“The other major newcomer is the
massively urbane and strong-voiced Chuck Cooper as the
razzle-dazzle lawyer Billy Flynn …”
– Clive Barnes, New York
Post
|
“Cooper’s every entrance is as
frightening as death. His power and resonance as a villain
can be cheered and booed”
– The
New York Times
|
“Cooper leads the way on the gospel
front, with ‘Hold On’ and exhibits the show's greatest vocal
acrobatics at the end of "Take On the Road". He also
deserves special commendation for his acting throughout …
Cooper shows himself to be a gifted actor who brings
concentrated depth to his roles.”
– Les Gutman, Curtain Up
|
“When an actor is as skillful and
strongly grounded as Cooper, with a rich singing voice to
boot, has an extra string like that to his bow … you’re in
the presence of something exceptional that only the American
theater – and most often the African American theater – can
give you. Leslie Uggams, Cooper … this is a cast of actors
who are fine comically or tragically, fresh and energetic
and alive in the moment.”
– Michael Feingold,
Village Voice
|
“Chuck Cooper is terrific”
– Washington Post
|
“The talented Chuck Cooper’s performance
is audience-rousing”
– Show Music
|
“Cooper brings the audience to uproarious
applause.”
– Town and Village
|
“What pizzazz! Chuck Cooper delivers a
socko performance”
– Times Herald Record
|
“Chuck Cooper is glorious”
– Boston Globe
|
“Chuck Cooper is powerful and ominous”
– WLIM
|
“But the actor on stage workin’ the
hardest is Cooper, who brilliantly creates a menace with his
booming voice and haunting, unforgettable presence”
– HX
|
“Chuck Cooper is so intimidating as the
pimp Memphis in THE LIFE that even tough guys in the
audience have been known to recoil in fear”
– In-Theatre Magazine
|
“This is what is so energizing about
Chuck Cooper’s exuberant portrayal of Robeson, the man … You
come away feel as if you’ve spent the evening as the great
man’s sole guest”
– US One Newspapers
|
“Cooper, who won a 1996 Tony … is every
inch a star … Cooper’s confidence and ambition fills the
playhouse to the rafters ... Chuck Cooper puts in a stellar
performance”
– US One Newspapers
|
Being Alive
Philadelphia Theatre Company
"Being Alive is blessed by an attractive,
all-African-American cast, decked out in pretty pastels and
led by Tony Award winner Chuck Cooper. Cooper's rich,
resonant voice and jovial manner mark him as the authority
figure in the company.”
– Talking Broadway, Tim
Dunleavy
Nov 5 2007
|
Two Trains
Running
Old Globe Theatre
"But it's Cooper who's the principal reason to see
this production. He's a well-respected Broadway veteran (he
landed a Tony for The Life), and he shapes Memphis
with magisterial restraint. Memphis' hurt and anger
are revealed gradually, building to a mid-play explosion of
outrage that remains one of Wilson's (and American
theater's) finest soliloquies..”
– Paul Hodgins, Variety
May 2 2007
|
