Los Angeles Times
- Recommended
"...“Crevasse,” the better of the two plays, now having its world premiere at the Victory Theatre Center, revolves around German filmmaker Leni Riefenstahl, who became a darling of Hitler’s and one of his most prominent enablers. In her documentaries “Triumph of the Will” and “Olympia,” Riefenstahl helped shape the Führer‘s public image by bringing breakthrough aesthetic techniques to Nazi iconography and propaganda."
Stage and Cinema
- Highly Recommended
"...In Tom Jacobson’s Crevasse, playing at the Victory Center Theatre, the curtain rises on a fractured world where art, love, and propaganda intersect amidst the gathering storm clouds of World War II. This ambitious play, set in the fall of 1938, deftly traverses the fraught terrain between Berlin and Hollywood, exploring the multifaceted lives of its characters with a narrative that is as compelling as it is complex."
LA Splash
- Highly Recommended
"...McCray helms the production with finesse and a keen eye to the philosophical issues involved. At the same time, he makes sure that the many verbal discussions contain enough action to keep the audience involved in the gripping tale. Uber-talented stars Marks and Noble breathe life into their roles - which include appearances by Joseph Goebbels and Ernst Jaeger (Marks) and Lotte Jaeger and Lorelei (Noble). For the most part, author Jacobson wisely keeps to the documented facts (which, in themselves, often don't seem possible) - and even includes a 1948 letter about Riefenstahl written by Ernst Jaeger ten years after the fateful meeting."
Stage Scene LA
- Highly Recommended
"...Adolph Hitler’s favorite filmmaker meets the man who made animated movie stars of Snow White, Pinocchio, and Bambi in Tom Jacobson‘s Crevasse, a fascinating, stunningly staged co-production of Son of Semele and The Victory Theatre Center."
ArtsBeatLA
- Highly Recommended
"...Jacobson’s writing is very strong, compelling and humorous, as in a moment in which Ernst expresses outrage at Goebbels’ attempted rape of Riefenstahl and she waves it off with “Incompetently.” Her line of argument is memorable as well, when Disney tries to state that America is different than Riefenstahl’s people, and she counters with, “Americans are just Germans in disguise!” I have a few quibbles with the piece, from a few too many on-the-nose exposition moments to the Ernst subplot which seems somewhat extraneous, but overall this is an ideal production of a fantastic play."
Stage Raw
- Highly Recommended
"...At times, shoptalk between Disney and Riefenstahl seemed to me to slow the pace. But Jacobson's themes and the drama's overall construct are strong and sound respectively. As to the production, it's another inspiring example of what talented theater artists working together can achieve in a small space and with a limited budget."
Ticket Holders LA
- Recommended
"...Noble and Marks’ rapid onstage transformations between these characters and the play’s many locations are smoothly accomplished thanks to McCray’s incredibly fluid staging winding through set designer Evan Bartoletti’s series of shimmering gossamer draperies, possibly meant to subtly conjure the symbolic image of a glacial Crevasse, a deep crack in the ice that here evokes the real life moment when the cool and stiff-backed Midwestern demeanor of Walt Disney was potentially melted by the fiery and seductive ambitions of Leni Riefenthal."
Larchmont Buzz
- Highly Recommended
"...Tom Jacobson’s Crevasse invites you to enter a world in which the man responsible for the “Happiest Place on Earth” is uncovered as having heinous ideals not dissimilar to that of the Nazi Party circa 1938. This insanely tight, 95-minute, freight train of a show barrels through each scene with seamless transitions and characters you can’t help but love despite their proclivity towards antisemitic rhetoric."
LA Theatre Bites
- Highly Recommended
"...In 1938 Leni Riefenstahl went to Hollywood to find an American distribution for her award-winning film, Olympia. Only one studio head would meet with her: Walt Disney. An astonishing true story of betrayal, Nazi propoganda and cartoons."
Broadway World
- Highly Recommended
"...CREVASSE, a world premiere at the Victory Theatre Center in Burbank, is a blistering true story of Hitler, Hollywood and the propaganda machine that almost included the Mouse House. Tom Jacobson’s script is a razor-sharp warning of how easy it is for history to repeat itself with long, dark shadows stretching across our country again."
