Andy Warhol's Tomato Reviews
Los Angeles Times- Recommended
"...Amid the ongoing culture wars between urban-elite and blue-collar sensibilities, Melocchi's period play slyly reminds us the division can be bridged by our fundamental human need to create. In the process we can become something more than what our circumstances have shaped us to be."
Broadway World- Recommended
"...1946, Hometead, PA, TOMATO opens with a semi-conscious Andy waking up after being rescued prone off the street in front of Bonino's by Bones. TOMATO presents an intimate, quiet look at the various encounters Andy and Bones have after Andy agrees to compensate for a picture frame of Bones he damaged, with the painting of Bonino's new front door sign. Melocchi sprinkles enough known facts of Warhol's life to make you wonder, really wonder, if you're watching a non-fiction depiction rather than the well-constructed story Melocchi made up."
LA Splash- Highly Recommended
"...With a well-written script and two very capable actors breathing life into quirky Andy and stolid Bonesy, ANDY WARHOL'S TOMATO has taken a cute and certainly untrue story from Andy Warhol's early life and turned it into a play with a profound and timeless message for all. Kudos for director Dana Jackson's tender handling of dynamics which, in lesser hands, might falter. Light and projection designer Andrew Schmedake has done a brilliant job of turning the dull and dim basement into a place of light and life. Rich Rose's scenic design has just the right grimy feel, and the entire production staff functions with creative competence. ANDY WARHOL'S TOMATO is a not-to-be-missed study of what goes into achieving the goals of self-understanding and acceptance. And, besides, it's an entertaining and often humorous evening out."
Total Theater- Highly Recommended
"...The skill of Melocchi's writing is matched by the remarkable acting work by Stevenson and Chariton. Together they breathe life into every line of Melocchi's text, creating flesh-and-blood characters that hold you in thrall from start to finish."
KCRW- Somewhat Recommended
"...The play is very loosely drawn from biographical details of Warhol's beginnings in Pittsburgh. Mr. Melocchi imagines a series of encounters between a young, nervous Warhol and a blue-collar bartender named Bones in the basement of his dive bar. I won't go into how these two characters are brought together because the playwright doesn't invest too heavily in the logic and simply embraces the coincidence."
Stage Raw- Recommended
"...Overall, however, Andy Warhol's Tomato is a strong and entertaining production about a unique artist. As Bones says in the play, "There is beauty in the mundane." This show has found it."
Theatre Notes- Highly Recommended
"...Under the keen direction of Dana Jackson, the relationship that develops between the two men, who are so radically different, has its fits and starts. Andy and Bones are seemingly from different universes, yet first impressions gradually change. I don't believe it serves to detail more of the action of the play. That is for the audience to discover and to be touched by. Suffice it to say that the road to the climax of any good play is fraught with twists, turns, conflict, and misunderstandings that ratchet up dramatic tension."