SONGS FOR A NEW WORLD Reviews

2005 LOS ANGELES OVATION AWARD NOMINATION RUBICON THEATRE'S - SONGS FOR A NEW WORLD
Wrtten by Jason Robert Brown / Directed by Jon Lawrence Rivera

LOS ANGELES TIMES THEATER REVIEW - by Philip Brandes
"Standout moments belong to Benson"

DAILY VARIETY REVIEW - by Joel Hirschhorn
"Confrontationally comedic Cindy Benson is an arresting, no-holds-barred performer, and she barrels into songs with terrifying commitment. As Mrs. Santa Claus, who feels rejected by her husband's worldwide holiday treks, she initially suggests Marlene Dietrich on speed, then fragments hilariously before our eyes while screaming, "Nick, take me with you!" Her rendition of a suicidal wife in "Just One Step" is the kind of brassily ethnic showstopper Barbra Streisand would have done in her "Funny Girl" days; Benson's protest "I'm not gonna kvetch," as she contemplates her bloody corpse splattered across Fifth Avenue, is a hair-raising piece of theater".

BACKSTAGE WEST - by Tom Jacobs
"Benson has several showstopping numbers in the Elaine Stritch tradition, which she pulls off brilliantly."

VENTURA COUNTY STAR - by Rita Moran
"Cindy Benson delivers with searing force. She has amazing energy, agility and humor."

VENTURA COUNTY REPORTER - by Stacey Wiebe
"Cindy Benson, who starred as Mme.Thenardier on Broadway in
"Les Miserables", is at all times ENERGETIC and alternately tragic and hysterically funny as a woman who sings her neuroses, anger, pain and joy"

SANTA BARBARA NEWS - byTom Jacobs
" PERFORMED BRILLIANTLY by Ms. Benson."

THE 15th ANNUAL TICKETHOLDER AWARDS. Sponsored by Entertainment Today, ReviewPlays.com and LA Alternative
BEST ACTRESS IN A MUSICAL: Cindy Benson, Songs for a New World, Rubicon Theatre.