"Maggie Lou Rader is a glorious Jo. Impetuous, impulsive, confused and prideful, she also is wickedly smart and desperate for a world that is more just for women.
Rader's presence dominates the stage. Emotional, impatient, impassioned – it is a fabulous performance. Whenever things slow for a moment, you long for her to return to the stage and get things moving again."
"Rader is one of those performers who brings a salt-of-the-earth sincerity to nearly everything she does. She’s positive without being a Pollyanna. She’s strong and credible and wholly likeable. We want her to succeed."
"Rader's Stella is bright and exuberant and open, everything Blanche is not. And while you may fret for her future in this abusive marriage, Rader brings a strength to the role that gives you hope for Stella."
"Maggie Lou Rader, who plays “Jo,” is a bonafide star. She is the most dynamic character in the story and has the most to do and Rader makes the most of the opportunity."
Press
Brick’s wife Maggie “the Cat” (Maggie Lou Rader at her breathtaking best) carries the first act.
"Rader’s dialogue is impeccable, weaving her own words and Shelley’s together into a stunning, often macabre tapestry. Her performance is resilient and emotionally exhausting. Loss after heartbreaking loss strikes, and Rader lassos the atmosphere of the space, steering its descent into anguish and fear."
As Maggie the Cat, Rader commands your attention. Sexy, confident, defiant, and yet exposing her desire to be loved by the very man who seems to hate her.
"Rader is warm and charming as she converses with Polixenes to uphold her role as hostess and partner to the king. Rader’s forceful portrayal reveals poignancy in how she soundly resists Leontes’ accusations with a stirring fortitude as well as compassion that hints at her profound love for him. Her defense of herself in court, touchingly disheveled and brokenhearted, preserves a shining power and inner strength."
"...Elizabeth, played with luminous grace and dignity by Maggie Lou Rader. And in Goodwin’s adaptation, Elizabeth could be viewed as a proxy for Mary Shelley herself: She is whip-smart, and when Victor condescendingly notes that she’s the “smartest woman” he knows, she’s quick to raise a protest about the gendered nature of his faint praise. And later, there’s a brilliantly calculated piece of dramatic counterpoint that pits Elizabeth’s humane impulses against Victor’s obsessive preoccupation with inventorying the body parts he will need for his new Prometheus."
"Rader, who brings a varied cadence to her character’s passionate emotions, imparts a much-needed complexity to the intense show."
"Rader is the height of noir-like sultriness. In the early scenes, as she is trying to seduce Riopelle, it almost feels like she’s caressing her words."