LILA DUPREE
performer • producer • writer • director
Three Days in the Country, Antaeus Theatre Company, Los Angeles
LA Times Critics Choice, Ovation Nominated
Stage Scene LA, Steven Stanley:
And speaking of mouthwatering, just wait till you see the equally delectable Dupree and Greer deliver their own distinctive takes on Katya’s R-rated plum-munching.
Stage Raw, Deborah Klugman:
…the most authentic portrayals are by Mendoza as the charming and cryptic Belyaev, and Dupree’s cameo as the come-hither servant girl ready to play in the hay. Separately and together, they exude... truth.
El Grande CIRCUS de Coca-Cola, Skylight Theatre/Colony Theatre, Los Angeles
LA Times Critics Choice
LA Times Critics Choice, David C. Nichols:
As [daughter] Consuelo... Lila Dupree lands somewhere between Lisa Kudrow and Carol Burnett.
Stage Scene LA, Steven Stanley:
Dupree (who spent half of 2013 playing Consuelo at the Ruskin Theatre’s revival of the original El Grande) and Delgado could hardly be more deliciosas (Think Lucy and Ethel had those physical comedy legends been sexy Latinas.) Simplemente put, El Grand Circus De Coca-Cola... is the funniest show you’re likely to see in todo el año de 2015!
Stage Raw, Jessica Salans:
The performers portraying Pepe’s familia are committed and intensely talented, with impeccable comedic timing... Consuelo (Lila Dupree) maintains the most steady demeanor of the lot, which only heightens her risible exploits (such as an absurd reenactment of Swan Lake or an attempt at aerial silks). The ensemble has a mastery of precision, keeping you on the edge of your seat all night- unless you’ve already fallen off from laughter.
Broadway World:
A very funny "Schwan Lake" routine has Dupree exhibiting her ballet prowess.
Another fun, deliberately imperfect bit has Consuelo (a very game Dupree) frequently mis-jumping onto a galloping horse.
Best showstopping act - hands down - revolved around the quinceañera of the ringmaster's two wives, Consuelo and Maria. What begins as a slapstick, non-eventful coronation of the two women evolves into a brilliant, mesmerizing slow-mo piece... of hair-pulling, kicking, punching, and just general mayhem of the two women and their respective escorts. Bravo to Lila Dupree, Olivia Cristina Delgado, Paul Baird and Aaron Miller for their incredible synchronization and precision. Like watching Keanu Reeves dodging bullets in Matrix. Simply stunning!
The talented five-member cast...certainly must be commended on their commitment and enthusiasm as they interact with the audience as second-rate circus artists and plow through their intentionally bad vaudeville routines. Just as a clown must know the correct techniques to pratfall or look ridiculous, best acts of this travelling CIRCUS hit their intended, targeted reactions of laughter and applause when the audience's allowed to realize the good, solid techniques behind these really bad circus feats.
Culver City News, Shari Barrett:
Due to a few wrong turns on the freeway, the show begins prior to Pepe’s late arrival with his lovely daughters blonde Consuelo (lovely and limber-limbed Lila Dupree, reprising the role in the Ruskin production) and Maria (brunette bombshell Olivia Cristina Delgado).
Think you resemble Robert Redford or Alfred Hitchcock? So will they, and it might earn you an invitation to Consuelo’s dressing room after the show! And if she misidentifies you as a movie director, get ready to accept a copy of Consuelo’s headshot and rather short resume.
These two energetic and multi-talented entertainers go through more costume changes than I could keep track of throughout the show, each one flaunting their Telenovela-style sexuality to the hilt. Yes, there is eye candy galore with tons of sparkle as well as comedic talent in the show!
LA Splash, Elaine Mura:
A solid cast who juggle, dance, read minds, play instruments, and perform all manner of skits while managing at the same time to look like rank amateurs - no small feat for this multi-talented crew. Papa Pepe (Marcelo Tubert) hosts his eager and ingenuous children (Paul Baird, Olivia Cristina Delgado, Lila Dupree, and Aaron Miller), whose true talents are submerged under their bumbling characters.
On Stage Los Angeles:
How the cast keeps the energy up is amazing and the tears of joy that return even remembering the evening cannot describe how much fun this production engenders. Wonderful. It’s just wonderful.
Gia On The Move, Tracey Paleo:
Kittenish half-Swedish blonde bombshell Consuelo is suggestively (but oh so politely in front of the wives in attendance) inviting potential male agents back stage to talk about representation. This show... is so incredibly creative, so high-caliber designed, so astounding in performance there’s no way you won’t want to stay till the end! The absolute highlights are the team-choreographed commercials made for their sponsor, American soda company, Coca Cola. The final histrionic stunner however is the photographic replay of Pepe’s girls’ Quinceañera, a bona fide study in perfect physical comedy.
Stage Happenings, Dale Reynolds:
The cast is exemplary... Dupree and Delgado are no less talented, and lovely to look at. In all, a great group of performers, doing the difficult act of being bad by being good. Silly is as important to Art as anything else Art is asked to do. Silly allows a lessoning of critical diagnostics, a reversion to childhood wonderment and a stress-reductor par excellence. So please go see this amusing production of a show which cannot wither or age.
El Grande de Coca-Cola, Ruskin Group Theatre, Los Angeles
LA Weekly Theatre Award Nomination, Best Comedy Ensemble, LA Times Critic's Pick
Breakdown Services Weekly Critics Picks Outstanding Performances in Theatre, Dany Margolies:
From the start of this takeoff on bad cabaret, Lila Dupree stands out amid the excellent ensemble for her ability to banter with the audience in a heavy Spanish accent. She sings (badly, on purpose), she dances (badly, on purpose), and she keeps the crowd in squealing, howling laughter.
Broadway World, Shari Barrett:
El Grande de Coca Cola begins as Pepe's daughter Consuelo Hernandez (the lovely and limber-limbed Lila Dupree) improvs her way through the audience, warming up the crowd with her slightly off-color gags, then inviting members of the audience into her dressing room after the show. Dupree is a marvel in every number from her overt sexuality in "La Bamba" to her comical "Dos Chicas" battle with her award sash.
LA Weekly Go! Pick, Steven Leigh Morris:
Pepe is joined by his two saucy daughters, Maria and Consuelo (the marvelous Nina Brissey and Lila Dupree). It's a tribute to the inventiveness of the ensemble that the variations on this one joke never grow stale or repetitious. They are all skilled and exuberant comedians.
LA Times Critics Choice, F. Kathleen Foley:
The rest of the perfectly cast performers are amazingly agile and cheerfully off-the-wall.
Arts In LA, Julio Martinez:
There is a simple ethic to executing a spoof: find very talented performers to play performers with no talent, and have them do it with utter commitment. El Grande’s ensemble is certainly up to the task…Dupree’s Consuelo sets the proper tone in a preshow warm-up, enthusiastically working the audience to find a real milionario (millionaire) she can invite to her abode in the broom closet beneath the stairs. Her broken-English interactions exude a zesty comedic sensibility, playing off whatever reactions she gets from the men (and women) she attempts to recruit to be her quickie broom-closet paramour.
Daily News Friendly Fire, Jonathan Dobrer:
This show works only because of the amazing talent on the stage. The actors are versatile—singing, dancing, mugging and doing knock-about (classic slow-motion fights). A mediocre cast would kill this show. Do not try this in high school or college. This need pros and the John Ruskin Group has them.…there’s a hint of the young Terri Garr in Lila Dupree, who’s a delight in all her roles from flirty Coca Cola vendor to the Lady from Bell.
LA Splash, Beverly Cohn:
The shenanigans take place in a cabaret somewhere in Mexico, and begin with Cousuelo Hernandez, a tall, beautiful young leggy lady, hilariously played by Lila Dupree, talking directly to members of the audience. She holds a tray with cups of Coca-Cola similar to the kind of trays cigarette girls of yesteryear use to carry and kibitzes with the women and is seductive with one of the men, eating his very own cookie. Of course, she has a Spanish accent and executes stage business to perfection…you must be a highly skilled actor before you can satirize something and this ensemble certainly accomplishes that in a grand gesture of decimating all attempts at being “trained professionals."
On Stage Los Angeles:
Preshow antics by the blonde excellence of Lila Dupree as Consuelo Hernandez, daughter of El Primo Emcee Don Pedro, gets the ball rolling…a truly talented ensemble.
Review Plays, Carol Kaufman Segal:
…his other daughter Consuelo (Lila Dupree)…adorable and
perfect in [her role].
Examiner, John Schulte:
…a classic cabaret parody, perfectly placed, as it takes flight from the opening warm-up act by Lila Dupree…The cast assembled for this production are so immersed in knowing how wretched they have to be that it all plays bombastically brilliant…The grande finale is a stunning piece of stage combat where the four main performers reverse out the action of a wacko wedding in slow motion.
Santa Monica Daily Press, Sarah A. Spitz:
These are physically challenging roles, calling for great athleticism, superb comic timing, coordination and tight choreography, and this production has all that in spades. It’s always funny to see professionals play amateurs, especially when done well and convincingly, which it is here. The cast is wonderful…seductress blond Consuelo Hernandez (Lila Dupree)…take[s] on ever changing roles…dancers (from tango to hip hop and the flamboyant Los Gigolos), magicians, trapeze artists, a gunslinger, and much more, performing slow motion slapstick, and made-up Coke commercials.
What The Sparrow Said, The Common Tongue, FringeNYC
Backstage:
[Amelia is] beautiful…fine performances.
Big Vision Empty Wallet:
Heather Oakley also fares well, as does Lila Dupree.
New York Theatre Review:
The cast…handles [the] lyrical script with grace and just the right amount of levity.
NYTheatre.com:
Each of the actors brings a performance that is fully committed.
Young: Connect Five, The Common Tongue, The Ars Nova Building, NYC
Backstage:
Lila Dupree…[is] excellent.
TheaterMania:
Lila Dupree is consistently solid.
Theatre is Easy:
[The Common Tongue's] mission of creative unity is invigorating and inspiring... The poetic quality [of the plays] enhances the content, making the (mis)communication all the more potent.
Mt. Desert Islander:
Dupree, who initially emerges out of that audience, carves her own comedic niche amidst these two seasoned actors and manages to be rather fetching even when she barfs her brains out; her character’s limited interpretation of being poisoned, stabbed, drowned or merely upset.
[She] gives us a lovely, thoughtful rendition of “What a piece of work is man …” surprising the audience and, seemingly, herself.
Mt. Desert Islander:
Thrown into this hysterical mix is Lila Dupree (who was so brilliant in Main Street) as the snooty know-it-all housekeeper, Saunders.
Mt. Desert Islander:
Lila Dupree as the heiress bride and David Blais as the mysterious Mr. Smith – both back for their fourth year at the Somesville theater – offer the smooth, polished performances Acadia Rep audiences have come to expect of them.
LA Theater Examiner:
Dupree, as a sensual prostitute who longs for love, is very effective.
Director Bill Mesnik and his stellar cast delivered a touching, funny and bittersweet theatrical experience of the highest caliber.
Pasadena Star News:
Also worthy of note …[is] Lila Dupree in a brief but memorable moment as the subject in Charlie's first, thwarted female adventure.
Sierra Madre News Net:
Lila Dupree is charming in her role as the innocent-looking vamp.
The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (Abridged) [revised], Fallen Angels, Main Street and Murder On the Nile, Acadia Repertory Theatre, Somesville, ME
Da, Sierra Madre Playhouse, Sierra Madre, CA
