News & Reviews
Jacquelyn Ritz’s shape-shifting performance as Vanessa/Annabella transmits how the power of love and self-esteem can metamorphose a lowly caterpillar into a gorgeous butterfly. -Pam Kragen, San Diego Union Tribune
Jacquelyn Ritz, plays Vanessa/Annabella, what a jewel. Her transformation to Annabella was like a moth to a butterfly, amazing.
-Kathy Carpenter, Splash Magazine Los Angeles
Jacquelyn Ritz is elegant and understanding ... a standout solo in the second act.
- E. H. Reiter, Broadway World
Jacquelyn Ritz gives a heartbreaking performance. -Pam Kragen, San Diego Union Tribune
Eden Espinosa, right, with actors George Abud and Jacquelyn Ritz, rear, in rehearsal for “Lempicka, at La Jolla Playhouse (Jenna Selby)
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The creative team of composer Matt Gould, left, playwright Carson Kreitzer and director Rachel Chavkin.
October 24, 2021
Director Andrew Barnicle brings a sparkle of magic, music, and poetry to the swift-moving 100-minute play. CRITIC'S CHOICE
– Pam Kragen, San Diego Union~Tribune
BLOOMSDAY is beautifully acted. Playwright Steven Dietz was in the audience and when told that his play was most enjoyable he responded, ‘Thank the actors and actresses on stage, it’s all because of them.’
– Tom Robertson, The Vista Press
Dietz delivers a charming and poignant tale that perfectly complements the skills of a terrific cast directed by award-winning director Andrew Barnicle. It's a triumphant Must see production.
– Jack Lyons, Desert Star Weekly/Desert Local News
Love, loneliness, longing take a bow in this witty theatrical gem, laced with humor and skillfully delivered by four fine actors. Thinking man's theater, deeply satisfying. – Christene Meyers
How the Other Half Loves
“Ingenious and fab" - David Coddon, - The San Diego Union~Tribune
“A stellar comedy….The whole cast acts as a well-prepared ensemble, wringing every last bit of laughter out of the clever material. CRITIC's PICK!
Larry Steckling, The San Diego Reader
“Geoffrey Sherman positioned the talented actors exactly as Ayckbourn would have wanted, and the razor-sharp dialogue and laughs never stop.
Diana Saenger, East County Gazette
“Sherman directs a cast of seasoned comedy Pro's who love what they're doing and having great fun doing it. Don't Miss It!
Jack Lyons, Desert Local News
“...Hilarious live theatre built around quick one-liners, back and forth dialog, a very unique set design and one of the most fascinating dinner scenes presented on stage. Enthusiastically performed by an extraordinary cast who does not miss a beat.
Tom Robertson, The Vista News
Fox on the Fairway Press
It's always a pleasure to see Jacquelyn Ritz perform. After her droll characterizations in Chapter Two, Fallen Angels, and Man with a Load of Mischief at NCR, her appearance as the attractive, sexually loose Pamela in Fox was much anticipated. She did not disappoint. Her every move steamed up the stage with unapologetic sexual implications, and her panoplies of facial expressions demonstrated her considerable comic gifts.
-Erica Miner, BWW
Nonetheless, Wiener’s six-member cast work with the precision of a Swiss watch to keep the ball in the air. As Bingham, Kevin Bailey anchors the story with an honest performance that’s beautifully balanced by Jacquelyn Ritz as Quail Valley’s sexy, thrice-married office manager Pamela.
-Pam Kragen, San Diego Union-Tribune
The cast is amazing. Ritz plays Pamela’s sultry ways and flirtatious moves with Bingham so well they could have been the sole characters and drawn raves.
-Diana Saenger, La Jolla Light
Sherlock Holmes and the Adventure of the Great Nome Gold Rush
North Coast Repertory
"Holmes’ an inventive but curious case
Well-acted play about great detective in Alaska has its charms ...
Playwright Joseph Vass has conjured a clever premise that ties
into some actual pioneer-era history and gets Holmes and his
main man Dr. John Watson rubbing shoulders with rowdies
and roughnecks (Wyatt Earp among them) on the fringes of
civilization."
By James Hebert, Jan. 17, 2016
"The star of the show is the ensemble.
When a card game in London turns deadly, Sherlock Holmes follows the one clue that will save his client from the gallows — a land deed — all the way to Alaska."
By Carrie O'Connell
"Earp’s main squeeze Josephine is the fetching Jacquelyn Ritz, who lights up the stage with her entrance..." By Jack Lyons
Chapter Two
Spring 2015
Jacquelyn Ritz plays Jennie at North Coast Rep in a scene-stealing performance that grows richer and more authentic with every scene.
-Pam Kragen, San Diego Union Tribune
The four actors — all of whom NCRT regulars will recognize — are excellent. Ellenstein and Ritz have a natural rapport best showcased during the couple’s initial phone conversations, which are warm and funny and set the foundation for their future together.
-Lois Alter Mark, La Jolla Light
When Ritz’s Jennie comes to her final speech, she comes full circle inspiring other women in her situation to speak their own truth. In trying to explain to George how she feels, what she wants, how much she loves him by assuring him that she will never leave him, she performs brilliantly.
Yea for her with a round of applause!
-Carol Davis, San Diego Examiner
Jennie is bright, attractive, quick of wit and – best of all – in no hurry to connect with George or any other man. . . . Ritz is terrific as Jennie, a charmer with her feet on the ground and yes, exactly what George needs.
-Jean Lowerison - SDGLN
Jacquelyn Ritz tackled her role with a combination of subtle delicacy and fervent passion. Her ardor never ceased, whether she was depicting flirtatiousness, anger, or love-struck adoration. Ritz, who delighted audiences with her portrayal of the infuriatingly erudite maid in this season's Fallen Angels, outdid her previous performance with her engaging, charming and dynamic depiction of the not-so-carefree divorcee determined not to let down her barriers, who impulsively gives in to the volcanic passion bubbling underneath her unruffled exterior.
-Erica Miner, Broadway World
Fallen Angels
Fall 2014
Fallen Angels is one of North Coast’s best shows of the year. It’s a fizzy bottle of Champagne blowing its cork not once but twice. … winning is Jacquelyn Ritz as Saunders, the condescending, ultra-accomplished maid, who plays the piano, sings in French and figures out very quickly what the two women are plotting.
Pam Kragen, UT San Diego
Coward loves flip-flops. For Angels the brightest, most educated, savvy, and grounded person on stage is the maid: Saunders. It’s a to-die-for role but you’ll die in a jiff if you don’t get it right. Jacquelyn Ritz gets all of it right.
Jeff Smith, San Diego Reader
Jacquelyn Ritz made the most of the acerbic, all-too sophisticated and more than annoying maid Saunders: correcting Strapp's piano notes with backhanded egotism; spouting French romantic verse in song; ignoring the doorbell while playing piano and singing. Her ‘balls and iron’ repartee with Miller was hilarious.
Erica Miner, Broadway World
… along for a hilarious ride is Julia’s new maid Jasmine, played with brisk efficiency and maddening expertise by Jacquelyn Ritz. This woman has been everywhere and done everything except romance Maurice.
Jean Lowerison - SDGLN Theater Critic
Like They Magical
A Staged Reading for the DNA Series
LaJolla Playhouse
February 28, 2016
Del Mar Reading Series:
George Bernard Shaw's
Overruled
Thursday, May 7, 2015 at 7pm
With Jason Maddy, Jacquelyn Ritz, Summer Spiro and Bruce Turk
Del Mar Foundation Cultural Arts Committee
June 9, 2014