Broadway World - Recommended
"...DELEARIOUS is a fun-loving musical comedy whose only goal is to make you laugh. Its kooky characters and good-time appeal easily get the job done."
Edge - Recommended
"...It's incredibly silly and lowbrow, in addition to its correct allusions to the original play. It has cute songs (West and Phil Swann, with musical direction by Jan Roper), and overall direction by West."
LA Splash - Highly Recommended
"...This multi-talented crew is a joy to watch and should make the audience wonder what really went on so long ago. Besides dozens of brilliant plays, is it possible that Shakespeare also authored parts of the King James Version of the Bible? You'll have to see DELEARIOUS to find out. Remember, as the playbill suggests, "Tonight we're gonna party like it's 1599.""
Stage Scene LA - Highly Recommended
"...deLEARious, Phil Swann and Ron West's deliciously clever, delightfully tuneful musical within a musical within a musical is back for a 9th-anniversary Open Fist Theatre Company revival guaranteed to tickle musical theater buffs and Shakespeare aficionados alike."
Loz Feliz Ledger - Recommended
"...In a season when holiday music bombards us everywhere, deLEARious provides an alternative diversion that may be welcome."
Stage Raw - Somewhat Recommended
"...deLEARious will certainly appeal to Mel Brooks fans: silly humor, clever jokes and puns aplenty. Well-written but too long, it's the kind of show you need to see many times to appreciate its sheer volume of wit. But its songs become repetitive and the numerous plot details overwhelming. Also, many of the women are oversexualized. Jasmine, a stripper, is hired to play Cordelia, Lear's virginal daughter. Her audition was quite the sight."
Accessibly Live Off-Line - Somewhat Recommended
"...The jokes are hit-and-miss, as are the performances, but the cast plows through with so much enthusiasm that the fun is infectious regardless of the show's shortcomings. West stars as a loud-mouthed Lear and also directs. He directed the original production as well and there is a nagging sense he is using jokes and staging that got laughs for the cast the first time around. They aren't always successful here but that may be partly attributed to the way the scenes cut back and forth so quickly the audience doesn't always have time to catch up."
Theatre Notes - Highly Recommended
"...It occurs to me that a certain level of schema regarding Shakespeare in general and King Lear in particular, as well as a passing familiarity with King James and his bible, would be useful in appreciating some of the nuances of deLEARious. As is the case generally, the more you know, the more you get. I am pretty certain that the crowd paying a penny to stand in the pit of the Globe Theatre watching the first production of any Shakespeare play didn't get all the highfalutin language, but they sure loved the action. Trust me, you can't fail to have a good time at the Open Fist production of deLEARious. I would leave the younger kids home, though. For older teens, there is nothing they haven't seen or heard."
Discover Hollywood - Highly Recommended
"...Musical lovers looking for a laugh, Shakespeare enthusiasts who enjoy a tale about the Bard, or just theatre goers searching out some light fun should not miss "Delearious" (stylized as "deLEARious") by Ron West and composer Phil Swann. The Open Fist Theatre Company has a first rate cast bringing this production to life under the direction of the musical's writer, Ron West. The audience is in for a good laugh as tragedy becomes comedy through the lens of a present day creative duo."
Bucking Trends - Highly Recommended
"...The finely tuned (and finely tuneful) ensemble continually come together all through the goings-on, and they too, never fail to surprise and delight every time they do. The opening, "A New King In Town" is just one outstanding example of their collective skills and kicks off the plot with exhilarating bravura, not to mention some terrific harmonizing (along with the slick ‘rap-style' lyrics that get some ‘five-star' treatment from the new Sovereign himself!)"
Colorado Boulevard - Recommended
"...Regardless of your preparation, this laugh- and music-filled ride comprised of three story lines in three time periods in an intertwined mash-up, which may leave you straining to keep up at times, will keep you laughing all the way and realizing it doesn't matter if you miss a few details here and there, you won't be tested on it later, so relax and enjoy the laughs, the music and the clever twisting of the plot lines. The singing and acting talents of the cast are commendable and bring it all to life with in-your-face, catch-me-if-you-can style."
Los Angeles Post-Examiner - Highly Recommended
"...In a style reminiscent of Mel Brooks and Monte Python the Open Fist Theatre Company has launched a revival of the smash hit production of deLEARious now on stage at the Atwater Village Theatre. Book, music and lyrics are by Phil Swann and Ron West and it is directed by Ron West with Musical Direction by Jan Roper and it is nonstop laughter for the better part of two hours."
