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Features/Profiles
Hamlet Q1 (Charlotte Observer)
The Purple Flower & Other Plays (Charlotte Observer)
ReQuiem For New Orleans (Charlotte Observer)
The Moon Prince: A Rap Opera (Charlotte Magazine)
University City Magazine
Boston Globe
Boston Herald
Full Reviews (New York)
In The Master’s House There Are Many Mansions (NY Times)
In The Master’s House There Are Many Mansions (OnStage)
In The Master’s House There Are Many Mansions (theasy.com)
ReQuiem For New 0rleans (BACKSTAGE)
ReQuiem For New 0rleans (nytheatre.com)
simple thoughts (BACKSTAGE)
simple thoughts (CurtainUp)
Full Reviews (Regional)
Romeo & Juliet (Valley Advocate)
Full Reviews (Charlotte)
The Purple Flower & Other Plays (Artsy Charlotte)
Urinetown (Creative Loafing)
The Tempest (Charlotte Arts)
The Move (Charlotte Observer)
Press
This was an outlier: an ambitious revival in a festival dominated by new pieces.
... one of the most challenging pieces of theatre in FringeNYC 2016. This is a play that needs to be seen.
ReQuiem for New0rleans: A Hip Hop Eulogy
A sensitive dance-theatre work ... Requiem might constitute an important theatrical portrait of a disgraceful chapter in recent American history. Congratulations to the show's zealous cast.
…what makes this show different … is the performer's level of commitment. This show is full of love, sadness, devastation, and anger. This show is one of awareness and action.
Angelic and earthy singing ... genuinely moving.
A truly lugubrious evening of innovative dance. Although the cornerstone of the concert is imposing requiem music, this benefit has funky, hip-hop ulterior motives - an evening that's downright uplifting.
simple thoughts
James Vesce's Simple Thoughts breathes fresh air into Langston Hughes' well-known satirical narratives about Jesse B. Semple, a streetwise observer of black life in the 1940s. This hour-long drama is a solid first step in further dramatic exploration of this literary figure, and whets the appetite for more. The bluesy mood of the Harlem bar and Semple's bold pronouncements crystalize the double-sided consciousness of blacks struggling to live in a white world.
Fringe followers this year have a chance to see a fine dramatization of Hughes' popular Everyman character Jesse B. Semple, known by the shorthand name of "Simple." This fine presentation by the Twilight Repertory Company from Charlotte, North Carolina, has been adapted and directed by James Vesce.
Urinetown: The Musical
James Vesce deftly cast and directed a mix of more than 30 performers.
On Your Toes
This production is one of the best designed, most lavishly produced musicals ever by a Charlotte-based company.
... no effort has been spared, no detail overlooked in making this On Your Toes one for the ages.
The Move
The best advice for watching Vincente Leñero's The Move: Surrender, Dorothy. Don't try to make sense of things. Let your senses do that for you ... For now, we benefit from a whiff of literary sophistication.
romeo.juliet
This vision, half primeval, half apocalyptic, belongs to director James Vesce. The masked ball where the young lovers first meet has an explosive tension expressed in an MTV-dance routine. Vesce's Romeo and Juliet reaches for the same modern, edgy feel, the same closed universe ruled by kids ... and the lethal fight between Mercutio and Tybalt is positively acrobatic.
The Purple Flower
Marita Bonner's surrealistic allegory The Purple Flower was transposed to a contemporary world by director James Vesce and the cast ... who breathed life into the text with a combination of African and modern dance. The danced images of toil, struggle, survival, and passion combined with the humanity in the voices of the Us's drew the audience into the piece
WEST SIDE STORY HIP HOP!
It was the best show in town. The Sharks and the Jets never looked so funky. And how about a rap version of Officer Krupke? It was great!
The classic tale of love and death have been slickly updated to modern urban America in West Side Story Hip Hop … modern dance moves and style gave the opening night production a feel of energetic authenticity
brother to brother
The original musical from James Vesce with lyrics and poetry by Marlon Carey and choreography by Yandje Dibinga ... was outstanding ... The entertaining ensemble work was as carefully thought out as the individual performances, with street scenes especially interesting to watch as the youngsters meet up with one another at a playground to shoot hoops or flirt. The lively dance sequences were a treat too.
The WIZ
Khalid Hill as Dorian, Katheryn Santiago as the Scarecrow, Chrystee Pharris as the Tin Man, and Jay Morong as the Lion in ... a wonderful Wiz.
It's 90 minutes of non-stop with no intermission from the most renowned soloist in the history of jazz
What Limbs May Come
The Notario Dance Company, directed and choreographed by Brook Notary presented What Limbs May Come, a self-produced program of nine short works seen earlier this month at The Kitchen. In Passing featured five dances in gem-colored outfits to a commissioned score by James Vesce. Notary's experience in circus performance has certainly served her to create some interesting theatrical works. The company's youthful enthusiasm and admirable production values may carry its performances...
8 Short Works
Ms. Notary and the Notario Dance Company are a refreshing wellspring of creativity that audiences should watch out for in the future.
The choreography, of Artistic director Brook Notary, abounded with ingenious effects
Lily Dale
The era of high-necked dresses and high-button shoes is nicely evoked by James Vesce's music, both vintage and original