PRESS & NEWS
FORBES APRIL 2023
“The Lonely Few is getting the loudest buzz in the Los Angeles theater world right now. The roots-rocking, high-volume musical romance at the Geffen Playhouse, now extended through April 30, has people calling it a bound-for-Broadway hit for its outstanding cast, immersive set design (part of the audience sits on stage) and powerhouse vocal performances.”
LA TIMES MARCH 2023
“I spent my 20s and early 30s gigging and touring in indie rock bands, so I know what I’m talking about. It’s why I was particularly keen on seeing “The Lonely Few.” Aside from Darren Criss’ electrifying performance in “Hedwig and the Angry Inch,” I have never seen the sweat and grit of rock ’n’ roll represented effectively onstage. I was curious if “The Lonely Few” would pull it off, or whether I would have to sit awkwardly through a show that lacked authenticity.
What I discovered — to my great joy — is a show that offers a solid indie-rock vibe with all the benefits of a theatergoing experience.”
THE ADVOCATE MARCH 2023
“The Geffen Theater in Los Angeles has a new hit musical. Tracy E. Gilchrist is joined for a video interview by the stars of the play "The Lonely Few", Ciara Renée and Lauren Patten.”
THE LA TIMES MARCH 2023
“A love story comes into meteoric focus in this musical, which features a book by Rachel Bonds and a score by Zoe Sarnak. Two women who are attached to their cultural roots yet alienated by the conservative values of their communities hold for each other the answer to problems that until now have seemed insuperable.”
ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY MARCH 2023
“Art is ever evolving, and musical theater is no exception. With roots in operetta and vaudeville, it then became the domain of popular music, before both expanding and shrinking with the eras of rock musicals and mega-blockbusters.
In recent years, the musical has been searching for a new identity, a blend of all these things, or perhaps a self-aware nostalgia for those various eras' peaks. The Lonely Few, now making its world premiere at Los Angeles' Geffen Playhouse, offers glimmers of what the future of musical theater might hold.”
NEW YORK TIMES MARCH 2023
“This setting, this little bar, has become a bit of an enclave for folks who might feel like outsiders or weirdos or misfits,” Bonds said. “I think the community where Lila comes from actually surprises you in the end.”
Despite the show’s specificity, the creators believe “The Lonely Few” will have broad appeal. “In my heart of hearts, I hope we have an Off Broadway run in New York,” Bonds said. “And then I hope we have a Broadway run.”
“This is a queer love story,” she continued. “It’s a love story between two women. But my hope is that anybody could watch it, and be moved by it, and see themselves in it.”
BROADWAY NEWS FEBRUARY 2023
“It’s based on Truman Capote’s infamous Black and White Ball at the Plaza in 1966 and full of queerness and betrayal and murder — it was kind of crazy,” Oliver told Broadway News at the ceremony celebrating him as the winner of the 2023 Kleban Prize for Most Promising Musical Theatre Lyricist. Oliver has just started writing “Party of the Century” with book writer Kirsten Guenther. The two previously collaborated on the musical “Mrs. Sharp.”
Oliver and Guenther are developing the piece with the support of FourthWall Theatrical, which acquired the rights to Davis’ book.”
NEW YORK TIMES NOVEMBER 2022
“The season’s most moving new musical earns its place among the behemoths of Broadway.”
NEW TELEGRAPH OCTOBER 2022
“Here’s a musical made of magic to send the soul soaring. There are no big numbers, no razzmatazz chorus lines, there’s barely much of a story. Yet this bijou show won 10 Tonys in 2018 and now arrives in a new, effortlessly seductive production by Michael Longhurst featuring a crack Israeli and Arab cast. It’s one of the best things he’s staged at the Donmar.”
LOS ANGELES TIMES DECEMBER 2021
“Conceived, written and performed by Michael Breslin and Patrick Foley, the show (which also starred a winning Jakeem Dante Powell) took its inspiration from the ‘Real Housewives’ franchise to explore, with queer insouciance, the masquerade of identity in a contemporary America in which the continually rolling cameras make it hard to untangle real life from reality TV.”
VARIETY DECEMBER 2021
“This electrifying production… is destined to run and run.”
THE NEW YORKER MAY 2021
“Performed by Breslin, Foley, and Jakeem Dante Powell, the live-streamed show [‘This American Wife’] was a loving, demented take on the ‘Real Housewives’ franchise and its appeal to queer audiences, caught by not-so-hidden cameras at a Long Island mansion.”
THE NEW YORK TIMES MAY 2019
“A cadre of Yale drama graduates have followed up a first streaming hit with ‘This American Wife,’ a reality-blurring look at the long-running reality TV franchise.”
THE NEW YORK TIMES DECEMBER 2019
“Alanis Morissette’s ‘ironic’ fury finds a perfect Broadway musical setting in Diablo Cody’s fiery indictment of, well, everything.”