The following
exerpts are pulled from reviews. I have cited the author and
publication where applicable. Copyright laws apply:
The Trial of FDR (Sept. 2011)
(Girard) comes to the stage with a natural verve and enthusiasm... It is his performance, with its grand glimpses into the past of Arthur, that makes the play work as well as it does.
Peter Bergman
Berkshire Bright Focus
The Merchant of Venice (July 2011)
David Girard and Jack Fallon were a hilarious father-son duo as Launcelot and Old Gobbo respectively.
The Saratogian
Perhaps the character that stood out the most to me was David Girard’s Launcelot Gobbo. While the role of Launcelot is primarily comic relief, Girard played the comical clownish servant to a “t” (or in Old English–to a “tittle”). His already exaggerated character was enacted with just the right embellishment, complete with the perfect cackle and timing on his many puns.
Aubree Cutkomp
The Free George
Peter Pan the Musical (FALL 2011)
...it is David Girard's performance of Hook that makes the show so much fun... His experience and talent elevates the good work on stage and adds a comfort level to the work that is picked-up by the entire cast... Brian Sheldon is very funny as Smee - Hook's pirate sidekick. The two make a delightful comedy team that never goes too far in their search for laughs.
Bob Goepfert
The Record
And Then There Were None (Jan/Feb 2010)
David Girard for example is annoyingly hilariously as the over-the-top Anthony Marston, who spews the word “wizard” much like later Beatle-maniacs would bark “fab” and “gear.”
Michael Eck
The Times Union
David Girard makes the most of his role as Anthony Marston, the playboy with the funny voice and regionalisms. Girard adds a fine characterization to his growing roster of unusual parts.
Peter Bergman
Berkshire Bright Focus
A Legend of Sleepy Hollow (FALL 2009)
David Girard plays Irving with a verbal fortitude and a stylish manner and makes him a very real person indeed. It is easy to understand Irving’s haunted character watching Girard play him. He absorbs light. He contains it, in a way, and no matter what else may be happening on stage, it is Irving who attracts our attention. While this is not his story, when he is on the stage he is at the center of our attention.
Peter Bergman
Berkshire Bright Focus
Frequent guest artist David Girard plays Irving and veers — as Hansen's script asks — from imp to wimp and back again... David Bunce plays Burr, and it's fantastic work.... The interplay between the two men and Hansen — who plays a sort of 19th-century Catherine Willows — is rich.
Michael Eck
The Times Union
David Bunce as Burr and Girard as Irving.. are both versatile, reliable, and likable actors different enough in age and style to give the two leads distinct and entertaining personalities.
Gail M. Burns
GailSez
The Philadelphia Story (May 2009)
Girard, who's been making a mini-career of late playing sozzled cads, has some of the best scenes... (READ FULL)
Michael Eck
The Times Union
James Joyce's The Dead (April/May 2009)
The show’s best performance came from David Girard, who created a deeply complex and highly comic portrait of tippler Freddy Malins from his first entrance, and boldly led the cast in the production’s most vigorous number, “Wake the Dead.”
Kathryn Geurin (READ FULL)
Metroland
And Susan Cicarelli Caputo's choreography turns "Wake the Dead" into one of the most thrilling dramatic events in long memory. This scene — led by David Girard as the drunken Freddy Malins — is, dare I say it, worth the price of admission. (READ FULL)
Michael Eck
The Times Union
David Girard is remarkable for his nuanced performance as the drunken Freddy Malins / “Wake the Dead” is a showstopper (READ FULL REVIEW)
Carol King
The Daily Gazette
The same sense of character building is true with the drunken wastrel Freddie. David Girard makes him seem a harmless almost comical character... When he leads the company in the rousing "Wake the Dead," we discover the genuine love he has for his aunts and the passion he has for life. Once this happens, there is a sadness over what appears a wasteful life... Girard and the company do breathtaking work with "Wake the Dead, a vibrant number which would be a show-stopping number in any musical.
Bob Goepfert
The Record
Orphan Train / The Reporter (January/February 2009, Directed by Pat Birch)
Patricia Birch directs with such conviction that no word is false, no note is tentative, and no gesture incomplete. From the adult pros to the least-experienced child performer, this is ensemble playing at its finest. Particular kudos to David M. Girard, as the cynical newsman
Paul Lamar
The Daily Gazette
Of Mice and Men / Curley (FALL 2009)
...the lead roles are well-rendered and appropriately anchored. So are the supporting roles... Even David Girard's despicable Curley — usually as unsympathetic a character as ever created — offers an odd poignancy to his anger and self-doubt.
Michael Eck, (READ FULL)
The Times Union
Girard is given the difficult task of playing the choleric Curley...He layers this most unsympathetic of roles with anguish and frustration
Carol King,
The Daily Gazette
Girard makes the obnoxious Curly a real person
Bob Goepfert
The RECORD
1776 / Edward Rutledge
David Girard steals the show musically... "Mollasses to Rum" is a dark song... Girard delivers it grandly, with a sort of Guignol sneer and Brechtian flair... The entire number comes together brilliantly... It's shiver-worthy: three minutes of great theater...(READ FULL)
MICHAEL ECK
The Times Union
In a wrathful scolding of John Adams, David M. Girard, as Edward Rutledge of South Carolina, delivers the most riveting moment of the show with his soaring rendition of "Molasses to Rum"
CAROL KING
The Daily Gazette
Girard performs "Mollasses 'to Rum" as good as it ever - ever - could be done...
BOB ROSE
The Chronicle
Reunion: An Epic Musical in Miniature (Directed by Ron Holgate)
Girard offers his strongest and most emotionally varied performance at NYSTI. Girard's acting is terrific and his singing is sensitive... Girard is the heart of the production...
BOB GOEPFERT
The RECORD
...effectively played and hauntingly sung by David Girard... the 'Beautiful Dreamer' sequence is particularly affecting...
JEFFREY BORAK
The Berkshire Eagle
...sung gorgeously by The Soldier (David Girard)...
CAROL KING,
The Daily Gazette
The Soldier, never named, is played brilliantly on all levels by David Girard. Acting, singing, making love and making memories, he is a stunner.
J. PETER BERGMAN,
Berkshire Bright Focus
Taming of the Shrew / Petruchio
...Petruchio, is equally well-played
by David Girard. He believably and most amusingly masters Kate,
or so he thinks, by ably fighting fire with fire. He is as
handsome and likeable as Kate is beautiful and puzzling — and
the two are always screamingly funny...
BOB ROSE
The Post-Star
The Crucible / Reverand Hale
One of the strongest performances offered
is by David Girard as Reverend John Hale. Girard is able
to show Hale's agonizing transition from a man who truly
believes ... to
a man who realizes that society is being corrupted by those
who rely on fear and superstition ... It's superior work
that makes Hale the true conscience of the piece.
BOB GOEPFERT
The Record
The Tempest / Ariel
Kevin
McGuire and David Girard... seem to weave an appropriate
magic everywhere they step... Girard's Ariel appears to be
floating across the land... When he is set free by
Prospero and runs away, the joy of his release is tempered
by a sadness over what he might now face in the real world...
BOB ROSE
The Post-Star
The Time of Your Life / Harry the Hoofer
Girard
shows how, subliminally, Harry understands that killing
people to make peace and
having poverty in a land of wealth is ruefully comic...
However, he is so naïve he doesn't understand why
no one else sees comedy in tragedy... It's a subtle and
thoughtful
interpretation that enriches a character frequently dismissed
as shallow...
BOB GOEPFERT
The Record
Betrayal / Jerry
Brilliant... David
Girard plays Jerry
with a cooler air than he's ever offered...
Jerry is a distant lover and a distant friend, which
makes Girard's final
scene startling in its tipsy fervor...
MICHAEL ECK
The Times Union
Good: A Play with Music / Crooner
David Girard... is
terrific. Solely using song, he creates many
distinct characters
that establish
the changing emotional conflicts ... Girard
is an actor/singer who not
only has
fun with the musical
interludes, but adds to the drama of the moment
with his musical interpretations...
BOB GOEPFERT
The Record
Henry's House / Crafty Foxx
Stealing
the show every time he appears on stage is David
Girard as Crafty Foxx. Girard elevates
his character
by bringing a
sense of fun to his role ... His work in the first
act dance number, followed
by a show-stopping solo... ends the first segment
on
a true high...
BOB GOEPFERT
The Record
Best of all is David Girard, whose early
sequences as sly, villainous Crafty Foxx are so stupendous
that you
can’t
take your eyes off him and you check your program
hoping to be seeing him again and again...
MARK FROST
The Chronicle
Lonely Planet / Carl
...performed with comic flair and deep
understanding by David Girard...
