Pittsburgh Current Theater Critic

Ensemble Cast Is ‘Remarkable’ In CMU’s ‘Cabaret’

‘Burgh Viviant

A perfectly marvelous show – a review of “Cabaret”

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Pittsburgh City Paper
"Director Tomé Cousin has made “telling the story” the goal (easily lost in a mammoth work) and succeeds with skill and not a little flair. He occasionally clutters the stage with extraneous movement and business, but Cousin is known for drawing strong performances from a cast, and he does so here."
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The Pittsburgh Tatler
"Director Tomé Cousin, a dancer and choreographer by training, has a keen eye for dynamic stage pictures and precise movement vocabulary, and he brings the story to vivid life through inventive and fluid staging that moves the action from scene to scene and location to location through a quick rearrangement of a few chairs on Hank Bullington’s spare set. Making a virtue out of necessity, Cousin finds clever solutions for actions that would otherwise require costly and complicated props and stage machinery to carry off. "
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'Burgh Vivant
"Where will the loathsome tale end? If you guessed in “blood and gore,” you’ve won the big money prize! Luckily, director Tome Cousin handles the carnage artfully. When Todd slices a throat, scarlet billows forth from the victims neck like an explosion of rose petals. It is beautiful and macabre."
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The Korea Times
”’Contact’ sparked controversy over whether it is a musical or not on Broadway back in 2000 and the question still follows the show.

Tome Cousin, director of the show, stood firm in his perspective that "Contact" is a musical.

"The elements of a musical include narrative, live music and dance. Contact centers around dance, but it has a plot, music and dance. So why is Contact not a musical?" Cousin said."
...Read the full review

Pittsburgh City Paper
"Cousin and Jacobs’s aim is to rescue the work from all its accumulated baggage (the term “Uncle Tom” is not one you would have used in the past 70 years) and to present Stowe’s — and Aiken’s — story center-stage. This they do, thanks to a knock-out student cast, without the slightest hint of irony or contemporary shading. You are allowed, rather than forced, to draw your own Black Lives Matter and/or Syrian refugee parallels." ...Read the full review

'Burgh Vivant
Review: UNCLE TOM’S CABIN, Playhouse Conservatory Company
...Watch the Interview and Hear the Podcast

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
"Ultimately, the whole thing is bound together by the indefatigable director, Tome Cousin, who seems to know that “Ragtime” is especially fitted to our difficult political moment. It finds hope after great loss, the story ending with a hybrid family blending all three ethnic groups. What could be more inspirational?" ...Read the full review

THE FRANKLIN PROJECT:
Interviews, Essays and Articles on Diversity and Non-Traditional Casting for Theatre Performance

A theatre performance collection of essays and articles on diversity and non-traditional casting for the 2015/2016 season.
by Tomé Cousin

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
Choreographer Tome Cousin gathers testimonials to combat tokenism in theater
"Tome Cousin recalled a young actor talking about being the token person of color at a final callback for a Broadway show and how the story struck a chord deep in his own experience — with an exception being that instead of “a token,” he thought of himself as the 'Franklin' in the room. Franklin was the one African-American character in the 'Peanuts' comic strip."
...Read the full review

Pittsburgh City Paper
"This is a fast-paced production showcasing the splendid choreography of Tomé Cousin and Thomas W. Douglas’ precise musical direction." ...Read the full review

'Burgh Vivant
"A crowd pleasing, heartwarming musical that holds nothing back" Nancy talks THE FULL MONTY at Carnegie Mellon School of Drama through February 27th, 2016.
...Watch the Interview

Pittsburgh Tribune Review
Review: 'Choir Boy' performances add intensity to moving story
"what makes The Rep's production of McCraney's most recent play, "Choir Boy," so remarkable is Tomé Cousin's direction and choreography that lifts the play from flat page to 3-D intensity and conflict.

Delivered without intermission, the tense, one-hour-and-40-minute drama interweaves spirituals such as “Rocking in the Land” and “Motherless Child” that express the boys' inner lives. Cousin amplifies those emotions with powerful choreography rooted in African-American culture."
...Read the full review

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
Stage review: Songs speak to the soul of The Rep's intense 'Choir Boy'
"Choir Boy" is 100 minutes without intermission, the more intense because of the tiny Studio Theater. It is feelingly directed by Tomé Cousin, who has assembled a fine cast, all with some past or present connection to the Point Park University theater program."
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The Pittsburgh Tatler 
'Choir Boy' at The Rep Professional Theatre Company
"Director Tomé Cousin has set the songs to dynamic choreography, and the music and dance really make the play zing."
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Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
The Rep’s 'Souvenir' hits all the right and 'wrong' notes in the tale of a real-life singing diva:
"From Tomé Cousins' direction the production sparkles with energy and polished performances."
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Pittsburgh Tribune Review
The Rep's offbeat 'Souvenir' keeps the laughter real:
"Much of the credit should also go to the director Tomé Cousin who allows us to laugh at the proceedings while keeping the characters real and the stakes high throughout." ...Read the full review

The Pittsburgh Tatler 
"Tomé Cousin has set the play in the intimate Studio space, a smart choice that allows the actors to work with more precision and nuance than they could in a larger venue." ...Read the full review

Pittsburgh City Paper
The REP's Souvenir: It's more than simply a show for people who've run out of friends to introduce to The Room ...Read the full review

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
...just delicious structure, it's resonant meaning and substance. His direction is detailed. You can also tell he has a history as a choreographer: I'd call "Vera Stark" unmissable. ...Read the full review

Pittsburgh City Paper
Director Tomé Cousin does a great job ratcheting up the insanity to the breaking point. ...Read the full review

'Burgh Vivant
'Burgh Vivant's Mike "Buzz" can barely contain himself (or his martini) as he delivers "high praise" for BY THE WAY, MEET VERA STARK playing at The Rep, directed by Tomé Cousin. This "madcap" satire of Old Hollywood's glamour days sends Buzz and host Brian Edward down memory lane, and urges them to ponder their own future in showbiz. AND: Buzzelli coughs up more than just a good review in this one! ...Watch the Interview

Pittsburgh City Paper
A syncopated whirlwind of activity. With only 12 performers, the cast manages to crowd the entire stage, creating a real party atmosphere. ...Read the full review

The Tartan
The best part of the production is Tome’ Cousin’s mesmerizing choreography. It is a perfect mix of anarchy, sexuality, and elegance – the very embodiment of a party in the Roaring Twenties. Like Jackson Pollock’s drips of paint, dancers flip and turn, tumble and twist, frisk and rumble as they weave among each other. There is always something to look at, at times it becomes almost overwhelming.

The choreography is at its best at its most ferocious.

The lively party sequences are just as well executed; the amount of activity and motion make it feel like a party thrown by Jay Gatsby although there are only a dozen actors on stage.

Exuberant, flawless dancing in which the partygoers move as one cohesive whole. ...Read the full review

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
Mr. Cousin provides powerful. Affecting choreography, dramatizing the passions seething through uncomprehending bodies. ...Read the full review

Pittsburgh City Paper
Under the direction of Tome’ Cousin, “Spring” takes considerable time not only to develop its story, but also to compose its gloomy poetry. ...Read the full review

Pittsburgh City Paper
...legend Tomé Cousin collaborated with the original director/choreographer, Susan Stroman, to recreate her Tony-winning efforts for a rousing evening of (sometimes uncomfortable) fun.

A towering monument to musical talent and bad taste. ...Read the full review

Gordon Spencer on WRCT
Hold onto your seat, a hit up there onstage is socking it to 'em.

Directional concepts and choreography re-created, enriched and enhanced by Tomé Cousin. ...Read the full review

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
The proverbial gales of laughter swept through the house.

The whole project, focusing on the man in charge, director/ choreographer Tome’ Cousin. He deserves an award. I know he has ‘only’ recreated (as the program says) the original work of Susan Stroman, but with a musical this size, complexity and comic detail, there is no “only” about what Tome’ has done, which is exhilarating in both grand profusion and small details.

Add to the sheer size of the project the fact that he’s done it all with undergraduates. I’m also sure that I caught some fresh directional details along the way. It adds up to a jaw-dropping achievement. These kids, no matter how talented they may be, have been whipped into a fine froth of pretty near perfection. ...Read the full review

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
This is entertainment on so many levels. ...Read the full review

Pittsburgh City Paper
...their world is a fever-dream of movement and words.

This staged memoir is a dirty and provocative. ...Read the full review

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
To Cousin’s credit that the audience could still laugh as the marathon dragged into the 35th day. Much of that spirit came from some upbeat dances that bordered on production numbers and an occasional inspired touch of the surreal.

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
Dance numbers stand out...

Mr Cousin’s fine work in reassembling and reanimating the shards of the Broadway staging enable this production to speed right pass any objection.

Nothing is more impressive than the end of Act 1, creepingly staged.

Pittsburgh City Paper
Watch and smell the steam...

Credit Tome Cousin for vivifying David Thompson’s adaption.

Nonstop dynamism...

A fascinating, colorful pageant...

Scene after scene oozes sensuality, wriggling, writhing Delta-sweaty bodies articulate desire, fate, irony, and death.

The Boston Globe, 2008
Romantic, heartbreaking, and breathtakingly beautiful, choreographer Susan Stroman's "contact" packs a powerful dramatic punch.

In the North Shore Music Theatre's crisp and classy production, director Tome Cousin, who was a member of Stroman's original cast, is faithful to the show's look and feel while adding a little extra urgency with his in-the-round staging.

Tome's transition from Wiley's bleak apartment to the mysterious dance hall is smart and swift, and his ability to shift the audience's focus from two dancers to 16 keeps the excitement factor high. Since the original production of "contact" was done on a three-quarter thrust stage, it's not too much of an adjustment to North Shore's arena.

Still, Tome gives the scenes a marvelous flow, and his dancers build on both the characters and the steps to make the essential connection. The final moment of "contact" is so simple its emotional power is surprising.

The Beverly Citizen, 2008
Contact may take a little attitude adjustment for the typical musical audience, but ultimately it does exactly what its title says - it makes contact, deep and poignant, sometimes joyful and fun, often painful.

The Virginia Pilot, 2006
Fresh and energetic

Genuine excitement! Total originality!

Not just crowd-pleasing, toe tapping entertainment or classic drama of the heart-wrenching formula, but a mixture of both, with the formula thrown away.

Director Tome’ Cousin gives an erotic edge to swing dancing.

Pittsburgh Post Gazette, 2006
Cousin had to figure out how to do the show with students, in the process bridging the gap between Point Park’s separate dance and musical theater programs. The happy result testifies as much to the spirit of his generous leadership and the student’s wholehearted participation as to his technical solutions and the skills they have discovered.

To multiply the challenge, Cousin has doubled – and tripled - cast some roles.

The New York Times, 2000
A dream ensemble of dancing actors and acting dancers, have created the unthinkable: a new musical throbbing with wit, sex appeal and a perfectionist’s polish. Brimming with a sophistication untainted by the usual turn-of-the-century cynicism.

The dancers who make up the ensemble in the swing club are much more than background, each performer registers with a firm stamp of individuality. Even without lines to speak, they’re all distinct personalities.

Sarasota Herald-Tribune, 2009
Director Tome’ Cousin, who restages Stroman’s choreography, highlights a strong cast that displays a real diversity of skills, as if no movement or style is beyond them.

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
That the dancing expresses such character is due to director Tome’ Cousin.

In Pittsburgh
With the supple and skilled direction of Tome’ Cousin, One Mo’ Time is a sweet confection of music, dance, sass, and attitude.

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
Tome’ Cousin’s choreography shares honors with the costumes. His dance for himself as Anger, on roller skates yet, pulsates with fury.

Cousin has given each of the seven characteristic business, sometimes funny and occasionally chilling.

In Pittsburgh
Tome’ Cousin’s athletic choreography really picks up the piece and gets it moving.

The Pittsburgh Press
Cousin’s direction is pure mock glitz, a ton of fun.

In Pittsburgh
From the goofy ballet moves to the constant arm waving, Cousin allows his actors to let loose and strike poses that scream "Look at me. I’m wonderful."

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
It isn’t just the softly descending dark that perfects "Blues", but everything about this production directed by Tome’ Cousin.

In Pittsburgh
Director Tome’ Cousin treats each song as its own play and 15 minutes into the show you realize you don’t want to be anywhere else in the world.

The Pittsburgh Press
The proficient cast of three women and one man, under Tome’ Cousin’s direction clearly enjoy themselves as the bewail the scars they earned in the sex wars.

The Pittsburgh Courier
Director Tome’ Cousin should be commended for putting together such an ensemble.

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
Director / choreographer Tome’ Cousin came up with another of his solid efforts with this one, combining two disparate segments with masterful ease.

Although Peter Martins’ choreography was considered weak in the original, Cousin turned the highly charged emotional content into a plus. It became a dance spectacular, occasionally overwrought, but exciting nonetheless. Cousin skillfully wove ballet, modern dance together with a dose of jazz.

In Pittsburgh
This collection of six works was generally touching and thought-provoking and showed sensitivity to those who live with the disease.

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
By no means a one-note samba. It was funny and furious, nostalgic and noteworthy. And to its credit, not self-serving.

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
Cousin has staged a fast-moving performance of energetic-dance and movement, staring himself as the boy Keith.

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette - Phoenix
The program geared towards family entertainment, was full of such pure, dancerly images.

Cousin kept the choreography bright and active, pulsating with undulating torsos and vibrant group movement.

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
Could also be called the program with lots of heart. Cousin skillfully staged it all from a quasi-balletic base, kept simple and effective so the gymnastic movement and smart theatrical accent could capture everyone’s attention.

In Pittsburgh
Tome’ Cousin is recognized as one of Pittsburgh’s most versatile entertainers.

The Pittsburgh Press
Director=choreographer Tome’ Cousin’s production at Theater at Hartwood not only demonstrates how much talent there is living and working here but what an exceptional performing space Hartwood is.

Making us smile is exactly what the two halves have in common, along with a cheery nostalgia that bounces back and forth between affection and tongue-in-cheek.

The particular charm of the Hollywood half, defty re-created by Tome Cousin, Tap dancing abounds.

The Pittsburgh Press
Let’s Misbehave is also worth a seconded look, especially when Cousin finds a partner like Tony Dixon, his equal in stage charm and loose, jazzy physicality.

Dance Notations
When Tome’ Cousin and the Physical Theatre Project come up in print or conversation, two words never come to mind: typical or predictable. In the few short years that Cousin has been enticing audiences with his singular, witty, though provoking style, he has managed to carve a solid niche for himself and for his company.

The Fresno California Bee
Karen West of the CSUF dance department said PTP is an athletic and energetic type of dance group which is modern and innovative.

Dance Notations
Cousin’s THEN AND NOW set to music by Depeche Mode, is a poignant look at the persecution of homosexuals throughout history, beginning with the treatment of gays and lesbians in the concentration camps in Auschwitz, Germany.