REVIEW archive
MACBETH - Great River Shakespeare Festival (2019)
““GABRIEL’S PRESENTATION OF THE MAD SCENE IS FRIGHTENING, AND A BIT HEARTBREAKING.IN CARLSON AND GABRIEL’S FIRST SCENE TOGETHER, THEIR PIQUED AMBITIONS TAKE ON A SENSUALITY THAT FURTHER FANS THE FLAMES OF THE EVIL TO COME.
- Talkin’ Broadway”
““DIRECTOR PAUL BARNES CASTS TWO BEAUTIFUL ACTORS IN THE LEADS ... AS LADY MACBETH, LEAH GABRIEL IS GORGEOUS, CEREBRAL AND CALCULATING. THEIR EARLY EMOTIONAL AND SEXUAL CHEMISTRY IS TANGIBLE, BUT WE SEE THEIR DOWNWARD SPIRALS HAPPEN TERRIBLY ALONE.
- BroadwayWorld.com”
““AS LADY MACBETH, LEAH GABRIEL, IN HER SECOND SEASON WITH GRSF, REALLY COMES INTO HER OWN AS AN ACTOR OF CONSIDERABLE TALENT.
- Winona Post”
““ANDREW CARLSON AND LEAH GABRIEL MAKE FOR A STRONG, SYMPATHETIC AND BELIEVABLE LEAD COUPLE.
- Cherry and Spoon”
HOLY DAY - New Ohio Theatre, NYC (2019)
““LEAH GABRIEL’S CAUSTIC, YET SURPRISINGLY UPSTANDING, REST STOP OWNER NORA IS [A] MARVELOUS PIECE OF WORK. SHE IS ABLE TO NAVIGATE THE CHARACTER’S FOUL-MOUTHED RIGHT HEADEDNESS, AS WELL AS EFFECTIVELY NEGOTIATING THE AUDIENCE’S SHIFTING PERCEPTION OF HER MORAL POSITION.
- NY Phoenix News”
““THE CHARACTERS ARE VIVIDLY ETCHED ... THE MOST MEMORABLE OF THE SURVIVORS IS GABRIEL’S NORA, TOUGH, CYNICAL, GOD DEFYING.
- New York Theater”
““THE CHARACTER OF NORA IS ONE OF THE STRONGEST AND MOST COMPLEX THAT I’VE ENCOUNTERED ON STAGE AND LEAH GABRIEL FULLY EMBODIES HER.
- HI Drama”
MEDEA - Titan Theatre Company, NYC (2018)
““THIS EXTREMELY INTENSE DRAMA IS A STARRING VEHICLE FOR OUTSTANDING ACTOR LEAH GABRIEL.THE MURDEROUS REVENGE SHE PERPETRATES LEAVES THE AUDIENCE GASPING.HER SINGLE MINDED ANGUISH AND ANGER ARE PALPABLE.MS. GABRIEL’S PENETRATING PERFORMANCE IS IMPOSSIBLE TO RESIST.
- Queens Courier”
““MEDEA IS AN UNDOUBTEDLY COMPLICATED FIGURE, ONE WHO WOULD CHALLENGE ANY ACTRESS, AND LEAH GABRIEL IMMERSES HERSELF IN THE ROLE.
- Queens Chronicle”
THE SERVANT OF TWO MASTERS - Great River Shakespeare Festival (2019)
“WE ADORE THEATER PERFORMED IN REPERTORY. ONLY LAST NIGHT, WE SAW ANDREW CARLSON AND LEAH GABRIEL PLAYING THE COLD, CALCULATING MACBETHS, AND IN TODAY’S SHOW, THEY HIT COMIC HIGHS AS SEPARATED LOVERS. EVEN THOUGH THE PLAY IS A KNEE-SLAPPING COMEDY, WE WERE STILL RATHER CHARMED WHEN THEY ENDED UP TOGETHER. (SPOILER!)
-Minnesota Theater Love
”
“LEAH GABRIEL IS STRIKING AS THE DETERMINED BEATRICE.
-Talkin’ Broadway”
“BEATRICE, PLAYED BY LEAH GABRIEL, IS DAZZLING IN HER DISGUISE AS HER DEAD BROTHER - DON’T ASK; YOU HAVE TO BE THERE.
- Winona Post”
A MIDSUMMER NIGHT'S DREAM - Great River Shakespeare Festival (2018)
“LEAH GABRIEL IS A HUMOROUSLY DEJECTED LOVER AS HELENA, AND IS DELIGHTFUL AS THE OPAQUE SNOUT, CAST AS A WALL IN THE PLAY-WITHIN-A-PLAY.
[THIS PRODUCTION] IS A TOTAL JOYRIDE ... [DIRECTOR BETH] GARDINER GIVES THE SHOW A GIDDY ROCK AND ROLL FEEL THAT INSTRUCTS US TO ENJOY OURSELVES.
- Talkin Broadway”
MARY SHELLEY’S FRANKENSTEIN - Quintessence Theatre Group (2018)
“LEAH GABRIEL EXCELLENTLY EMBODIES VICTOR’S LOVELY MOTHER, WHO SADLY PASSES AWAY FROM SCARLET FEVER, A TURKISH WOMAN, AN IRISH WOMAN AND OTHER INTRIGUING CHARACTERS, MASTERING EACH ACCENT.
- Phindie.com
”
THE 39 STEPS - Cortland Repertory Theatre (2017)
“WOW – ‘THE 39 STEPS’ AT CORTLAND REP IS MASTERFUL. THE COMEDY FEATURES FOUR STELLAR ACTORS… I LOVED GABRIEL’S THICK GERMAN ACCENT…EVERY IDIOSYNCRASY IS AMPLIFIED. THE ACTORS ARE INCREDIBLE. NO ONE STUMBLES. THEY HAVE TOTALLY IMMERSED THEMSELVES.
- Cortland Standard”
“THE FEMALE LEAD, LEAH GABRIEL, IS NO SPOOF; SHE REALLY DELIVERS THE GOODS.
TAKE THE SCENE WHERE SHE HAS TO REMOVE HER WET STOCKINGS BEFORE A FIREPLACE,
V-E-R-Y S-L-O-W-L-Y, AS HER FIRE ROARS BENEATH THE ICE.
- Syracuse New Times”
“GABRIEL PLAYS THE ICY HITCHCOCK BLONDE WITH STYLE AND VERVE.
- Syracuse.com”
MOTHER COURAGE - Quintessence Theatre Group (2016)
“LEAH GABRIEL GIVES YVETTE POTTIER, THE CAMP PROSTITUTE, SOME GLORIOUS MOMENTS AND A FABULOUS VOICE. QUINTESSENCE HAS MASTERFULLY DELIVERED MOTHER COURAGE AND HER CHILDREN INTO THE LIGHT OF THE 21ST CENTURY.
- Phindie.com”
“LEAH GABRIEL LIVENS THINGS UP AS A BOOZY AND BLOWSY PROSTITUTE...DIRECTOR ALEXANDER BURNS’ PRODUCTION HAS SOME DRAMATIC MOMENTS THAT CUT DEEP.
- DC Metro Arts”
“CAMP FOLLOWER YVETTE (LEAH GABRIEL) AND HANGER-ON CHAPLAIN (GREGORY ISAAC) HAVE CAMEO MOMENTS … IN A FINE PRODUCTION BY THE QUINTESSENCE THEATRE GROUP.
- The Philadelphia Inquirer ”
THE GOOD GIRL - 59E59 Theaters (2016)
“LEAH GABRIEL GIVES A COMMANDING PERFORMANCE AS ANJALI, PROVIDING THE PERFECT MEASURE OF CONSCIENCE AND CALCULATING AMBITION. SHE SHARES A NATURAL CHEMISTRY WITH GIACOMO BAESSATO ... BOTH GABRIEL AND BAESSATO DO AN OUTSTANDING JOB.
- New York Theatre Guide”
“ANJALI (PLAYED WITH WIT AND INTENSITY BY LEAH GABRIEL) IS A MADAM SUPERVISING A ROBO-PROSTITUTE ... THE HIGH-KEY ACTING KEEPS THE AUDIENCE RIVETED.
- Huffington Post”
“LEAH GABRIEL AND GIACOMO BAESSATO PORTRAY THEIR ROLES PRECISELY WITH TENSE CONFRONTATIONS, INTIMATE ENCOUNTERS AND UNEXPECTED HUMOR.
- BroadwayWorld”
“GABRIEL AND BAESSATO GIVE CONVINCING, EMOTIONALLY FRAUGHT PERFORMANCES.
- Charged.FM”
“LEAH GABRIEL TWEAKS HER FINE PERFORMANCE TO INCREMENTALLY DRAW YOU TO EMPATHIZE WITH HER, DESPITE HER BRUSQUE, HARD, OUTER SHELL.
- Theater Pizzazz”
“LEAH GABRIEL’S ANJALI WAS FILLED WITH STRENGTH, DETERMINATION AND HEART. GABRIEL GAVE ANJALI A GROUNDED DEMEANOR TO START BUT JUST AS HER SEXBOT BEGAN TO UNRAVEL, ANJALI DID TOO.
- Theater in the Now”
“LEAH GABRIEL AND GIACOMO BAESSATO’S PERFORMANCES ARE UTTERLY GENUINE IN A WAY THAT IS RARELY SEEN ON THE STAGE … THERE ARE MOMENTS OF ANGER AND FEAR THAT ARE SO VERY AUTHENTIC THAT ONE WATCHING FEELS ALMOST LIKE A VOYEUR.
- StageBuddy”
TARTUFFE! - Three Day Hangover (2015)
“LEAH GABRIEL BRINGS THE WITTY AND DRY HUMOR THAT IS UNLIKE ANY OTHER CHARACTER. GABRIEL’S DOREEN IS TRULY THE GLUE THAT KEEPS THE FAMILY AND SHOW TOGETHER.
- Theater In The Now”
“THE ENTIRE CAST IS HILARIOUS AND UNPREDICTABLE . . . LEAH GABRIEL IS THE PERFECT DOREEN.
- Stage Buddy”
“ THE VOICE OF SANITY IN THIS HOUSEHOLD IS DOREEN. LEAH GABRIEL IS VERY ENGAGING IN THIS ROLE - FUNNY AND A LITTLE SEDITIOUS. YOU FEEL FOR HER AS SHE PULLS ONE OR ANOTHER INEPT FAMILY MEMBER BACK FROM THE BRINK.
- Front Row Center”
OTHELLO (ALL FEMALE) - Titan Theatre Company (2015)
“LEAH GABRIEL, AS RODERIGO, PROVIDES SOME DELIGHTFUL COMIC RELIEF, THOUGH HER CHARACTER’S ULTIMATE END IS JUST AS POWERFUL AS THE OTHERS.
- Queens Gazette”
“GABRIEL IS AT ONCE HILARIOUS AND TRAGIC AS THE BUMBLING RODERIGO.
- Off Off Online”
“GABRIEL’S TAKE ON RODERIGO ... GENERATES MOST OF THE LAUGHS IN THIS PRODUCTION AS HER SELF-ABSORBED DRAMATICS SWING FROM GIDDY TO MY-LIFE-IS-OVER DESPAIR. THUS IT IS, THAT HER MURDER AT THE HANDS OF IAGO ENDS UP BEING THE MOST SHOCKING DEATH IN THE PRODUCTION.
IT IS SAID THAT YOUR LIFE PASSES BEFORE YOU AT THE MOMENT OF DEATH, BUT IN GABRIEL’S “O DAMNED IAGO,” IT IS THE 20 YEARS OF WISDOM TO COME THAT SHE SUDDENLY GLIMPSES AS HER LIGHT FLICKERS OUT.
-Shakespeareances.com”
MIRACLE ON SOUTH DIVISION STREET - Cortland Repertory Theatre (2015)
“I LOVED THIS SHOW . . . THE ACTORS ARE SUPERB! THE AUDIENCE PRACTICALLY BOUNDED TO ITS FEET WITH A SPONTANEOUS STANDING OVATION AT THE END OF WEDNESDAY’S OPENER!
- Cortland Standard”
“LEAH GABRIEL’S BEVERLY, WHO ENTERS THE PROCEEDINGS WITH A BOWLING-BALL BAG IN HAND, SHOWS THE STRESS OF A FAMILY MEMBER WHO CAN’T HANDLE THE TRUTH.
- Syracuse New Times”
BOEING BOEING - Cortland Repertory Theatre (2014)
“THE ACTORS REIGNED SUPREME . . . [THE THREE WOMEN] ARE ALL OUTRAGEOUS, GORGEOUS . . . [LEAH GABRIEL AS] GRETCHEN FLAUNTED HER BODY WITH HER PRESENCE AND HER POWER CAPE.
- Cortland Standard”
“LEAH GABRIEL’S GRETCHEN HAS A FUNNY EXCHANGE WHEN SHE VERBALLY ASSAULTS ROBERT WITH THE ZEAL OF A BERLIN DISTRICT ATTORNEY.
- Syracuse New Times”