Chicago Tribune
- Recommended
"...These days, time-pressed audiences are happy to be in and out in an hour and 15 minutes. And I think France’s affecting performance could add a great deal to such an evening. She’s not a flashy or an especially glamorous actress. She comes across as more real and vulnerable than that, and thus the whole enterprise takes on more credibility. Even the minor vocal imperfections—overall she has a very decent set of pipes—add to the charm of the character."
Chicago Sun Times
- Somewhat Recommended
"...director Elisa Woodruff's production for Bailiwick Repertory -- starring Harmony France as Emma, the young English hat designer who tries her luck, romantically and professionally, in New York, and finds plenty of heartbreak and loss of innocence along the way -- doesn't quite get things right."
Chicago Reader
- Somewhat Recommended
"...Webber spends more time modulating tangentially related musical phrases than writing complete melodies, and the lyrics by Don Black and Richard Maltby Jr. range from serviceable to banal. But Joshua Stephen Kartes's tight musical direction gives the evening punch and drive. Director Elisa Woodruff sends singer Harmony France marching up and down stairs too often, but what France lacks in acting chops she makes up for in vocal technique, even if her head tones occasionally escape her."
Windy City Times
- Recommended
"...The studio at the Bailiwick Arts Center would seem the perfect setting for intimate confessions, especially as confided by Harmony France ( recently seen in Bohemian Theatre's long-running Songs For A New World ) , her Portobello Road-gypsy wardrobe rendering her as lovable as her no-frills renditions of Webber's ingenuous pop melodies concealing operatic vocal ranges. And if, on opening night, this included reaching a bit for the high notes—well, who wouldn't be unnerved at the acoustical imbalance generated by accompanists wailing at full power beneath a flimsy platform at center stage?"
Chicago Free Press
- Somewhat Recommended
"...As directed by Elisa Woodruff, France brings spontaneity and spirit to Emma’s sexual odyssey, her strong solos as much acted as sung. She richly registers Emma’s expectations, anguish, disillusionment and resilience. Her one problem isn’t hers at all. The overwhelming accompaniment by music director Joshua Stephen Kartes almost reduces the show’s hit song “Unremembered Song” to an unremarkable shout. Too much of the occasionally lively lyrics by Don Black and Richard Maltby, Jr. are lost to an over-loud backup, a problem that has plagued earlier Bailiwick shows."
EpochTimes
- Recommended
"...The score was written for at least five pieces, but Musical Director Joshua Stephen Cartes has brought a new sound with keyboard and drum and done so with just the right touch for this small theater. There are twenty songs and an overture to tell this story and Ms. France shows her range in handling all of Mr. Webber's music. If you listen to the score, you will hear familiar sounds, as if you are hearing "the best of Webber", but listen very closely and you will hear that these lyrics tell this story."
Centerstage
- Not Recommended
"...Unfortunately lovely Chicago actress Harmony France, so exciting in Bailiwick's "Jerry Springer: The Opera," just isn't quite up to the task. Ms. France's emotional journey often seems artificial and forced. We have to be completely convinced of Emma's search for love, and very often Ms. France merely appears to be going through the motions, "acting" the moments instead of truly believing them."
Time Out Chicago
- Not Recommended
"...The relationship that occasions the title song is just one in a string of romances involving the young woman at the center of the story, an expat from London living in New York and flitting from man to man before finally finding success in the exciting world of hat design. In Bailiwick’s production, these millinery creations (designed by Agnes Miles) appear to have been purchased from a Blossom yard sale. Far more problematic, though, is the fact that star France lacks the presence to carry a show on her own. Timid and reedy-voiced, she endures more than captivates."
ChicagoCritic
- Somewhat Recommended
"...We all had trouble hearing Harmony France as she sang 20 songs as Emma—a 30 year old English hat designer determined to find love and success under the bright lights of New York City. The story is told through songs from Emma’s perspective. I have seen this show sung deftly by Broadway belter Bernadette Peters. This challenging show has an ambitious score—an assortment of pop/rock tunes filled with talk songs, ballads and anthems—that necessitates a wide vocal range and the ability to ‘sell’ each song in character."
