Los Angeles Times - Somewhat Recommended
"..."Deadly" works best when it focuses on the adventure and fulfillment that young women of the era were able to pursue because they'd achieved unprecedented freedom to travel - or even relocate - unchaperoned."
Broadway World - Highly Recommended
"...The entire production is perfectly cast, with technical wizardry abounding thanks to the multi-level set designed by Stephen Gifford, sound design by Cricket S. Myers, lighting design by Andrew Schmedake, projection design by Corwin Evans, and costume design by Linda Muggeridge which allows the audience to easily recognize when the women are speaking in life or from the depths of the basement after succumbing to the wiles of the deadly H.H. Holmes. Kudos to Jaime Robledo for his quick-paced direction, composer/musical director Ryan Thomas Johnson and his four-piece band who rock the house, and choreographer Brin Hamblin for expertly drawing our attention exactly where it best serves these women who should never be forgotten."
Stage Scene LA - Highly Recommended
"...The Demon Doctor of West 63rd Street is bumping off victim after victim at the Broadwater Theatre in Vanessa Claire Stewart and Ryan Thomas Johnson's deliciously horrorific Deadly, or as I like to call it, Murder Castle, the H.H. Holmes Musical."
On Stage Los Angeles - Recommended
"...This DEADLY effort deserves applause. The show with a strong director's hand, may pick up the pace to bring it along to a well honed production."
Hollywood Progressive - Highly Recommended
"...With Deadly, Vanessa Claire Stewart remains a force to be reckoned with in the L.A. stage and Sacred Fools is kicking its 23rd season off with a wild ride. Although due to its subject matter Deadly is not appropriate for children (unless they're really 27!), adventurous, serious theatergoers are likely to be entranced by this vision of a serial killer - and the women who resisted him."
Gia on the Move - Recommended
"...For surely, nonplussed as I am to say it, these women and the women they are trying to elevate in esteem and value, will surely be forgotten not more than minutes after this moment is passed. Because with all that they are, with all that they did, for all that they stood for, attempted, achieved, there was almost nothing for them to do. No action for them to attempt. No real justice then or now. To boot, in the finale of this particular story, the victims lie in hell with their perp! But most of all, I still know almost nothing about them."
Night Tinted Glasses - Recommended
"...Perhaps most poignant of all is how these ladies grow as people, in the company of each other and in the wake of what they've experienced. Julia's sad lament on the Other Side, asking forgiveness of Pearl for not being a better mother almost broke my heart. Anna Williams (Rebecca Larsen) and her sister Minnie (Samantha Barrios) weirdly, funnily, sweetly reconcile."
Stage Raw - Somewhat Recommended
"...Perhaps Stewart's purpose would be enhanced with more focus on some of the women characters as individuals - to have us hear their stories directly, separate from their interaction with the slithery Holmes. This type of dramatic enrichment is there in the scenes between the sisters, whom we get to know through their interaction with each other; these sequences are among the show's most entertaining. And it's great that Cj Merriman's strong likable Emeline declares her intent to join the suffrage movement - but her speech is brief and I wanted more, from her and the other women as well. It would have embellished the play, making the loss of these ladies' lives so much more poignant."
Theatre Notes - Recommended
"...With playwright/lyricist Vanessa Claire Stewart's, Deadly, now in its world premiere run, Sacred Fools has invested a lot in its swing-for-the-fences production, guided by the always inventive director Jaime Robledo. Set in Chicago during the 1893 World's Fair: Columbia Exposition, Deadly centers on the story of the notorious serial killer, H. H. Holmes (the slick, unctuous, sensationally mustachioed Keith Allan) who admitted to twenty-seven murders, although only nine could be verified. I would love to call the production a grand guignol bloodbath, but the horror is more on an intellectual level. Murders are done with gas, poison, strangulation, fire, and neck snaps."
Haines His Way - Somewhat Recommended
"...In the new musical Deadly, receiving its World Premiere at Sacred Fools Theater Company, playwright/lyricist Vanessa Claire Stewart has taken an interesting approach to the story, telling it through the voices of Holmes's victims. Along with the vision of director Jaime Robledo, French (with additional lyrics by Trey Perkins & Guy Picot and music by Ryan Thomas Johnson) has given the tale a sort of Sweeney Todd vibe, but with less depth and panache. It's an ambitious task to give the forgotten victims a voice, but there are too many stories, too many songs and the end result is muddled. A more definitive tone is needed in the writing as on opening night some lines, lyrics and situations elicited unwarranted laughter."
The TVolution - Not Recommended
"...Deadly, staged by Sacred Fools Theatre Company, has songs, mayhem and a vicious murderer. What it doesn't have is a Sondheim, or a workable structure."
