Nat Cassidy

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ANY DAY NOW (written & directed by Nat Cassidy)

Playbill:
Nominated for Outstanding Director (Nat Cassidy) and Outstanding Actress in a Lead Role (Elyse Mirto) for the 2009 New York Innovative Theatre Awards! 
Playbill:
Winner, Outstanding Actress in a Lead Role (Elyse Mirto)!

Nytheatre.com:
"The first act mostly feels neatly off-kilter, with the audience never quite sure whether to laugh or to gasp. Cassidy packages his supernatural theme with such naturalistic aplomb that he evokes David Lynch, particularly the very first episode of Twin Peaks, where you were trying to decipher the creator's intent while increasingly jaw-dropping weirdness unfolded uncontrollably before your eyes. . . . Cassidy's direction is splendid, sustaining the heightened, off-balanced naturalism beautifully throughout. His cast of seven is superb: Elyse Mirto and Paige Allen are excellent as April and Beverly (with Mirto doing a remarkable transformation of her character as the events of the story wear her down); Anna O'Donoghue is very convincing as the college-dropout Jackie; Tim Ewing and Arthur Aulisi are invaluable as the sisters' husbands (Ewing plays the henpecked David with enormous dignity, while Aulisi makes the about-to-be-divorced Josh enormously likable and ineffably sad); and Waltrudis Buck and Anthony Spaldo anchor the play as the parents. Spaldo's role is almost entirely silent and he is spectacularly convincing as a specimen of the undead just a few feet away from the spectators. Any Day Now is further evidence of Cassidy's talent and intelligence as playwright and director. . . . It's a long evening, but one filled with surprises and rewards."
—Martin Denton (starred review)

The Fab Marquee:
"The Writer's Forum Ingenius Series Any Day Now goes from being just an entertaining evening of theatre to...well, something GENIUS. Because you're being thrown for a loop from the moment the lights come up...and are entertained for all three acts. [A] great play for a myriad of reasons . . . one that is full of laughs in the right spots. [P]laywright/director Nat Cassidy [does a] wonderful job. . . . [The play] delivers, with a surprising ending that holds the audience in the palm of its hand. . . [E]xceptional . . . [Keeps] the audience fascinated for three hours. This is like Sam Sheppard meets George Romero....with more emphasis on the former artist than the latter."
—Dianna Martin

Show Business Weekly:
"A vibrant drama, centering on a family whose patriarch returns from the dead during a pandemic of unexplained resurrections. The family members seek to both relate and deny the significance of their own ordinary problems — elderly dementia, closet homosexuality, alcoholism — to the global implications of the zombie appearances. [A] gritty family drama heightened by a clever allegory for larger social issues. . . . [T]he play's themes are compelling and clear."

D.C. Theatre Scene:
"Any Day Now written and directed by Nat Cassidy, drew me on a cold and wet Saturday night in January. I don't often get to cover off/off Broadway, for there is something going on there almost daily and nightly, but I'm glad I came down to see this. . . . [Cassidy] has a gift for dialogue and characterization. . . . Not your usual run-of-the-mill family comedy (or drama, for that matter). But Mr. Cassidy has directed his play well, and cast it soundly with actors who bring conviction to it, and fill it with humor and pathos. It's a fine cast of seven, an ensemble that plays as though it were in the middle of a long run, which is meant as high compliment indeed. . . . [T]ight, suspenseful and scary."
—Richard Seff

THE UNDERPANTS

Nytheatre.com: 
"Nat Cassidy is especially hilarious in his portrayal of Frank Versati, an enraptured poet whose excitement about words often manifests itself physically. . . . The Underpants is an intelligent comedy that poses questions of an intimate nature without causing discomfort. I laughed and left feeling like I had a lot to consider, which for me is the perfect combination of experiences."
—Mitchell Conway

New Theater Corps:
"[A] stellar cast . . . Directed on high spin by Seth Soloway, this production manages--with the help of manic comic actors like Nat Cassidy and the sublime subtlety of Catia Ojeda--to iron out the kinks of the Carl Sternheim's underlying characters and get back to the wild and crazy puns of Martin's adaptation. . . . [Steve Martin] wildly succeeds with [the character of] Versati, a wild and crazy guy who is closer to his own heart--and apparently Cassidy's, for he steals every single scene. . . . [This production] expos[es] the sheer side of Martin's Underpants in all their glory."
—Aaron Riccio

The Brooklyn Paper:
"Blooming Good! Underpants is a hit! Sometimes, all you’re really in the mood for is a good, hearty laugh . . . The Gallery Players’ new production of The Underpants is just that kind of fun. It’s a lighthearted, yet fiercely acted romp. The actors and actresses expertly take and deliver the script, adapted from Carl Sternheim’s German farce by Steve Martin (yes, that Steve Martin). . . . Nat Cassidy, whose bright aqua ascot matches his eyes and his socks and who speaks in hilarious, forced metaphor...expertly woos the naïve Louise. . . . The actors play out [their] characters with great skill, and facial expressions and body language are often more fun to watch than even the fast-paced, well-rehearsed dialogue — all of which makes “The Underpants” a delight, a great value, and, most of all, the perfect respite from the seriousness of real life."
—Sarah Portlock

Off-Off Online:
"[T]he play comes off as quite charming, but this has more to do with the delightful cast than the script. . . The ensemble has a knack for infusing both their archetypal characters and the jokes with great timing and facial expressions. . . Cassidy makes for a hilariously self-obsessed dreamer. His Versati is like the arrogant kid in your creative writing class that read all his work with a Shakespearean accent and flirted with whoever sat next to him. The pompous delivery never gets old (one favorite: when he doesn't have a pen to write down a good line, he shrugs it off as "society's loss")."
—Samantha O'Brien

"But fun in its way as this all is, the heart of Cassidy's play—and the best parts of it—have nothing to do with the Roman emperor. Marlowe is the play's protagonist, after all, and it is what he learns from his experiences with his roommate Thomas Kyd (also a playwright, though a lesser one: he wrote The Spanish Tragedy), his comrade William Shakespeare, and his employer Sir Francis Walsingham that really fuel this Reckoning.

"What I liked best about the play is the way that Cassidy contemporizes Marlowe's existence without in any way diminishing it. Kit is a twentysomething overgrown kid, grappling with the same kinds of things not-quite-mature twentysomething wannabe-artists grapple with in 2008. His roommate is a slob and, worse, has just had a huge hit show even though everyone knows he's an inferior talent. His pal William (whom he helped by ghost-writing parts of his first hit play) seems unable to do wrong, career-wise, even though he's a bit of a klutz and lacks Kit's university education and sophistication. His day job (as a spy, for the Queen's henchman Walsingham) is a major headache and a time-stealer (and there may be a bit of sexual harassment going on as well). And his failed romance with an actor...well, he just doesn't want to talk about it.

"Cassidy nails what's universal about a character like Marlowe; and when the focus stays on what Marlowe can and should be learning from his chaotic life, Reckoning is at its strongest. The contrast between Marlowe's academic approach to writing and Shakespeare's unexplainable writing-from-the-heart is particularly central to Cassidy's theme . . . Cassidy himself plays Marlowe, and he's terrific . . . One thing's certain: there's talent aplenty on display here. Cassidy is clearly a young theatre artist to watch."
—Martin Denton

Jamespeak:
"This incredibly fun show about the death and legacy of Christopher Marlowe (sort of) and his failed attempt to write a play about Caligula came from the same creative duo that helped create Sleeper (Nat Cassidy and David Ian Lee). Marlowe is working on a drama about Caligula when an assassin plunges a knife into Marlowe's eye. As Marlowe dies, he revisits his own life and Caligula's (who died at the same age as Marlowe). In addition to being well acted by Cassidy and Lee as Marlowe and Caligula, respectively, with a delightful turn by Keith Foster who portrays William Shakespeare as a sweet-natured naïf, The Reckoning of Kit & Little Boots is a very inventive and funny play that gives Marlowe the Charlie Kaufman treatment."
—James Comtois, #6 in his "Top 10 of 2008"

SLEEPER (directed by Nat Cassidy) 

Nytheatre.com:
"Sleeper, written by David Ian Lee and directed by Nat Cassidy, is an enormously serious play about, principally, the need for forceful and positive political action in America. . . . Lee's point is very well taken; and in this critical election year, much of what's on his mind should be on the minds of many. . . . [There are] solid performances. Cassidy's direction shrewdly balances moments of humor with the mostly grim situations and issues of the play, and keeps things fluid throughout. SLEEPER is laudable for its ambition and its serious sense of purpose."
—Martin Denton

"A lot of it is funny, and all of it is suspenseful. The cast is crazy good. The direction keeps everything light and fast, which is essential in a play this intense.  It's definitely one of those major commitment plays (in terms of emotions, time, and intellectual heavy lifting), but it's worth it, and you should see it."
—Mac Rogers  www.slowlearner.typepad.com
 
"Rarely does Indie Theater successfully lay claim to the same territory as Angels in America and Syriana, but Sleeper does.  Dynamically directed by Nat Cassidy, the performances are uniformly superb. The dialogue is intelligent, full of humor and horror.  I love theater that shocks me out of complacency, and Sleeper does that and more."
—Vincent Marano, Playwright (La Vigilia, Note to Self)
 
'This is the kind of theatre we need to be producing in New York:  It's relevant (politically and socially) and very well done.'
—Norah Turnham, Producer & Director 

Jamespeak:
"One of the things that saves Sleeper from being merely a position paper against the Bush administration's foreign policy is that it is populated with well-rounded, believable characters, not archetypes or mouthpieces. Right-wing characters are smart and sympathetic, left-wing characters are phony and hypocritical. A visceral and cerebral show that deals with the political as well as the personal, and astutely explores why and how there's often a divide between the two."
—James Comtois, #7 in his "Top 10 of 2008"

Offoffonline.com:
"The performances are stellar . . . A valiant effort in transplanting the sprawling work to the confines of the stage."
—Amy Freeman

Nytheatre.com:
"[T]he performers are very competent and often sparkling, with most of them pulling double roles. . . . Nat Cassidy's St. John is nuanced and particularly affecting."
—Kat Chamberlain

Talkin' Broadway:
"The acting hits on all cylinders. The 23 characters from the novel are reduced to 16, with four actors taking on various, memorable roles. . . . Unlike the novel, the production spends a great deal of time on Jane's experience with St. John Rivers, her cousin and potential mate. As Rivers, Nat Cassidy is much harsher and religious law-abiding than his character is in the novel, but it also helps us to understand why Jane runs back to Rochester . She not only still loves Rochester , but committing to Rivers is clearly a fate that she doesn't want for herself. The audience doesn't want that for her either. . . . Jane Eyre is an ambitious effort. The fact that they were able to encapsulate the gist of the novel in a two-hour presentation is a feat unto itself. "
—Cindy Pierre

HAMLET (2007)

Backstage (starred review):
"For anyone who thinks of attending Shakespeare as a duty, along comes Czechoslovak-American Marionette Theatre, a company that has quietly been doing some of the most complete and original work in the city.  . . . Five actors take all the roles, manipulating a host of puppets (faintly menacing creations by Jakub Krejýýí, with toy marionettes by Miloýý Kasal). Ophelia is both a sweet-voiced, long-haired actress (Deborah Beshaw) and a three-foot rod marionette in a lavender dress. The dolls kiss when she tangos with Hamlet (compellingly and convincingly played by Nat Cassidy), but the buoyant spin belongs to the actors. This shifting perspective is no mere gimmick. Looking from live human to puppet underscores Hamlet's theme of an ineluctable, manipulating destiny. Plus, it's fun . . . Claudius is seriously sinister. Cassidy's Hamlet has princely potential — if those horses would just stop turning . . . Czechoslovak-American Marionette Theatre's Hamlet lingers in the mind like song lyrics or Shakespeare's poetry."
—Gwen Orel

The New York Times:
"A performance you watch for the visual and aural moments when the various elements mesh. The carousel is revved up, the music grows more insistent . . . When, as happens several times, the carousel carries a character inexorably away from the unfolding tragedy, it's a perfect image. Think of any classic nightmare in which you can see something awful happening but are somehow unable to intervene."
--Neil Genzlinger

The New York Times:
"Shakespeare in the Round-and-Round," The New York Times, November 4, 2007

The L Magazine:
"One-of-a-kind . . . make[s] the drama big enough for the children in the to enjoy and understand, but intense and goose-flesh inducing enough for us big kids during the truly heartbreaking scenes . . .  Particularly powerful. The songs illustrate the action nicely, and the musical genres cross over from gospel to Nordic war chant to Southern blues to Eastern European folk to cinematic soundtrack . . . The puppets do their thing, sometimes less interestingly than the performers, and sometimes as interesting. Hardly do the puppets outshine the hardworking actors . . . Wondrous."
—Matt Levy  

The Prague Post:
"One of the show’s most poignant moments occurs not on the carousel, but when Hamlet, played by Nat Cassidy, who also manipulates the Hamlet puppet (all five actors are similarly 'double-cast'), sits on the floor, picks up a guitar and begins strumming. He breaks into a campfire song with a lovely melody — the 'To Be or Not to Be' soliloquy."
"Marionettes Over Manhattan,"
—Gwen Orel, November 21, 2007

The Brooklyn Paper:
"[D]irectors Vit Horejs and Pavel Dobrusky struck gold with their offbeat choices. The most impressive work here comes from the living, breathing cast. Each player took on a number of roles, and even occasionally switched characters, and worked wonders with his puppet. The wooden blocks came to life when they dragged their feet, danced or struggled to scale a wall; there is no doubt that their maneuvering was skillful. Indeed, when Nat Cassidy’s Hamlet pressed a flesh-colored recorder betwixt his thighs and his puppet suggested to Rosencrantz and Guildenstern that they play it, I could almost see a grimace creep across the puppet’s immobile face . . . [Z]estful."
—Adam Rathe, "Prince's Puppets," November 24, 2007 

The Slovak Spectator:
"One of a kind . . . . unforgettable."
—Amanda Rivkin, "Staging Hamlet the Czechoslovak Way," November 26, 2007

THE RISE AND FALL OF MILES & MILO

Time Out New York:
"****[Four Stars]. Ruthless . . . delivers big laughs." 
—Clare Lambe

Martin Denton:
"Beautifully performed by Sara Jeanne Asselin and Nat Cassidy!"
http://www.indietheater.org/blog/?s=sacre

Nytheatre.com:
"[A] gem of a play. Nat Cassidy is fun as Milo . . . but don't mistake it for a lightweight comedy. There is a serious point at work here."
—Anthony C.E. Nelson, August 10, 2007

Offoffonline.com:
"Funny . . . well worth seeing . . . All of the performers were both engaging and entertaining."
—S.M. Dunlap, August 10, 2007

American Theater Web:
"[Z]inging satire-comedy.  [Sara Jeanne] Asselin and Nat Cassidy play the pair of activist-artists with aplomb, imbuing the duo, lovingly, with the proper mixture of good-naturedness and over-emphasized self-importance."
—Andy Probst

The New York Times:
Featured photograph of Nat Cassidy and Sara Jeanne Asselin in "Lunacy and Chaos."

A MIDSUMMER NIGHT'S DREAM (2007)

Off-off-Broadway Review:
"Some enchanted evening. [I]t’s a pleasure to report that Theater Ten Ten’s production is delightful on all counts. Nat Cassidy and Lisa Riegel [perform] with a sexy fascination [that] gets the plot started . . . As Oberon, Cassidy is a terrific observer and listener, never upstaging the action in front of him, but not passive either."
—David Mackler

Nytheatre.com:
"Can't-miss tour-de-force . . . [I]n just about every department, this revival is a true success, and if by some chance you've never seen this tasty morsel on stage, then by all means seize this chance to sample it."
—Martin Denton

THE ANSWER IS HORSE 

 Nytheatre.com:
"The Answer is Horse has an ambitious reach . . . The presentations are earnest and heartfelt, with the competent ensemble cast of Elizabeth Days, Nat Cassidy, Russell Feder, Cody Lindquist, Katie Naka, and Albert Sanchez, Jr. working hard at every moment to underscore the seriousness of the task at hand . . . [T]he performance made me wonder about my own capacity to be one or the other of those torturers, or even both at the same time. And that was an ambiguity worth going to the theatre to get."
—Michael Bettencourt, July 19, 2006

The Arizona Republic:
"It would be tempting to cry 'All hail Arizona Theatre Company's Macbeth,' but that would be resorting to cliche to describe a production that avoids such things at every turn . . . Loney and Ciulla couldn't be better, nor could Michael Santo as the murdered king; Deborah Fialkow, Christen Simon and Maren Maclean as the witches; Richard Trujillo as Macduff; Harris Kendall as Macduff's wife; and Roberto Guajardo, Nat Cassidy and David Gehrman in a number of smaller roles . . . [T]his is an important production, the sort you'd expect to see on the stages at the National and Royal Shakespeare in London."
—Kyle Lawson, May 12, 2005
 

Tucson Weekly:
"Few of the men seem this at-home in their roles or in the language, except for some of the bit players, notably Roberto Guajardo and Nat Cassidy . . . This is certainly a production of Macbeth that's worth seeing and marveling at."
—James Reel, April 21, 2005

HAMLET (2004)

Tucson Weekly:
"College senior Nat Cassidy proves he's good enough for any stagewith his turn as Hamlet. . . . It shouldn't be a surprise that Cassidy comes through with such a wily, funny, angry Hamlet, but for the fact that he's doing it now, rather than 10 years from now. . . . This is not your father's Melancholy Dane, a man paralyzed by depression and indecision. Cassidy's Hamlet feeds off his own anger; he's a calculating, would-be angel of death, gathering evidence and biding his time. Cassidy's Hamlet is more a man of action than most versions of the Hamlet character. . . .Hamlet brings out the ham in actors, but Cassidy delivers a careful, naturally modulated performance. His "To be or not to be" soliloquy . . . flows with remarkable ease, neither portentous nor trivial. For this play, Cassidy seems to have subtly changed his vocal timbre; it's darker and a little deeper, with a touch of Richard Burton--a wonderful Shakespeare voice. The other players toil in Cassidy's shadow."
—James Reel, March 11, 2004

Arizona Daily Star:
"The deliciously talented Nat Cassidy['s] . . . prince was alive with youthful passions. He played some things lighter than an older . . . actor might - his scene with the skull of Yorick, for instance, was more funny than it was melancholic, as it is often played. But the humor worked with this young Hamlet, and you never once doubted the character's conflicts, his loves, and his anguish over his reluctant duty to avenge his father's death. In Cassidy's hands, the Bard's rhythmic poetry, to quote the character, flowed "trippingly on the tongue." If no one else matched Cassidy's performance, the play would still be worth seeing."
—Kathleen Allen, March 4, 2004

Arizona Daily Wildcat:
 "The play itself is dominated by the absolutely stellar performanceof theatre production senior Nat Cassidy in the title role. Readers should stand up now and give Cassidy a “hurrah!” He nailed the performance."
—Lindsey Muth, March 4, 2004

Arizona Daily Wildcat:
"'Hamlet' actor read 'Macbeth' in first grade," Elizabeth Thompson, February 5, 2004

Arizona Daily Star: 
"Get thee to 'Hamlet' for ghostly tragedy," Kathleen Allen, February 27, 2004

Tucson Weekly:
BEST OF 2004, Theatrical Production
Tie: Urinetown, UApresents; Hamlet, Arizona Repertory Theater
"High concept: Glamorous young hero struggles with a corrupt leader, but personal flaws result in his falling splat on the stage at play's end. That's the short version of our readers' two favorite theatrical productions this past season. Urinetown-the touring version of the recent, provocative Broadway musical-spilled black humor, an updated Brecht/Weill sensibility and the occasional potty joke across the Centennial Hall stage. Hamlet got an outstanding production out of the UA's Arizona Repertory Theater, and even if you didn't see Urinetown, Nat Cassidy as Shakespeare's melancholy Dane was enough to make you wet your pants."

METAMORPHOSES

Arizona Daily Wildcat:
"Nat Cassidy is outstanding and often funny as King Midas."
—Lindsey Muth,  October 23, 2003

Tucson Weekly:
"Wet n Wild," James Reel, October 16, 2003

Arizona Daily Star:
"Particularly strong[was] Nat Cassidy, who strutted out as Midas with a huge cigar and arrogant, richer-than-thou air."
—Kathleen Allen,  October 24, 2003

RUMORS

Tucson Weekly:
"Nat Cassidy as Ken hits just the right notes of desperation without overplaying the part, and later, when his character is temporarily deafened, he moves smartly through a string of hoary routines in which he misunderstands everything people say, without becoming tiresome."
—James Reel, June 26, 2003

Arizona Daily Wildcat:
"What's all this about Rumors?" Linday Muth, September 4, 2003

Arizona Daily Star:
"[Nominee for MAC Award for Best Actor, 2003] Nat Cassidy's totally neurotic and often befuddled lawyer in ART's production of Neil Simon's "Rumors" was priceless. . . . Understood the need for pristine timing and treating the perfectly silly situations with perfect seriousness." —Kathleen Allen, December 26, 2003

A MIDSUMMER NIGHT'S DREAM (2004)

Arizona Daily Star:
"Nat Cassidy played the dual role of Egeus, Hermia's father--a ridiculous old goat with an even more ridiculous wig--and the magical, impish, Pan-like Puck. Cassidy is wiry and flexible enough to tromp around gracefully in a pair of hooves as Puck, and he took genuine delight in wreaking havoc with the other characters. . . . Managed to wrest all that could possibly be funny out of his . . . character."
—Kathleen Allen, April 18, 2003

THE SPOILERS

The Gazette (Colorado Springs):
"First, the usual disclaimer about the melodrama offered in Cripple Creek: It's not the camp, mustache-twisting stuff you generally see. The production values are high (the company has strong ties to the University of Arizona's music theater program), with accomplished direction by Richard Hanson, evocative sets by Tom Benson and opulent costumes by Patricia Gawne and Renee Cloutier. The fight choreography is thrilling, and there are some marvelous low-tech special effects. As always, the Cripple Creek Players are well-prepared and well- matched. The stars of the 10-member cast are Nat Cassidy, who steals a couple of scenes as Flapjack Simms, and Emily Allen as local madam Pearl DeVere."
—Mark Arnest, June 21, 2002

  "Deserves to stalk any stage, anywhere."

"Nuanced and particularly affecting."

"Outstanding."

"Rounds out the cast."

"A sort of better looking Steve Buscemi."