excerpts
review
”THE TWO QUEENLY STAR TURNS ARE SUAVELY SERVED BY KEVIN NEWBURY’S THEATRICALLY ASTUTE DIRECTION...NEWBURY’S FLUID
DIRECTION ADVANCES THE ACTION SMOOTHLY WHILE MAINTAINING AN APPROPRIATELY STATELY TONE. HIS SHREWD TOUCHES
CONSTANTLY SUPPORT THE WORK’S MEANING. ”
- HOUSTON CHRONICLE ON MARIA STUARDA (2012)
”AN OPERA NEEDS TO BE ABLE TO CATCH FIRE ONSTAGE, AND IN THE SUMMERSCAPE PRODUCTION, DIRECTED WITH
IMAGINATION AND EMOTIONAL NUANCE BY KEVIN NEWBURY, “DANAE” CERTAINLY DOES... ...EXHILARATING AND MOVING,
“DANAE” HAS FOUND ITS MOMENT.”
- NEW YORK TIMES ON DIE LIEBE DER DANAE (2011)
”A GOLD STANDARD PRODUCTION AT BARD COLLEGE. EVEN IN THE GRANDER MOMENTS OF NEWBURY’S CONCEPT AND FAMED ARCHITECT
RAFAEL VIÑOLY’S SETS - AS IN ACT III, WHICH FINDS DANAE AND MIDAS IN A ROBIN’S EGG BLUE AMC PACER ONSTAGE - THERE IS A
CONSIDERABLE AMOUNT OF POETIC RESTRAINT. LIKE DANAE, WE AS THE AUDIENCE COME TO APPRECIATE THE HEART OF THE PRODUCTION
RATHER THAN ITS BELLS AND WHISTLES.”
NAMED ONE OF THE THE BEST OF 2011 IN OPERA.
- WQXR ON DIE LIEBE DER DANAE (2011)
”...SMOOTHLY DIRECTED BY KEVIN NEWBURY... AND THE WHIMSICAL MYTHOLOGICAL PLOT HAS SOME SURPRISINGLY EFFECTIVE
DRAMATIC MOMENTS, MADE ALL THE MORE POINTED IN THE WITTILY UPDATED PRODUCTION. ”
- ASSOCIATED PRESS ON DIE LIEBE DER DANAE (2011)
”WITHOUT SACRIFICING ANY OF THE FAIRY-TALE MAGIC IN HUMPERDINCK’S 1893 MASTERPIECE, STAGE DIRECTOR KEVIN NEWBURY
HAS COME UP WITH A PARTICULARLY RELEVANT METAPHOR FOR OUR ECONOMICALLY CHALLENGED TIMES... NEWBURY, WHOSE STAGING
OF THE RAPPAHANNOCK COUNTY SONG-CYCLE WAS SUCH A SPELLBINDER AT THE UNIVERSITY OF RICHMOND IN SEPTEMBER... IS ENDLESSLY
RESOURCEFUL WHERE IT REALLY COUNTS.”
- RICHMOND-TIMES DISPATCH ON HANSEL AND GRETEL (2011)
”A MARVELOUSLY CREATIVE NEW SETTING... THE VIRGINIA OPERA’S CREATIVE TEAM DECIDED TO RUN WITH THE SOCIAL CRITICISM OF
THIS FAIRY TALE, WHICH LED TO A BRILLIANT STROKE... A HAT TIP TO DIRECTOR KEVIN NEWBURY WHO KEPT THE PROCEEDINGS MOVING
ALONG BUT WITH A LIGHT HAND APPROPRIATE TO THIS OPERA’S NATURE... SIMPLY A GREAT CONCEPT, ADDING SOME REAL THEATER
MAGIC TO THE PROCEEDINGS IN SUCH A WAY AS TO RETAIN THE CHARMS AND TREPIDATIONS OF THE ORIGINAL WHILE MAKING THINGS
MORE APPEALING TO THE YOUNG AND YOUNG AT HEART.”
- WASHINGTON TIMES ON HANSEL AND GRETEL (2011)
”FLUENTLY DIRECTED BY KEVIN NEWBURY... THE WORK EXERTS A CUMULATIVE FORCE... A SOLID, EFFECTIVE LAUNCH. ”
- OPERA NEWS ON RAPPAHANNOCK COUNTY (2011)
”(MARIA STUARDA) SOARS FROM BEGINNING TO END, PROPELLED BY SPECTACULAR SINGING AND STAGECRAFT, RICHLY TEXTURED
CHARACTERIZATIONS AND EXPERT INTERPRETATION OF DONIZETTI’S MUSIC... DIRECTOR KEVIN NEWBURY HAS HELPED SHAPED
DETAILED PORTRAYALS FROM EACH OF HIS PRINCIPALS. ”
- PIONEER PRESS ON MARIA STUARDA (2011)
”JOHN ADAMS’ BRILLIANT AND TOUCHING NATIVITY ORATORIO...TURNED OUT TO BE THE THEATRICAL AND SPIRITUAL MASTERPIECE MANY
OF US SUSPECTED FROM THE START. ”
NAMED ONE OF THE TOP 10 EVENTS OF THE YEAR.
- SAN FRANCISCO CHRONICLE ON EL NIÑO (2010)
”L’OPÉRA DE MONTRÉAL DEFINITELY HAS A HIT ON ITS HANDS WITH THIS MINNESOTA OPERA/KEVIN NEWBURY PRODUCTION OF
GAETANO DONIZETTI’S ROBERTO DEVEREUX. ...NEWBURY’S MASTERFUL STAGE DIRECTION IS BEAUTIFULLY FRAMED BY NEIL PATEL’S ELEGANT
SETS AND D.M. WOOD’S FINE AND INVENTIVE LIGHTING... VISUALLY VERY ELEGANT... A PERFECT COLLABORATION!”
- The GLOBE AND MAIL on Roberto Devereux (2010)
“NEWBURY’S STAGING IS EFFECTIVE... NEWBURY GETS COMMITTED PERFORMANCES FROM HIS SINGERS.”
- LONDON TIMES ON VIRGINIA (2010)
“MERCADANTE’S VIRGINIA WAS THE THRILLING DISCOVERY OF THE FIFTY-NINTH ANNUAL WEXFORD FESTIVAL OPERA...KEVIN NEWBURY
STAGED THE WORK WITH A STRONG SENSE OF FORWARD MOVEMENT AND TELLING CHARACTER DETAIL.”
- OPERA NEWS ON VIRGINIA (2010)
“(A) GRIPPING INAUGURAL PRESENTATION...DIRECTOR KEVIN NEWBURY EFFECTIVELY SHAPES THE CHARACTERS AND THE COMPLICATED
RELATIONSHIPS AMONG THEM.”
- DENVER POST ON LIFE IS A DREAM (2010)
“TREMENDOUSLY IMPRESSIVE AND INNOVATIVE, AND MY HAT IS OFF TO (THE DESIGNERS) AS WELL AS OVER-ALL STAGE DIRECTOR
KEVIN NEWBURY, WHO ENJOYED NOTHING LESS THAN A TRIUMPH WITH THEIR COCEPT OF MISE-EN-SCÈNE.”
- OPERATODAY.COM ON life is a dream (2010)
“STAGED BY KEVIN NEWBURY, LIFE IS A DREAM WAS GIVEN A FIRST-RATE PRODUCTION BY SANTA FE OPERA.”
- OPERA NEWS ON life is a dream (2010)
“STRONG CASTING AND A SIMPLE, ELEGANT PRODUCTION ALSO DISTINGUISH OPERA THEATRE’S “EUGENE ONEGIN.”
...DIRECTOR KEVIN NEWBURY’S SUBTLE TOUCHES BROUGHT INSIGHTS TO THE ACTION.”
- WALL STREET JOURNAL ON EUGENE ONEGIN (2010)
“A GORGEOUS EUGENE ONEGIN...DIRECTOR KEVIN NEWBURY DIRECTED WITH WELCOME SUBTLETY, RESISTING ANY TEMPTATION TO
INDULGE IN CONCEPTS AT ODDS WITH THE COMPOSER’S INTENTIONS...AN EXQUISITE PRODUCTION.”
- ST. LOUIS DISPATCH ON EUGENE ONEGIN (2010)
“The production, captained by director Kevin Newbury, ingeniously visualized Elizabeth’s predicament...
this bold production may well mark a turn in the fortunes of Roberto Devereux.”
- Opera News on Roberto Devereux (2010)
”The MinNesota Opera's vivid production, which taps deeply into the currents of jealousy, guilt, remorse and
grief that run throughout the piece, may strike even Donizetti devotees as revelatory…. Led by director Kevin
Newbury, the production team is especially sensitive to the clash of public and private, and to religious
dimensions of the action.”
- The Star-Tribune on Roberto Devereux (2010)
“A bright spot in this year’s lineup, thanks in large measure to the witty direction of Kevin Newbury.
Mr. Newbury updated this Cinderella story to post-Crash 1933 New York… Although more than a century
separates Rossini’s music from 1930s movies such as “My Man Godfrey,” the two styles of screwball comedy
proved to be a fine match….Mr. Newbury dropped in clever, almost throwaway touches—and each character
came distinctively to life.”
- The Wall Street Journal on La Cenerentola (2010)
“The director Kevin Newbury sets Rossini’s Cenerentola in Depression-era New York, and the updating is most
effective…a spirited and lively performance.”
- The New York Times on La Cenerentola (2010)
“The Wolf Trap Opera's production at the Filene Center on Friday evening seamlessly transported the action
from 19th-century Paris to 21st-century Brooklyn. But the glorious spirit of the opera never skipped a beat.”
- The Washington Times on La Bohème (2010)
"The auditorium rocked for this overpowering performance."
NAMED ONE OF THE TOP FIVE CLASSICAL EVENTS OF THE YEAR.
- The New York Times on Bernstein’s Mass (2008)
"A delightfully witty, wonderfully entertaining production... while maximizing an array of visual gags
and other skillful touches, Newbury invests the characters with all-important doses of humanity, keeping
them from sinking into easily dismissible stock figures."
- The Denver Post on Falstaff (2008)
"HGOs production was Magic. Newbury coaxed waves of gentle humor from his cast.
This was bare-stage opera that Newbury kept moving with unobtrusive skill."
- THE HOUSTON CHRONICLE on Die Zauberflöte (2008)
"Confidently directed by Kevin Newbury... the results are blithe and entertaining."
- The New Yorker on The Second Tosca (2007)
"brought to life by an excellent cast and enlivened with a lot of humor. Kevin Newbury, the director...
adds an adrenaline jolt."
- The New York Times on The Second Tosca (2007)
"Newbury's intelligent, fluidly paced production reflects his considerable experience at top regional opera
companies... Newbury deserves praise for the universally successful casting; one wishes all Broadway
ensembles were so well suited to their roles."
- Opera News on The Second Tosca (2007)
"There's clarity and balance in Newbury's staging, allowing the humor that's already there,
the humor of the situations, to blossom."
- Star Tribune on Le Nozze di Figaro (2007)
"Staged with wit and sparkle by Kevin Newbury... keeps you smiling until the curtain call."
- The New York Times on Candy & Dorothy (2006)
"Kevin Newbury has coaxed performances that ricochet off one another with pitch-perfect timing."
- Backstage on Candy & Dorothy (2006)
"Candy and Dorothy earns its wings! It's lively, especially under the light directorial hand of Kevin Newbury.
Worth seeing."
- The Boston Globe on Candy & Dorothy (2006)
"Mr. Newbury's direction keeps the characters moving in a fast, light step like that of a good chorus line,
which of course the Eumenides themselves were the first time around, in the fifth century B.C."
- The New York Times on The Eumenides (2004)
“Eschewing high-tech and high-concept notions, this is a spare and simple rendering of the classic text with
a complicatedly modern point-of-view. Newbury stages Johnston's script with intelligence and assurance,
and he's cast it soundly.”
- NYTheatre.com on The Eumenides (2004)
