstick, without missing a beat. Each piece seems both distinct and part of a greater whole, filled with yearning, energy, and specificity. The ensemble cast is splendid...At its best moments, In a Tilted Place uses humor and dark surrealism to bring revelations about the gap between the dreams we reach for in New York and the nightmares that drove us here. The directors are diligent and the cast is game.”
— Theater is Easy
“These creepy twists and turns are consistent throughout In a Tilted Place, and theatergoers wonder what this show is trying to say about the world we live in. The characters are in environments that seem normal at first and then their circumstances become bizarre and surreal....The value of this production is its ability to present ordinary, day-to-day life as uncanny, odd and whimsical. In a Titled Place is able to disgust, enlighten and provoke audience members.”
— Off Off Online