From Some Reviews . . .
Anything Goes
“Director Bob Chapel has created a fast moving show . . .a well-timed and smooth-running production that the audience clearly found funny. They got all the punch lines, and they clapped and clapped.” The Hook (Charlottesville, VA)
Broadway Bound
“Chapel has pulled beautiful performances from his cast . . .Chapel’s production, as a whole, bespeaks Jewish ethnicity, which is so central to Simon’s vision, without hitting us over the head with it.” The News Leader (Richmond, VA)
Cabaret
“Chapel seems to work better with tight blocking and to favor lots of group tableaux – almost like paintings on stage – and he’s very good at it.” The Daily Progress (Charlottesville, VA)
Carnival
“Robert Chapel’s directing is so varied and dynamic as to keep the stage always interesting to watch.” Watertown Daily Times Watertown, NY
Carousel
“Chapel’s direction – as is the case whenever he tackles a musical – is a triumph of sensitivity. The Observer (Charlottesville, VA)
A Chorus Line
“Director Robert Chapel’s production recaptures much of the original magic of Michael Bennett’s revolutionary musical. The greatest compliment that can be paid to Chapel is that he manages to keep the quarter-century-old show remarkably fresh. (Production is described as ‘divine’.)” The Cavalier Daily (Charlottesville, VA)
Damn Yankees
“The Heritage Repertory production, directed by Robert Chapel, is as lively, streamlined and slickly staged a musical as you’ll ever see in Charlottesville.” C’ville Weekly (Charlottesville, VA)
Dancing at Lughnasa
“Director Robert Chapel has captured this beauty and spirit with a superb cast.” The Daily Progress
The Dining Room
“Director Robert Chapel’s production of Gurney’s most popular play thrives on its integrity. Don’t look for mugging, double takes or other manifestations of caricature on the stage of the Culbreth Theatre. You won’t find them. Much of ‘The Dining Room’ is not the stuff of laughter, and Chapel’s recognition of this has freed him to probe the play’s darker currents to great effect. The result is beautifully staged, beautifully acted and beautifully designed.” The News Leader
Falsettos
“Director Bob Chapel directs this show with his usual skill and talent. He does well with musicals in intimate spaces and seems to be able to pull things out of his performers that even they may not have known were there.” The Observer
Fiddler on the Roof
“The superb directorial job of Bob Chapel is clearly evident. Organizing the musical and dance performances, not to mention the dramatic scenes, requires someone who understands how to juggle all these aspects and make it look easy. Chapel does all of this and more.” Cavalier Daily
Fuente Ovejuna
“Robert Chapel directs the 2 hour production with meticulous care, injecting moments of humor whenever possible.” Ann Arbor News (Ann Arbor, MI)
A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum
“Bob Chapel has outdone himself with Forum. He guides his 19-member cast seamlessly; creating an impressive ensemble effect of barely controlled lunacy. Rehearsals, while strenuous, must have been a riot!” C’ville Weekly
Guys and Dolls
“. . . director Robert Chapel has outdone himself with this one. There is absolutely nothing bad about it. This production is done with complete professionalism . . . Chapel has always had a wonderful sense of the visual in his shows; that comes out loud and clear here. This show is not only fun to watch, it’s nice to just look at. The blocking of the actors, the way he’s worked with the set, the way he’s worked with the designers, the choreography – even the simple numbers – all of them are quite beautiful to look at. A big musical is a big risk; Chapel’s up to the challenge.” The Daily Progress
“The production was directed by the master himself, Robert Chapel, and I was most impressed with the pace of the show. This production had the feel of Broadway and the energy of New York.” Culpeper Star-Exponent (Culpeper, VA)
How the Other Half Loves
“Director Robert Chapel’s production is good enough to make us seriously doubt that this early Ayckbourn play is the second-rate baggage it’s generally thought to be on this side of the Atlantic.” Richmond Times Dispatch (Richmond, VA)
“Robert Chapel’s direction is flawless; in a production that depends on split-second timing, this is crucial.” The Observer
I’m Not Rappaport
“Director Bob Chapel orchestrates the comic timing wonderfully. His direction gives the play a witty balance.” The University Journal (Charlottesville, VA)
“It’s good work by author, cast and crew, particularly by director Bob Chapel . . .” (National Public Radio WVTF)
Into the Woods
“Director Chapel has done himself proud with this one. Finding the right people, combining them in the right way, making it all work is always the responsibility of the director, and Chapel has a hand with the modern musical that rarely disappoints. He knows how to cast his shows, how to bring out the best in his designers and performers, how to include community, how to turn individual performers into a true ensemble, how to keep an eye on the big picture and on detail simultaneously.” The Daily Progress
King Lear
“King Lear is so overwhelmingly great, it’s virtually impossible for any production to do it full justice. Director Bob Chapel comes darn close. He has taken 15 principals and an even larger number of supporting players and fused them into a spectacular production.” The Observer
Lady Day at Emerson’s Bar and Grill
“. . . Robert Chapel has done a superb job of keeping the piece low-key. This is a play that tells its own story. It doesn’t need bells and whistles and gimmicks, and Chapel has rightfully avoided them.” The Daily Progress
Leonard Bernstein’s Mass
“His (Chapel) developed sense of what works on stage allowed the beauty of Bernstein’s work to truly shine. He knows how to capitalize on the fun of children running on stage without letting it get sloppy. He knows how to stage spontaneous chaos. Most importantly, he knows how to please an audience.” Michigan Daily (Ann Arbor, MI)
“Robert Chapel should be proud of his skill in making Bernstein’s vision relevant to today. From the simple touch of the golf club at the beginning to the most complex staging effects of the climatic anti-religious orgy, Chapel’s immense imagination translated Bernstein’s modern-day miracle play into a ’80s version of a happening.” The Ann Arbor News (Ann Arbor, MI)
The Light in the Piazza
“As always, director Bob Chapel and his designers give us a stunningly beautiful show. Chapel even has set changes working in gorgeous silhouette, and nothing is visually out of place.” The Daily Progress
The Mousetrap
“What makes Charlottesville’s ‘The Mousetrap’ so satisfying is the knack director Robert Chapel and company have for conveying that essential British flavor, which is a matter of eccentricity as well as accent.” Richmond Times Dispatch
Next To Normal
“ . . . Chapel’s tour de force, quite possibly the best show he has ever directed for Heritage. . . .That all of these actors can be utterly believable in their characters when nearly every line is sung is a tribute them and to Chapel’s thoughtful, incisive direction. . . . This show was a risk for Chapel. Take his hand and take the chance with him.” The Daily Progress
The Pajama Game
“Chapel has chosen to leave this entirely as a period piece, with tongue occasionally in cheek, and it’s absolutely the right choice. It’s so lightweight it floats.” The Daily Progress
Ragtime
“. . . a jewel of a production. . .It seems that Chapel has reached the top of his game with this one. He’s chosen an exceptional show, has cast talented performers, done everything right. So what’s wrong with this production? There’s probably not enough time to see it twice.” The Daily Progress
The Sound of Music
“Director Robert Chapel nails it. There may be no director in the region who can mount a musical with more precision.” (C’ville Weekly)
Sunday in the Park with George
“This may be the perfect show for director Bob Chapel, who himself has a passion for the visual and for order in every show he directs, and this show is inherently visual. Chapel hasn’t ignored the character development, though, and has cast exceptional actors in the primary roles.” The Daily Progress
Sweeney Todd
“There’s no question that this was an ambitious shot, even for Chapel, who’s taken on some tough ones in his time here. But this one is an ambition fully realized, worth every penny of the ticket price. It’s a production any large regional theatre would be proud to call its own, right here in our own backyard.” The Daily Progress
“Do expect a powerhouse experience in the Culbreth Theatre in Robert Chapel’s direction. Chapel’s staging bursts with urgency and achieves a magical balance between the material’s grisly body and its rare quality of soul. We feel both fear and pity and that gives it meaning.” Richmond Times Dispatch
Thieves’ Carnival
(The play) “is a farce, to be sure, but hardly a mindless one, and director Robert Chapel has captured much of the essential Anouilh spirit.” (The News Leader)
“In this production, Robert Chapel’s direction is remarkably specific and consistent. The play sustains an energetic comic momentum, even when there are some quiet, one-on-one conversational scenes.” The Observer
The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee
“No doubt, thanks to Chapel’s direction, they never ever overdo it or use trite devices to capture their characters, making them real people with flaws and foibles.” The Daily Progress
A Walk in the Woods
“Chapel’s direction is clean and crisp; no unnecessary frills, just enough to take the audience where he wants it to go. . . .the spare scenery is right on target, simple and clean, like Chapel’s direction.” The Daily Progress
“The rapport between Greene and Cupp is so palpable that perhaps they made it up as they went along: this movement, that inflection. But director Robert Chapel’s guidance is all the more to be praised for this effect – a combination of strength and subtlety. It is a fine piece of work.” The Observer
West Side Story
“We have become accustomed to director Bob Chapel working musical magic: this time with a cast of 33 singers, dancers and actors, he’s outdone past credits by delivering theatrical punch to the gut, as well as to the eyes and ears.” The Observer
“West Side Story” . . . is special – totally assured, uncommonly moving and well worth the drive to Charlottesville to experience. Chapel’s direction is savvy, complete with many thrilling and right directorial choices. Richmond Times Dispatch