Review of I GRANT I AM A WOMAN  CD

Corliss Preston’s spoken-word CD I Grant I Am a Woman, partially financed through a Kickstarter campaign, is a powerful way to experience the words of Shakespeare’s women. This visceral performance piece has layers of meaning that become more and more apparent with multiple listens. Lie silently and alone and allow each word to drape your being…………..

In short, this avant-garde work is to be dined upon, slowly and deliberately, savoring each of its courses, not grotesquely belched as one devouring grub from a fast-food trough. Kudos to Preston and her talented team of creative artists for giving us such meaty food for thought.

The Shakespeare Standard

Utah Shakespeare Festival’s  OTHELLO

“But most of the emotional punch of the play’s final scenes comes from the astounding performance of Corliss Preston as Emilia, wife to Iago and maid to Desdemona. Her electric final struggles to save Desdemona’s life and accuse her husband crackle with grief, anger and defiance. She’s astonishing.”

Las Vegas Weekly

“Another standout was Corliss Preston, as Emilia, Iago’s wife and Desdemona’s personal maid. Her discovery of her husband’s evil-doings and the fact that she, too, had been manipulated, was impassioned and moving.”

Deseret News Salt Lake City

“Corliss Preston, though, is a breath of fresh air as Emilia, Iago’s tormented wife. She’s the only performer who creates a person with genuine needs and a strong desire to achieve them.”

Review Journal – Las Vegas

Illinois Shakespeare Festival’s   OTHELLO

“Corliss Preston is a stunner when she pulls out all the stops with her scorned and scornful Emilia”

A Follow Spot

 USF’S   HENRY V

“….the Chorus (Corliss Preston) a storyteller who creates the play for us and integrating narrative into the dramatic arc. She often remains onstage, eavesdropping on events and acting as observer as well as participant. Preston’s articulate rendition of these speeches makes them lyrical and dynamic.”

Salt Lake Tribune

USF’S  – A MIDSUMMER NIGHT’S DREAM

“However, it was Corliss Preston as Puck that mesmerized the audience, adding a charm and magic to this character that is often undermined by an actor playing the part filled with too much mischief bordering on cruelty”

Las Vegas Sun

“….who really stand out are Corliss Preston as the impish, energetic Puck”

Deseret News – Salt Lake City

 Lyric Theatre of  Oklahoma City’s  STEEL MAGNOLIAS

“Corliss Preston plays Shelby’s mother M’Lynn. Preston may be a small frame, but she packs a large punch in your heart as she heaves in grief over the loss of her daughter. “It’s not fair. I was supposed to go first. I’ve always been ready to go first,” she screams, her head shaking quickly left to right, her body lunging forward to the ground as she clinches her fist to her heart while reaching out with her other hand to her friend Clairee. M’Lynn was not alone in her grief last Friday night. Preston’s performance helped us all remember our own Shelby with muffled sniffs and folded Kleenexes amongst the few brave blubberers.”

 The Norman transcript

“Preston was great as M’Lynn, playing the famous monologue where she unravels after the death of her daughter with just enough emotion to draw heartfelt reactions from the performers and audience alike.

The Edmund Sun

“It was Lindsey Bliven’s performance as Shelby and Corliss Preston’s performance as M’Lynn, her mother, however, that gave the play its heart and soul, making it much more deeply touching.  Preston conveyed M’Lynn’s inner struggle with her tendency to want to control others, especially her daughter, before grief breaks through in a riveting, highly charged scene.

Newsok.com

USF’S – DIARY OF ANNE FRANK

“Even if you’ve already seen this play on stage or TV, this production is worth seeing again.  The silences also work to give each character a place to be who they are and express their own pain. For example, in Act II, Anne’s mother Edith Frank (Corliss Preston) is lit by a soft light while she’s on her knees scrubbing the floor. The intent of her actions reveal the fragility of her spirit”

Salt Lake Tribune

“Corliss Preston was Edith Frank, a mother with whom I could relate. She was frightened but strong. She loved both daughters and faced the trial of a teenage daughter with endurance and tears”

Aliveutah.com

USF’S  – PERICLES

“The scenes where Pericles is reunited first with Marina —— and then with Thaisa are the play’s most emotional and resonant due to Tim Casto’s, Mariko Nakasone’s, and Corliss Preston’s touching, insightful performances”

Salt Lake Tribune

USF’S –  THE WINTER’S  TALE

“Corliss Preston delivering a heart-wrenching performance as Hermione”

Deseret News Salt Lake City  –

“Corliss Preston is an elegant Hermione”

Review Journal – Las Vegas

USF’S –  LOVES LABOUR LOST

“The cast is often irresistible… Corliss Preston makes a strong, delicate impression”

Review Journal – Las Vegas

 “Her lady Rosaline (Corliss Preston), the love of Berowne, is saucy and smart, too”

Salt Lake Tribune

Houston Alley’s THE GREEKS

“The Trojan Women also introduces Cassandra, the prophet whose visions aren’t believed. If there is one reason to suffer through the crowded mess of The Greeks, it would be to see Corliss Preston’s Cassandra. Preston has the rare ability to inhabit the spirit of a role. Wild-eyed and fierce, she is carted off at the end of The Trojan Women to become Agamemnon’s concubine. Each time she speaks, the dialogue seems somehow less bland, the production inspired and the story alive.”

Houston Press

“As Cassandra, Hecuba’s eldest daughter who descends into madness after being captured by the Greeks, Corliss Preston is a revelation of intense emotion and tragic lunacy. Her stark expressions and rapt movement perfectly illustrate the descent into insanity Cassandra has taken.”

Daily Cougar – Houston

Denver Center’s  THREE SISTERS

“The Denver Center production is beautifully acted…   Corliss Preston gives vigorous full measure to Vanessa Mae’s every hypocritical word and contemptible gesture.”

Westword

 Denver Center’s    SCAPIN

“the lusty gypsy, Zerbinetta, an exotic and irrepressible siren as played by Corliss Preston”

Colorado drama.com

 Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park’s – ARMS AND THE MAN

“Corliss Preston (Louka) is appropriately captivating as the beautiful and belligerent servant who wants more from life than her station promises.”

Highbeam

 

 

Burlington,VT  A LITTLE NIGHT MUSIC

“The cast is an able mixture of local faces and big-city visitors; Peter Boynton, a transplant from the Broadway stage and the company’s artistic director, straddles both worlds. A commanding dramatic and vocal presence, he pairs well with off-Broadway vet Corliss Preston, who conveys Desiree’s world-weariness with gentle humor. Her “Send in the Clowns,” a showstopper designed by Sondheim to be acted as much as sung, is as poignant as it should be.”

Seven Days

Illinois Shake’s –    THE RIVALS

“Mrs. Malaprop, she of the mangled language who thinks there are allegories lying on the banks of the Nile…..Deb Alley directs a sparkling cast that sells the material nicely….. Corliss Preston gives Mrs. Malaprop a feisty center that makes her really fun to watch”

A Follow Spot