Press
THREE SISTERS:
“Jean Tafler's heartfelt portrayal of Anfisa made me fall in love with this character. Anfisa has worked for the Prozorov family for decades, but she is getting too old to do any real work. Ms. Tafler brings warmth, humor, and humanity to this stock character, making you sympathize with her plight, and rejoice at her "Happily Ever After" ending, thanks to the kind-hearted and compassionate Olga.”
-Cindi Sansone Patch
NICHOLAS NICKLEBY:
“Spectacular and satisfying… I didn’t see the original production … but it’s hard to imagine that it was more moving—or fun—than Orlando Shakespeare’s 6 1/2-hour version, directed by Jim Helsinger and Christopher Niess, whose 27 actors (who play 150-odd characters) are deployed with infinite resourcefulness…Everything about this production is right.” - Terry Teachout, The Wall Street Journal
KISS ME KATE:
“With great star turns by Steven Patterson and Jean Tafler”--Chris Kridler, Florida Today
“Jean Tafler is a more accomplished vocalist and, as Lilli, comes closer to the true Porter prototype.”--Al Krulick,
Orlando Weekly
“Tafler is a sedate, high-toned Lilli, and the show’s funniest moments occur when she finally can suffer in silence no longer and erupts into the hilarious ‘I Hate Men.’ Watching her pummel Patterson this way and that is a lesson in comedy from
two not-so-old pros.”--Elizabeth Maupin, Orlando Sentinel
“Some of my favorite scenes are the solo musical numbers, including Jean Tafler’s performance of “I Hate Men”…The best performances, however, are reserved for a couple of very different duets. Tafler, who plays the role of Lilli (and the role of Katherine in this “play within a play”), joins Patterson, as Lilli’s ex-husband Fred (Petruchio), in “Wunderbar”, a charming song that remembers their past love and the good times gone by. Void of any slapsick or wild humor, it’s a performance unlike any other in the show. It’s the point at which I found myself interested in the characters and believing that there
just might be a story behind all the fun. If I had to pick my favorite, it would have to be ‘Wunderbar’ ”.
--Living Orlando
MACBETH:
“Jean Tafler as Lady Macbeth is instantly engaging…Tafler’s insanity scene toward the last is so good, description falters.
Just go see it.” --Paula Rhoads, Snowmass Sun
“Jean Tafler makes a hard, sharp-eyed Lady Macbeth, a woman who is all vaulting ambition” --Elizabeth Maupin,
Orlando Sentinel
“Actress Jean Tafler, as Lady Macbeth, gives an excellent performance”. --Living Orlando
SEEING STARS
“Jean Tafler, playing high-society/gossip reporter Angela Arnesson, is a little wicked, but always fun to watch” --Matt Roberson, www.nytheatre.com
“Jean Tafler whose heightened characterization of Angela, a worldly wise reporter, brings some welcome snap to the show”
-- Brooke Pierce, Patrick Lee, and Andy Propst, theatermania.com
THE TAMING OF THE SHREW
“If everyone were up to the level of Jean Tafler's Katherina, then all would be right with the world. "…She (and the play) exploded into excellence when she first meets Petruchio. The scene is wildly comic,,cringingly violent, and stunningly sexy - Katherina is alive…. But it is the transformation of Kate, courtesy Tafler's talent, that was the wonderment of this production.” --David Mackler, oobr.com (the off-off Broadway review)
PRIVATE LIVES:
“Jean Tafler is thoroughly captivating as Amanda. She projects a vivacity and sophisticated ease that sparkles to the back wall of the theatre” --Herschel Ross, Snowmass Sun
“ The one actor who seems totally at ease with the repertory format is Jean Tafler. As Amanda in Private Lives and the raunchy Meg in Crimes of the Heart, she gives two utterly satisfying, completely different performances…Jean Tafler is delightfully common as Meg… Tafler gives Amanda warmth and vulnerability, an unusual approach that deepens the character.”--Alan Stern, Denver Post
THE HEIRESS:
“Jean Tafler gives a remarkable performance as the introverted Catherine.” --Phyllis S. Donovan, The Record-Journal
“Jean Tafler is superb in the title role”—Henry Josten, The View from Here
“In the difficult role of the complex and fascinating Catherine Sloper, the very talented Jean Tafler easily provides the outstanding performance of the evening”—Paul Lehman, Main Street News
“Jean Tafler, as the plain-looking, pathologically timid, repressed daughter, deserves an Oscar (as did the film’s Olivia de Havilland). Tafler’s transformation from a docile victim to a poised, rational, sadly revengeful heiress is as compelling as it
is challenging.”—Bob Cumming, Hometown News Publications
OSCAR & FELIX:
“Jean Tafler as Inez Costazuela and Marissa Burgoyne as her sister Julia Costazuela, with their tandem timing and exquisitely drawn characterizations they constantly bring the house down in roaring laughter. As two truly goofy Castilian-Spanish speaking upper-floor neighbors with lushly sexy figures and a sparking sense of pure comedy, they come close to stealing the show” -- Heritage Villager
FOOL FOR LOVE:
“Tafler is riveting in her portrayal of a woman on the edge”--Jackie Campbell, Rocky Mountain News
PAUL ROBESON, ALL-AMERICAN:
“the [Rutgers] coach is played by an actress, Jean Tafler, who later hilariously impersonates Harry Truman.” --Aileen Jacobson, Newsday
THE COMEDY OF ERRORS:
“ In a hysterical performance, Jean Tafler wrings every drop of frustration and madness out of the brash Adriana”
--Pam Harbaugh, Florida Today
HUMBUG:
“Outstanding is Jean Tafler, who portrays Eleanor Scrooge, with such nasty vigor, that she not only frightens the entire
cast, but frightens the entire audience. She’s a character that one loves to hate.”--Bea Smith, Worrall Newspapers
NOISES OFF:
“Jean Tafler, shines as Belinda Blair” –Hal Clifford, Aspen Daily News
“the multi-talented Jean Tafler, equally at home playing the poised Belinda as she is as the bubble-headed Audrey in Little Shop of Horrors or the complex May in Fool for Love” --Jane Wilson, Aspen Times
THE MYSTERY OF EDWIN DROOD:
“Jean Tafler is a superb, fearless Helena Landless”--Tom Nissley, the Ridgelea Reports
JANE EYRE:
“Jean Tafler exudes integrity as Jane. She sings beautifully, acts with intelligence and conviction. Most importantly, she conveys the quality that has won readers to Jane for 150 years: the questioning nature that causes her to challenge
authority rather than submit to it blindly.” --Everett Evans, Houston Chronicle
LITTLE SHOP OF HORRORS:
“The best vocal performance by an individual in the production belongs to Jean Tafler, who plays Audrey, the stereotypical dumb blonde with whom Seymour is in love. In her duets with others in the cast, Tafler’s superior singing talent clearly
shows. “--Bob Kretschman, Snowmass Sun
AS YOU LIKE IT:
“Jean Tafler as Rosalind was strapping and high-spirited, particularly when disguised as the youth Ganymede”--Lisa Smith, Back Stage
“Tafler’s portrayal of feisty Rosalind highlights a uniformly excellent cast, her forest scenes with Pearson as Orlando rate among the play’s funniest. “ --Maureen Bogues, Lincoln Journal-Star
GUADELOUPE:
“Jean Tafler takes some delicious liberties with Janie abandoning herself to the adventure. Throwing off her clothes and taking up a machete, she collects lovers like sharks’ teeth and eventually takes over the revolution” --Marilyn Stasio, The New York Post