MICHAEL WHISTLER
theatre artist teacher
Press & Media
Serena Vesper as
The Sugar Plum Fairy in
Casse Noisette
Bridge Street Theatre, 2018
John Sowle, Director
"Philadelphia playwright Michael Whistler is aiming bigger with "Casse Noisette: A Fairy Ballet," an ambitious and grandly imagined play. Getting an impressive world premiere at Bridge Street Theatre...."Casse Noisette" is closer in spirit to "Angels in America" than "The Cake," a new comedic drama about samesex marriage that ran at Barrington Stage Company this past summer."
"Given how well it works in the world premiere, it's easy to imagine the play's potential if backed by the resources of Barrington Stage or even Broadway. That the world premiere of a quality play likely due for future acclaim would happen in a twoyear old, 84 seat theater in Catskill ought to be a source of pride for the company, the village and our region."
STEVE BARNES, ALBANY TIMES UNION, 11/12/2018
"The play may be a comedy, but death still rears back and kicks up more than once, but in shot of optimism the play ends with fact and fiction blending into a far-reaching premise that is both satisfying and sad. Whether through death or departure of another sort, Whistler's play takes many characters out of the scene without hurting the optimism of the piece, and the depression of harsh judgement is never quite replaced by the resolution of inner and outer conflicts…."Casse Noisette" wins my heart in this case because the people are perfectly who they are intended to be thanks to five fine actors, an intensely visionary director and a superbly talented playwright."
J. PETER BERGMAN, BERKSHIRE BRIGHT FOCUS, 11/11/18
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Nancy O. Graham, Jason Guy, and Jason Kellerman in
Casse Noisette
Bridge Street Theatre, 2018
John Sowle, Director
Daniel Fredrick, Sabrina Profitt & Buck Schirner in Mickle Street
Walnut Street Theatre, 2015
Greg Wood, Director / Bernard Havard, Producer
"... Within this play, Whistler captures the souls of these two literary icons and presents a play that truly encapsulates the brilliance and wonder of Wilde and Whitman."
KELLI CURTAIN, THEATRE SENSATION, 2/26/2015
"...Mickle Street [is a] lively imagining of the 1882 meeting between young sensation Wilde and semi-retired poet Walt Whitman in the latter’s Camden home. Whistler keeps both Whitman and the audience guessing about why Wilde visited Whitman early in his yearlong American tour...Buck Schirner makes a welcome return to local theater as Whitman, a white-bearded, gruff and randy old coot tended to by Mary (Sabrina Profitt), who proves more than a servant. Daniel Frederick’s Wildean flamboyance soon falls away in this "democratic" household, where English standards of tidiness and formality don’t apply. All three are compelling, layered characters with rich moments of vulnerability.
MARK COFTA, CITY PAPER 2/26/2015
"... Whistler’s new play, based on historical facts and imagined conversations between two famous writers opens new doors, shows an insecure young Wilde who seems to hide behind "aesthetics and art" while Whitman teaches Wilde more than he might have bargained for.
HENRIK EGER, PHILADELPHIA GAY NEWS, 2/26/2015
In discussion with Darnelle Radford, host of Rep Radio
during the Walnut Street Theatre's 2015 production of Mickle Street
Greg Wood, Director / Bernard Havard, Producer
"... a well-constructed saga of female bonding and female empowerment, in the tradition of Steel Magnolias and Fried Green Tomatoes. Like those hits, there's a lot about The Prescott Method that rings true, and a lot that will make you smile. ...The play’s sweetness and gentleness won me over. Whistler constructs richly detailed dialogue that gives the characters well -defined, unexpected depths. He builds conflict between the two women without resorting to cliché; the emotions seem genuine. And he writes a lot of funny lines, too."
TIM DUNLEAVY, TALKIN' BROADWAY, 4/09/2013
Madi Distefano and Jessica Bedford in The Prescott Method
Walnut Street Theatre Independence Studio on 3, 2013
Greg Wood, Director ; Bernard Harvard, Producer
"It would be easy (perhaps too easy) to vilify religion in a play like this — to depict those with a religious inclination as crazy or ignorant — but [Little Lamb] never gives into that temptation. Rather, the zeal that moves his more religious characters manifests itself in a way that genuinely seeks to do good .....a moving, engaging production that gets at the heart of what we mean when we discuss things like love and family, as well as right and wrong."
MARK SCHUSTER, PHILADELPHIA STORIES , 6/8/2009
Frank X., Kaci Fanin & Ames Adamson in Little Lamb
InterAct Theatre Company, 2009
Seth Rozin, Director
" [phidias8]...captures the Internet feel, utilizing phrases and experiences any Web surfer would recognize. This familiarity is a comfort and a good opportunity for the audience to laugh at itself as well as the characters, — many of the relationships are cybersex or built on false pretenses — and often laugh-out-loud funny."
LISA GAUTHIER, NUVO ARTS , 6/18/2003
" With knowing laughter and insight into the lives of a certain subset of the gay American male, and with special attention to their formative years and experiences, actor/ playwright Michael Whistler's The F*ggot Museum scores very high marks indeed ...combustively funny."
DAVID EDWARD HUGHES, BACKSTAGE , 9/23/1999
"Whistler explores these souls compassionately and with sublime wit before ensconcing them forever in his F*ggot Museum, where they become objects of hope and inspiration to a new generation of faggots. Keen witted, big hearted, seamless, and above all, honest, The
F*ggot Museum may just be the yardstick by which all proceeding Gay Plays are measured. And improved."
ADRIAN RYAN, THE STRANGER , 9/22/1999
Michael Whistler in The F*ggot Museum
Theatre Off-Jackson, Seattle, 1999
James Haskins, Director