Blueprint for Paradise Reviews
LA Weekly- Highly Recommended
"...What makes the production really worth seeing is Thomas's realization of a naïve and dutiful housewife who, rather like Nora in A Doll's House, struggles with her lot until an illuminating epiphany grants her the will to choose otherwise. Really, Thomas does wonderful work. And Hu is enormously sympathetic as her open-hearted and faithful servant; the evolution of that relationship is one of the play's finest threads."
LA Daily News- Somewhat Recommended
"...It's a fascinating idea for a play, examining ethical principles and relationships, motives and prejudices. The play comments thoughtfully on the way society was and is structured. And, as it turns out, it's quite timely and topical. But its basic foundation, badly ornamented and weighted by heavy-handedness, crumbles by evening's end."
Hollywood Progressive- Highly Recommended
"...In this riveting world premiere written by Laurel Wetzork the playwright creatively uses artistic license to expand upon the sketchy historical record to imaginatively build a what-if plot that combines fact and fiction. Herbert Taylor (David Jahn) and his uneducated but well-to-do wife (who earned her money the old fashioned way - she inherited it) Clara Taylor (long suffering Meredith Thomas) are the L.A.-based moneybags collaborating with the Third Reich's emissary, Wolfgang Schreiber (a smarmy Peter McGlynn straight out of National Socialist central casting) and homegrown fascist Ludwig Gottschalk (Steve Marvel) in their fantastical scheme to build a mini-Berlin-on-the-Pacific. Serving the bourgeois Taylors at their well-appointed house perfectly designed by Gary Lee Reed are a Chinese maid, Fenny (endowed with humanity by Ann Hu), and Alessandro (Alex Best), apparently a sort of butler and chauffeur of Italian ancestry."
Total Theater- Somewhat Recommended
"...Melodramatic and awkwardly staged as it sometimes is, Blueprint for Paradise still manages to uncover an important, evil bit of American history and shine the therapeutic light of truth on it."
Culver City News- Recommended
"...Directed by Laura Steinroeder with great intensity so vital to the storytelling, the cast includes Alex Best, Regi Davis, Ann Hu, David Jahn, Steve Marvel, Peter McGlynn and Meredith Thomas, each of whom delivers a stunning characterization proving how misguided some Americans were about Germany and the Nazi Party during its rise to power."
LifeInLA- Highly Recommended
"...Anyone interested in history needs to hurry to the Hudson to see Blueprint For Paradise."
Night Tinted Glasses- Recommended
"...Despite what counts as very high production values in many of the areas that matter most--acting especially--a couple of flaws stand out as well, both in the script. But then, are they flaws? Depends. Blueprint For Paradise frankly comes across as quite old fashioned in overall style. Taking place entirely within a living room in a nice neighborhood of 1940s Los Angeles, it exemplifies what at school we used to call the "well made play." Most popular in the 1930s, 40s, 50s and 60s this style creates a vitamin pill of elements designed to hit all the right notes and give a satisfying conclusion. Such satisfaction isn't a matter of a happy ending, but one that moves the audience with great precision. Certainly this play does that, weaving a very plausible scenario to account for the urban legend, giving every single cast member at least a few moments to shine, setting up the plot points in a good workmanlike manner, etc."
Santa Monica Daily Press- Recommended
"...The Taylors represent an actual couple named Winona and Norman Stevens. The architect Paul Revere Williams is also a real figure. The other characters were created by the playwright in an effort to recreate the passions of that critical time and to imagine the interplay between a liberated African-American architect and a woman who accepted her husband's oppressive admonitions without question. The arguments presented are sometimes a bit preachy, but they are delivered with earnest conviction, especially by Regi Davis and Meredith Thomas."
Stage Raw- Recommended
"...Wetzork draws on strands of historical data for this tale, and successfully constructs a jarring portrait of some of more the more social and political currents of the time; however, the finished product here is equal parts faux spy-thriller and tepid domestic melodrama. Especially puzzling is the pivotal relationship she draws between Williams and Clara (which takes up a lot of ink) that early on strains for credibility. The performances are uniformly decent under Laura Steinroeder's direction, although it is very hard at times to understand Hu because of the overworked accent. Gary Lee Reed provides a stylish drawing room set piece."
Theatre Notes- Somewhat Recommended
"...Blueprint for Paradise is an interesting, entertaining show. The characters, however, are two-dimensional. The Nazi and his American yokel pal are types from "central casting." The husband with his facile veneer is written to be loathsome and he is. Only Fenny is a fully rounded character. Her life is precarious as an Asian immigrant and her humanity bursts through in all of her scenes. I can't fault the actors, solid pros all of them. If there is a problem, it is in the script and the direction. With its themes and relevance, I think there is more to be gotten here."
Discover Hollywood- Highly Recommended
"...Blueprint for Paradise takes place in 1941, mere weeks before Pearl Harbor, and the sentiments echoed from yesteryear ring true today. With the Taylor's utterance of the "mentally defective should be eradicated and the feeble minded should be sterilized" it is hard not to see the parallels of this play in the political arena of today. Ms. Wetzork explores racism, classism, and sexism in Blueprint for Paradise and the cast does an excellent job of tackling a tough subject. The frank dialogue paints fascism in a desirable light that is tough to hear, but should be required viewing for all."
Tin Pan LA- Recommended
"...With so many theatrical works about the Nazi party and WWII another one may seem redundant; however, this not the case for Blueprint for Paradise because this play takes the action to American soil to relate a story that most are not familiar. Additionally, with Blueprint there's more to tell than the story at hand, Wetzork let's us know that history does repeat itself: the Nazis may be gone, but terrorism and hatred have unfortunately not disappeared from the land of the free."
The TVolution- Somewhat Recommended
"...Director Laura Steinroeder does little towards alleviating this failing and, sadly, a good deal that contributes to exacerbating it. A staid utilization of her stage was the foremost glitch with me counting eight instances where her actors were placed in a straight line on stage."
Peoples World- Highly Recommended
"...Any theatergoer will have a highly satisfying experience with this play. More than that, it is also a cautionary tale about what was going on under our noses just a few miles from where it's being staged, and what, without vigilance, could happen again in the country we live in."
Broadway World- Somewhat Recommended
"...Kudos to all the actors for their full commitment to their somewhat thankless roles. As written and directed, the first impression of the main character Mrs. Clara Taylor has her condescending to her lowly "inscrutable" Asian maid Fenny. Probably in the 1940's (as this play is set in) her attitude to her help was quite acceptable. But in 2016, Clara's attitude towards her help does not endear herself to any compassionate viewers. (Spoiler alert! Clara does have a change of heart and attitude near the end.) Meredith Thomas imbues Clara with a whirlwind of hyper energy, fidgeting stage business and manic nervousness."