Los Angeles Times - Somewhat Recommended
"...Almost the entire first half of the production, directed by Simon Phillips, is devoted to Edna's exchanges with the audience. The spontaneity of Edna's wit is dazzling - she can find levity in the humiliated mumbles of a theatergoer sinking lower and lower in her seat. But there is a law of diminishing returns. By the time the sixth or seventh victim is brought to the dock of Edna's attention, the humor loses some of its
LA Weekly - Recommended
"...Simon Phillips directs the slightly bloated, frequently amusing spectacle, with Ralph Coppola, Brooke Pascoe, Eve Prideaux and Armando Yearwood Jr. providing intermittent backup song and dance."
Broadway World - Recommended
"...Regardless of what she says or does,audiences eat up every word of it, and if this turns out to be , in fact, Dame Edna's last tour, who could possibly replace this sparkling wit? That's right, Dame Edna is most assuredly an international treasure. Well, a world class phenomenon, at any rate! Don't miss her during her brief stay through March 15!"
Edge - Recommended
"...This reviewer saw Don Rickles at the Saban Theatre recently, but while his jokes all too often relied on simplistic caricatures of people's nationalities or religions, Edna's audience banter is far more clever and engaging. While the 88-year-old Rickles has become a dinosaur, the 80-year-old Dame Edna remains a sharp, more agile performer, forming a closer connection with her audience, deftly remembering about a dozen of their names and referencing them throughout the two-and-a-half hour show."
The Hollywood Reporter - Somewhat Recommended
"...By the time Edna got to "Me Time," her big number backed by a quartet of dancers, the goodwill accumulated over her long career still energized the audience even if many of the bits were recycled and not all that funny. A one-man show lasting a whopping two hours and twenty-five minutes implies a strong dose of confidence or a strong dose of daring on the part of Humphries. Either way, it's a bit too much of a good thing."
StageHappenings.com - Recommended
"...I do believe this is indeed her farewell tour to LA where many years ago Joan Rivers saw her act and told her to tour America. How do I know this? Well, Barry Humphries appeared at the end of the show to bid his farewell too. This was proceeded with EVERYONE in the audience getting one of her gladiolas, her signature flower which she sometimes hurls at her audience, "her possums" but in this case enlisted all the ushers at the Ahmanson Theatre. It was a night to remember and cherish. So long Dame Edna/Sir Barry."
Examiner - Recommended
"...The Dame, bless her narcissistic soul, remains a comic force. The self-adoring quips ("I needed to learn to love myself…and I SUCCEEDED!") may telegraph a bit, but there are not many people who can get a laugh over pronouncing words like "Stevia" or "aruuuuugula." I am not sure which circumstance would be more comically gratifying from the perspective of a Schadenfreude-loving observer … to watch a possum sucking it up and playing genially along with Dame Edna's mistreatment or witnessing a Dame E target who is acutely uncomfortable. We got both on opening night."
Neon Tommy - Recommended
"...Humphries so expertly carries the entire show on his bejeweled shoulders that we never once lose interest in her seemingly vacuous meditations on her life and experiences with friends and family - particularly her "man's man" son, Kenny, who lives in West Hollywood working as a hairdresser with his "roommate" Enrique, as well as her late "sidekick," Madge, who fulfilled her role well by "stand[ing] to the side and letting [Edna] kick her." The sixty years of performing the character are apparent in Humphries' performance, but in the way of emotional depth and commitment, rather than fatigue and effortless coasting."
Total Theater - Recommended
"...The rehearsed part of the show included a comic routine or two, plus a some production numbers in which Dame Edna sings off-key and totters around with a bevy of skimpily clad dancers. It is all very homey, down to earth, and raunchily funny."
Santa Monica Daily Press - Recommended
"...Meanwhile, here in Los Angeles the huge audience roared, whistled, and stomped throughout the show. And while they may not have been singing Wayne Barker's song "You Will Have to Do Without Me Somehow," I'll bet some of them exited the theater singing "There Is Nothing Like A Dame.""
