1981-2009
Picnic Cause Celeb Guiding Light Love in 3 Minutes I'm Not Rappaport The Devil and Walter Cronkite
The
Grass is Greener Tom Jones Dark at the Center Half Off Houseguests One Neck Law & Order
Dark Ride On Golden Pond
THE GRASS IS GREENER
Oldcastle Theatre Company presents Hugh and Margaret Williams' romantic British comedy, THE GRASS IS GREENER at the Bennington Center for the Arts
June 20-July 6.
The cast (seated): Bill Tatum, Melissa Hurst, Greg Skura, and Yvonne Perry. (Standing): Richard Howe.
ON GOLDEN POND
Oldcastle Theatre Company
Bennington Center for the Arts
July 13 - 29, 2007
"Hurst spoils the audience with yet another multi-layered portrayal of a woman in transition"
Bennington Banter
"...beautifully portrayed by Melissa Hurst"
Post Star
"...played meaningfully and persuasively by Melissa Hurst"
Berkshire Eagle
"[Sheila] Childs and [Melissa] Hurst provide the heart, the color, the emotional dimension this production deserves."
Bershire Eagle
by David Watkins
at The Church Street School for Music and Art
in NYC - Oct. 2007
Melissa Hurst (left) as "Mac Back from the War
in Iraq" in THE DEVIL AND WALTER CRONKITE
Melissa Hurst as "Mac Back from the War in Iraq" in
THE DEVIL AND WALTER CRONKITE
TOM JONES
Adapted by John Morrison
From the Henry Fielding Novel
Dorset Theatre Festival 2006
For her performance as Mrs Waters (et al) in TOM JONES, Melissa was the recipient of the Dorset Theatre Festival Golden Leaf Award for
Best Supporting Actress 2006 .
"Hurst nearly brought the house down in laughter."
"[Hurst] knows how play "bad and bitchy" but always imbues her characters with a sympathetic edge that makes them more real somehow." Northshire Free Press
TOM JONES: Pictured from left to right - Melissa Hurst, Schyler Yancey, Terry Rabine, and Jenny Strassburg
"Individual perfromances were first rate...Hurst in particular, during her sparkle eyed dinner table scene, which culminated in the very intimate peeling and devouring of a banana, nearly brought the house down in laughter." Bennington Banner
"The scene between Hurst's Mrs. Waters and Tom Jones at the end of Act One is pure brilliance, and took a courageous actress. Ms. Hurst was most definitely that actress." Northshire Free Press
Melissa Hurst and the cast of TOM JONES are featured on the cover of the 2007 Summer Theatre Directory, available at the Drama Book Store or online at: www.theatredirectories.com
PICNIC (Left)
CAUSE CELEB (Right)
Melissa as Flo in William Inge's PICNIC
FALL 2005 Melissa played the mother, Flo, in William Inge's PICNIC at the Oldcastle Theatre Company in Bennington, VT.
September 30 - Oct 16, 2005 at the Bennington Center for the Arts.
"We feel for Hurst's sincere portrait of Flo as a lovely woman pathetically pitched on the brink of disappearing into the comfortable obscurity of her small Midwestern town.
The Advocate/Berkshires
Melissa has been an on-going cast-member of CAUSE CELEB!, the cult hit show that has performed around New York at Joe's Pub (Joseph Papp Public Theatre), The Cutting Room, and Fez.
(Left)
LOVE IN 3 MINUTES
(Right)
|
In the past year, she has appeared regularly as Mrs. Chitwood, RJ's nanny.
She recently played Dr. Cambrini in the film Love in 3 Minutes, which has been showing at festivals throughout the U.S. (Liz Anwar, writer/director, Spike Lee, creative consultant).
by Herb Gardner
May 5-May 21
Oldcastle Theatre Company, Bennington Center for the Natural and Cultural Arts
"Hurst gives a compelling performance as a misunderstood daughter..."
Bennington Banner
DARK AT THE CENTER
By Deborah Savadge
"Dark at the Center wins
TheatreFest Prize"
Reathel Bean, left, stars as a college professor accused of heinous crimes, and Melissa Hurst as his wife in the TheatreFest production of "Dark at the Center".
"Melissa Hurst is magnificent"
"Melissa Hurst is magnificent as Jane, a woman as cultured as the pearls she wears, yet tainted by sordidness. How regal she is a first, as she is certain of her husband's innocence. How sad she becomes as she realizes that she has been in denial and that he his guilty.
Newark Star Ledger
1997
HALF OFF
By Harry Kondoleon
THE NEW YORK TIMES
Ben Brantley
February 5, 1997
"Melissa Hurst and Crystal Field strike some comic sparks as feuding sisters-in-law. And there are, as usual, some memorably bizarre epigrams. 'It's a good thing after burying the dead to go to bed early," notes Ms. Fields's character. 'they appreciate it.'"
"Melissa Hurst is passionate in both
her lust and her fury"
NEW YORK TIMES
Wilborn Hampton
"Hurst tears into some pretty unflattering tasks with an amusing what-the-hell attitude that lifts us over some rocky patches in the second act."
NEW YORK NEWSDAY
Jan Stuart
1992
ONE NECK
By Todd Alcott
The Atlantic Theatre
Village Voice
"Savage, Unsettling, and Extremely Funny!"
NY Newsday
"Splattered with Laughs!"
New York Times
"One Neck Provokes a Gasp!
Ferocious! Over the Edge!"
Chelsea Clinton News
"A Haunting Spine-Tinger! Chilling and Comical!"
TheaterWeek
"Wicked, Witty, Explosive!"
WBAI
"Gripping!"
Clockwise from Top Left: Allison Janney, Damian Young, Melissa Hurst, David Thornton
1981
DARK RIDE
By Len Jenkin
SOHO Rep
"I got my Equity Card doing this show.."
"You are there." "Where?" "Here?" "Who?"
Bill Sadler and Melissa Hurst in Dark Ride