***They're comin', they're comin'... I've just run out of steam tonight, that's all! I'll insert these puppies soon! Construction and Updates Will Continue!
The Little Dog Laughed
Repertory Theatre of St. Louis
"The Rep also brought great theater to its Off-Ramp series with The Little Dog Laughed, a wicked tale about an aggressively ambitious Hollywood agent and the steps she takes to ensure that her gay, leading-man talent stays in the closet. Director Rob Ruggiero turned in another splendid effort, aided by a strong cast led by the magnificent Erika Rolfsrud, who threatened to turn the show into a one-woman tour de force performance."
-Mark Bretz, LaDue News
"As the hard-driving agent, Erika Rolfsrud consumes the scenery with massive bites that belie her resplendent wardrobe and well-manicured beauty. Rolfsrud has the show's best part and excels in her delivery of a series of hilarious, hellacious monologues, vicious verbal attacks and merciless mercenary diatribes that will keep your ears transfixed and jaw perpetually dropped. It's a bravura performance with lots o'gusto and pizzazz to warm a chlly autumn night." -Mark Bretz, The Ladue News
"Erika Rolfsrud simply steals the show... she never stops her full-speed ahead approach and the results are nothing short of hilarious." -Steve Allen, KFUO-FM
Review Title: 90 Percenter: The Little Dog Laughed--and Erika Rolfsrud, as the actor's agent, stole the show
"As performed with relish and gusto by Erika Rolfsrud, Diane is a cartoon line drawing come to life. Although Rolfsrud's helmet of flaming red hair calls to mind the indefatigable Road Runner, Diane is much more in sync with Wile E. Coyote. Whenever this wily actress dominates the stage -- and she dominates it every time she appears -- viewers enjoy the caressing comfort of being in the presence of a pro at the top of her game. (Rolfsrud deserves a really good agent.)" - Dennis Brown, The Riverfront Times
"...[a] delightful star-is-born performance..." -Lynn Venhaus, The Republic-Times
"[Diane]...as interpreted (or better yet, inhabited) by the aggressively brilliant Erika Rolfsrud..." -Robert Boyd, talkinbroadway
"But Diane comes close to walking away with the show, partly thanks to the great lines and controlling role that playwright Douglas Carter Beane created for her. The other part belongs to Erika Rolfsrud, whose performance as Diane crackles with confidence." -Judith Newmark, St. Louis Post-Dispatch
"Erika Rolfsrud is a standout as the ruthless, relentless comic agent... [she] rules the comic aspect." -Cate Marquis, The Current
RABBIT HOLE
“Erika Rolfsrud, who stood by as Becca for the New York City production of the play, is absolutely riveting. Her eyes, wide and revelatory, tell all. She is suffering and, quite possibly, cannot emerge whole and ever fully recover from the tragedy. Sensitive, vulnerable, hurt, tender, and impassioned, Rolfsrud is fully convincing. It is difficult to imagine anyone more impressive in the role.”-Fred Sokol, talkinbroadway.com, June 2008
"Becca, played with graceful force by Erika Rolfsrud..."-Sylviane Gold, New York Times, June 22,2008
"From the onset, Rolfsrud's calm exterior... masks an undercurrent of rage. Her lack of affect conveys more eloquently than words the depth of her despair. She is by turns resentful... defensive and desperate as she grapples to gain hold of something that will ease the pain."-Bernadette Johnson, www.inthespotlightinc.org, June 2008
"Rolfsrud is stellar as the tightly wound, anger-hiding and perfection seeking Becca."-Susan Hood, The Hartford Courant, June 13, 2008
"...[the] fine stage work is enhanced by Rolfsrud's quite remarkable performance... she creates a woman so intent on controlling her emotions and determined to 'see it through' on her own that you want to reach out, embrace her and draw away some of the pain. Yet Becca is not a one-dimensional character, and Rolfsrud's work allows the audience to see the flickers of the woman Becca was... who slowly reappears as Rolfsrud gracefully and intelligently loosens some of the emotional chains she has wound about her character."-Geary Danihy, www.ctcritics.org, June 2008
SEA OF TRANQUILITY
" Rolfsrud makes Nessa's decay palpable and horrifying... " -Los Angeles Times, Jan 22, 2008
"... there's the question of whether we believe any of [the play] except for Rolfsrud." -Los Angeles Times, Jan 22, 2008
"Most compelling of all is Rolfsrud's Nessa, whose agonized journey of discovery and eventual stoic resignation dramatizes the oxymoron of Korder's title..." - Variety, Jan. 21, 2008
"... A writer, she suffers from a vague and very nasty rash, though her mordant humor (helped immensely by Erika Rolfsrud's ace delivery) survives in tact." -SD Union Tribune, Jan. 19, 2008
BAD DATES/AZ prod
2005 Mac Awards Best Actress Nomination
"The production is blessed with a tour-de-force performance by Erika Rolfsrud who makes Haley a fascinating, funny, clever, intelligent, and complex woman. Rolfsrud plays the comedy for all it’s worth. But she is equally good at emphasizing Haley’s poignant and touching side."-Chris Chrcio, Curtain Up Phoenix
"Rolfsrud is completely rooted , totally natural in the role. You believe every word she tells you, and you are so glad to be her friend."-Kathleen Allen,
AZ Daily Star
"Rolfsrud is a kinetic, animated, adorable wonder of comic muggings to the audience and emotions that can stop and turn on a dime, from full-tilt lightheartedness to startling tragedy…"
-Chris Page, E Valley Trib (Phoenix)
BAD DATES/NJ prod
"Most efficacious of all is the performance of Erika Rolfsrud. On stage for the full length of the play and peripatetically changing her clothes, Rolfsrud displays natural ease and excellent comic timing, conveying the full delight of her stories. She also brings an amazing physicality to her Haley. Although obviously abetted by costume designer Sam Fleming, Rolfsrud conveys a glowing fresh beauty as readily as she can conjure a tired, aging presence when appropriate.
The excellence of Erika Rolfsrud is at the heart of the success of director Jackson Gay's production. Although author Rebeck has provided entertaining dialogue and lively, evocative stories, it appears that this is a wisp of a play whose ability to entertain rests squarely on the shoulders of the actress performing it."
Bob Rendell, TalkinBroadway.com
JUMPERS
“… So, too, does Rolfsrud engage, as she alternates between crooning vixen and nervous wreck. Through her expert balance, she provides the strongest example of someone spiritually unmoored, unable to sing the romance of the moon now that man has landed on it…”-Gianni Truzzi, Seattle Post Intelligencer, September 4, 2004
“… [Rolfsrud’s] comic timing is spot on, and she vacillates smartly between brittleness and fragility.”-Misha Berson, Seattle Times, September 6, 2004
“…Rolfsrud hooks rather fetchingly into Dotty’s existential despair…”-Steve Wiecking, Seattle Weekly, September 8 – 14, 2004
“Rolfsrud…sustains Dotty’s teetering borderline depression, swinging between whistful romanticism and cynical venery with equal abandon.”
-Christopher Comte, AISLE SAY Seattle