press coverage
what critics are saying about Alicia
AISLE SEAT REVIEW
“…especially Alicia M. P. Nelson (Actor 3) […] are the warp-and-woof of Baskerville. Nelson uses a dozen or so different accents (both upper and lower-class British), Scottish, Irish, and who knows what else, to steal the show […]”
Joanne Engelhardt, 10/10/23
FORBES
“Alicia M. P. Nelson […] brings down the house in scene two with a diva-worthy dystopian aria.”
Giovanni René Rodriguez, 9/4/2022
THE BERKSHIRE EAGLE
“ […] a cagey 28-year-old Sarah (Nelson), light-skinned enough to pass as white, which becomes a bitterly ironic, sadly realistic asset on the road; […]”
Jeffrey Borak, 10/20/22
ARTSALOT
“Two women on stage. Two profoundly talented women. Their choices, their rhythm, their conviction was more than memorable. The direction, impressive . Talk about a conversation piece, too? So intelligent, so interesting. I genuinely wanted more and ended up doing research after. Compelling, smart, and exactly the kind of theater I love to “stumble” on. Bravo and a half!”
Susannah Greenwood, 12/23/2019
THE BERKSHIRE EDGE
"Nelson's Bess is a frivolous young thing whose entire aspect is devotion to education, young men and her new stepmother, all with equal passion. Nelson is almost the comic relief of the troupe -- almost but not quite. Instead she is a wonderfully young girl with the motivation of the future Queen of England. [...] delightful."
J. Peter Bergman, 10/17/17
MERCURY NEWS
“In the hands of lesser actors, the rapid-fire, overlapping dialogue could implode, but Rinehart and Nelson are up to the task. […] All in all, a fascinating, if talky, play made more watchable by two highly talented actors.”
Joanne Engelhardt, 7/18/2019
The How and the Why, Dragon Productions, photo by Lance Huntley
48 HILLS
“Yet, the show lives or dies not by the sci-fi tropes or the songs by […], but by the performance of Zoe by Alicia Nelson. For the past few years, I’ve seen the clown-trained actress play everything from Judy Moody for children’s theatre, a post-apocalyptic scrounger for Ragged Wing, and a traveller through a Tolkien-esque Oakland for Awesome Theatre.
Here, under Brown’s guidance, Nelson may be at her most heart-breaking. She projects Zoe’s Gen-Z/Millennial disillusionment by understating when everyone around her goes big; adding a quiver to her voice when she seems at her lowest point: What’s the use in saving a future we won’t live to see? It takes nothing away from the rest of the cast to say that Nelson carries the entire show on her shoulders the way her character (and generation) carries the fate of the future on theirs.”
Charles Lewis III, 7/6/22
ART ON MY SLEEVE
“Unless you had visions of a blonde, straight-haired Desdemona who was cloyingly chaste and submissive, Alicia [M. P.] Nelson’s performance was easily the most conventional Shakespeare in sight, offering the best proof that a modernized text really does work – a courtesy to the Bard that is long overdue. Adoring yet sassy, far more dignified than coquettish, Nelson gave us a slight update on Dez, one that meshed well with Monks’ soulful charisma. She also inspired one of Holloway’s most resourceful camera placements, an overhead shot of her in the famed deathbed scene.”
Perry Tannenbaum, 4/18/21
SF CHRONICLE
“The trio was joined by Alicia [M. P.] Nelson […] whose work attested to the generative sonic power of words — the way sounds flick across the tongue and clack against the teeth and puff from the lips to make a percussive sort of meaning that amplified the evening’s themes of healing, of honestly claiming identity, of finding yourself in ancient myth. […] To witness them and their font of ideas was like being present for some kind of birth — which can be every bit as exciting, as important to theater as an art form, as consuming a finished product.”
Lily Janiak, 12/6/2019
THEATRIUS
“Alicia [M. P.] Nelson plays her sister Margaret Leavitt with depth and empathy, smoothly changing from overwhelmed and desperate to Henrietta’s stoic supporter.”
Hannah Yurke, 01/22/2019
SF THEATER BLOG
"Played to perfection by Alicia M. P. Nelson.”
7/5/22
MARIN INDEPENDENT JOURNAL
“…while Alicia [M. P.] Nelson brings an understated complexity to the role of Margaret Leavitt, Henrietta’s long-suffering and somewhat manipulative sister who’s been left to care for their ailing preacher father back in Wisconsin.”
Barry Willis, 01/22/2019
BU TODAY
“From the moment Nelson crouches before them and asks, “Do you know the story of Peter Pan?” (“I saw the movie,” one girl volunteers), they watch with rapt and solemn faces as the action unfolds.”
SF CHRONICLE
“Nelson deploys her husky voice with sly comic timing, ever able to deflate her scene partners’ hopes with just the shock of her timbre and a deadpan expression.”
Lily Janiak, 7/6/22
THE BERKSHIRE EAGLE
"[...] contributes significantly as Katherine's stepdaughter [...] Bess, who would rule as Queen Elizabeth. [...] the impossibly petulant, tantrum-throwing, needy, teenage Bess (effectively Alicia [M. P.] Nelson). [...] gives the draggy second half of the production life and spine."
Jeffrey Borak, 10/20/17
Silent Sky, Ross Valley Players, photo by Robin Jackson
MARIN INDEPENDENT JOURNAL
“Performances are excellent throughout. Alicia M. P. Nelson brings a bubbly engaging persona to the role of Mary Bennet, the clan’s asocial bookworm. […]. The show’s performers are well balanced and in near-perfect harmony with each other.”
Barry Willis, 12/01/2021
THEATRIUS
"Starfish (the multi-talented Alicia [M. P.] Nelson) [provides] comic relief throughout, cracking jokes and then flopping on the nearest rock to do what starfish do."
Rosa Del Duca, 7/2/17