Happy Birthday, Raúl, from the various theatre critics reviewing Speed-The-Plow:
“Wearing a fierce glint and a sly smile, Esparza is one of those kinetic actors who doesn't hold anything back. He's full-tilt ahead -- tailor-made for the pugnacious Charlie.”
The Associated Press
“Esparza offers no such hints of softness. While this is unusual for an actor who’s made much of his career of traversing tormented psyches of men in musicals and plays as diverse as Company, The Normal Heart, and The Homecoming, it results here in a fiery, unforgiving depiction of success-hungry despair. Whether bellowing (for Charlie does little else) with outrage flooding his eyes or with his face pasted with the impish, off-center smirk of an inveterate trickster, Esparza is terrific at cutting to the heart of even the deepest deception to unleash the real-world truth beneath it.”
Talkin’ Broadway
“Fortunately, Esparza picks up the slack, delivering a furiously fast and funny performance that provides Mamet's hilariously profane dialogue its full impact.”
Hollywood Reporter
“Raúl Esparza's Charlie is more sharply funny, and more revelatory; his brutal resourcefulness at the end will leave you titillated and haunted.”
USA Today
“…- but the super-heated intensity of Raúl Esparza's memorable performance drives the show fast and furiously ….an assured show dominated by Esparza's forceful presence as nervy Charlie, especially so when his character melts down into explosive rage.”
Newark Star-Ledger
“Broadway veteran Esparza -- who finds new venom every time he articulates "Bob" -- gives a performance that taps all Charlie's uncertainty and volatility.”
TheatreMania
“Esparza is unsurpassed at revealing ecstatic exuberance or, in a twinkling, unleashed rage. He acts equally commandingly with octave-storming voice, rampaging or cringing body and galvanized or galvanizing limbs. His expressions, by themselves, could knock over bowling pins or stop a steamroller.”
John Simon, Bloomberg.com
Sarcasm is an allergic reaction to stupid people.
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