Chicago Tribune - Somewhat Recommended
"...As in "Company," Charlotte learns that she needs to stitch together the "Flotsam" (as one of the more quietly affecting songs characterizes it) of her experiences and connect them to that of her friends. Hendrix's staging on Arnel Sancianco's cool-blue set of platforms gives us a sense of Charlotte standing on the edge of her life. But despite the fine collection of talent in the cast, "Little Fish" feels less of a dive into the deep end and more like a splash in the shallow end."
Chicago Reader - Highly Recommended
"...LaChiusa's inventive, bebop-flavored score and an expertly performed, imaginatively staged production keep the show from turning into a preachy pity party. As Charlotte, Chicago newcomer Nicole Laurenzi captures her character's vulnerability, intelligence, humor, and grit, charting Charlotte's emotional arc empathetically and authentically with the support of a superb eight-person ensemble playing multiple roles."
Windy City Times - Recommended
"...But the through-scored music is wonderful, LaChiusa's lyrics are sharp, and the performances are uniformly strong and appealing. Singing jazz requires voice and technique which are different from standard Broadway belt or power ballads or song-and-dance, and certainly different from most pop/rock. This cast has it mastered, from Laurenzi's charming performance on down. While each performer has effective solo moments, I must single out Carl Herzog as Charlotte's slimy boss for his smooth Sinatra-like come-on, "You See It All the Time." The ensemble is completed by Kyrie Courter, Teressa LaGamba and Darren Patin ( understudy at the performance I saw )."
Edge - Highly Recommended
"...Describing a work as "quirky" is fraught. It tends to sound dismissive, particularly when the work in question derives from the work of a female author. Nonetheless, it's hard to think of a more fitting adjective for Michael John LaChiusa's, "Little Fish," loosely based on short stories by Deborah Eisenberg. Kokandy Productions' rendition of the show, directed by Allison Hendrix, with music direction by Kory Danielson, certainly deserves more than the pat on the head the word evokes."
Time Out Chicago - Recommended
"...Director Allison Hendrix's staging for Kokandy Productions, with a minimalist look washed in watery blues and blacks by scenic designer Arnel Sancianco and costume designer Kate Kamphausen, is quick-moving and quick-witted, with strong music direction by Kory Danielson. Among the fine ensemble, standout turns include Aja Wiltshire as Kathy, Charlotte's most grounded friend-a relative measure-and Jeff Meyer as Robert, the awful ex whose insults still haunt Charlotte (Casey Hayes takes over the role in August). In the central role, big-voiced newcomer Nicole Laurenzi is a terrifically sympathetic narrator, even in all of Charlotte's neuroses and vacillations. Keep an eye on where she swims next."
ChicagoCritic - Not Recommended
"...This show is a downer about troubled characters who struggle to find to be better people. Their journey isn't worth our time and money as presented. I am amazed how the skilled creatives at Kokandy Productions chose such a troubled show that three others producers couldn't make work. Kokandy Productions is usually outstanding in their shows. Not this time."
Around The Town Chicago - Recommended
"...In its essence, "Little Fish" is a story about a young woman's struggle to quit smoking. I could relate - as could almost anyone who has gone through nicotine withdrawal. Self-loathing is just one of the emotions that desperately surly person might be feeling. That wasn't enough for playwright Michael John LaChiusa, who set "Little Fish" post-9/11, trying to make it more than it is. There is just no parallel between one woman's search for a cigarette substitute and a community's search for meaning after a senseless tragedy."
Chicago Theatre Review - Recommended
"...While this musical is sometimes a difficult story to follow, it’s performed here, much to Allison Hendrix’s credit, with a heart full of conviction and enthusiasm. Charlotte’s tale is true to the Eisenberg short stories, that inspired this Michael John La Chiusa’s musical, by not offering any kind of heroic triumph. The show’s simply about real people living in the big city. It deals with struggle and survival, finally learning that one doesn’t always have to swim upstream against the current, but can find contentment in being a little fish swimming with other guppies."
Chicagoland Musical Theatre - Highly Recommended
"...Allison Hendrix and Kory Danielson on direction and music direction, respectively, approach this surfeit of braininess with compassion and flair, a la Loving Repeating. And kudos to Arnel Sancianco and Alexander Ridgers on sets and lights; there’s that old saw about how the less “designed” something is, it’s more apt to be praise. Here, their floating geometries and Edison bulbs are just so handsome and right."
Picture This Post - Somewhat Recommended
"...For those who have never experienced being flotsam in a big city, LITTLE FISH will not resonate. Why all this flailing from one thing to another, all this struggling to find purpose? For those of us who have been there and done that in New York -- with or without tobacco -- the scattered dots of LITTLE FISH may connect even if they don't really lead anywhere."
Splash Magazine - Recommended
"...That this production of Little Fish succeeds at all is a highly impressive feat which shows the strengths of Ms. Hendrix’s smooth directing, much aided by Ms. Laurenzi’s fine performance and an impressive ensemble of young talents who go above the disjointed source material. In addition, vocally, this is one of the most gorgeously sung musicals I’ve heard in a while."