WHAT'S THE BUZZ...
THE HEART SELLERS
Milwaukee Repertory Theater's world premiere of 'The Heart Sellers' is a stunning comedy
"I would sign up today for a whole season of shows about Luna (Nicole Javier) and Jane (Narea Kang), the young immigrant wives who become friends in Lloyd Suh's warmhearted comedy "The Heart Sellers."
Javier does much of the play's verbal heavy lifting while pinballing around the stage.
But each knows the feeling of being torn between two worlds, which Javier's Luna makes clear in an anguished speech in which she worries she won't be able to make her children understand the life of her mother.
- Jim Higgins, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
THE HEART SELLERS is a Laugh-Aloud Lover Letter to Friendship at MILWAUKEE REPERTORY THEATER
Luna (Nicole Javier) barrels into the scene, goofy and garrulous, talking a mile a minute and barely stopping to catch a breath. Javier and Kang share a natural, jovial rapport and easy hysterical laughter.
Javier's chatty, high-energy Luna balances Kang's restrained Jane until the two eventually meet in the middle.
Even in moments of silence, these two communicate such depth and dimension. It's not just their expressions, but their delivery of these characters' simple acts of friendly intimacy.
- Kelsey Lawler, Broadway World
THE HEART SELLERS Is a Winning World Premiere
"Rep's comedy about Asian immigrants in 1970's will sneak up on you with its insights. The play is almost a thoughtful test pilot for a new sitcom ("Luna and Jane Go to K-Mart").
The babbling loose-tongued Javier runs around the apartment on tippy toes...
- Dominique Paul Noth, Urban Milwaukee
Javier is simply a marvel as the exuberant, gregarious Luna, so real yet so larger than life. And both actresses filled moments until they were brimming over with laughs or with tears.
- Harry Cherkinian, Shepard Express
Nicole Javier (Luna) and Narea Kang (Jane) have great chemistry and play off one another incredibly well. Then there are times when each is charged with commanding the stage alone, and command they do. In these privates moments, we see their curiosity... truly, every moment of this play is purposeful and powerful.
- Amy Menzel, Around the Town- Chicago
ALL'S WELL THAT ENDS WELL
"Later in the play, when the action shifts to Italy, Nicole Javier gives the production some fortitude and backbone as Diana, an innkeeper's daughter pursued by Bertram and ultimately co-opted by Helen to help set things right."
- Joy Evan Henerson, Broadway World
TOKYO FISH STORY
"It's the explosive fiery feminist badass newbie Ama (Nicole Javier) that brings the most pungency to the narrative."
- Karen D'Souza, San Jose Mercury News
"Helping round out the talented ensemble is Nicole Javier. As Ama, Ms. Javier displays persistence and purpose of her own desires while fully embracing with knowing looks and caring eyes the respect and reverence due to the honored Koji."
-Eddie Reynolds, Talkin' Broadway
"Javier manages to give Ama more dimensionality than is on the page, making her more of an equal in Takashi's realm. Her dreamy appearances as The Woman are haunting and timeless."
- Jeanie K. Smith, Mountain View Voice
EDITH CAN SHOOT THINGS AND HIT THEM
Listed in KQED's Arts Do It List
"A winsome Nicole Javier plays Edith with such engaging and uncutesy bravado..."
- Jean Schiffman, San Francisco Examiner
"Javier as Edith has a taller order. As the youngest kid, she has to straddle that chasm between childhood and adulthood and not give one of those annoying “adult playing widdle kiddle” performances, which she studiously avoids. Edith is a firecracker, Javier certainly delivers on ferocity, intelligence and emotional volatility."
- Chad Jones, Bay Area Backstage
"Javier adroitly captures the title character's contradictions. She is a wise, mature adult, a tough-talking, trigger-happy maverick, and a terrified little girl."
- Lily Janiak, SF Weekly
RAPTURE, BLISTER, BURN
Listed in KQED's Best Theater of 2014: A Year Full to Bursting with Powerful Performances
"Nicole Javier's Avery... is the fresh, not to mention caustic breeze of youth, challenging - and judging - her elders... "
- Robert Hurwitt, San Francisco Chronicle
"Midriff-bearing Avery (a jaunty Nicole Javier)... delivers many of the tartiest lines in the play, including an unforgettable joke about the commonalities between porn and Google Maps, nicely framed by Javier's keen comic instincts."
- Karen D'Souza, San Jose Mercury News
"Avery (a fierce, forthright Nicole Javier) shine[s] in scene after hilarious scene. Together, Bogovich and Javier achieve something rare — a comedy that goes deep, yet never loses its sense of humor."
- Georgia Rowe, The San Francisco Examiner
SOME GIRL(S)
"New hotel room, and we meet Tyler (Nicole Javier), a hot lusty babe with seemingly one thing on her mind, until we learn that she, too, nurses some wounds. Javier is a marvelous example of the wealth and depth of Bay Area acting talent."
- Jeannie K. Smith, Talking Broadway
EXPECTING ISABEL
"Nicole Javier is amazing in her distinct portrayals of therapist, junkie and overwhelmed young mother."
- Elizabeth Warnimont, Benicia Harold
FRESH VOICES SHOWCASE: DEMONS AND DELIGHTS
"Through a collage of Shakespeare, music, and movement, Nicole follows the footsteps of the famous Alice in Wonderland to discover that the rabbit hole turned out to be one of the best rides of her life."
- Kathy Lauer-Williams, The Morning Call
Milwaukee Repertory Theater's world premiere of 'The Heart Sellers' is a stunning comedy
"I would sign up today for a whole season of shows about Luna (Nicole Javier) and Jane (Narea Kang), the young immigrant wives who become friends in Lloyd Suh's warmhearted comedy "The Heart Sellers."
Javier does much of the play's verbal heavy lifting while pinballing around the stage.
But each knows the feeling of being torn between two worlds, which Javier's Luna makes clear in an anguished speech in which she worries she won't be able to make her children understand the life of her mother.
- Jim Higgins, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
THE HEART SELLERS is a Laugh-Aloud Lover Letter to Friendship at MILWAUKEE REPERTORY THEATER
Luna (Nicole Javier) barrels into the scene, goofy and garrulous, talking a mile a minute and barely stopping to catch a breath. Javier and Kang share a natural, jovial rapport and easy hysterical laughter.
Javier's chatty, high-energy Luna balances Kang's restrained Jane until the two eventually meet in the middle.
Even in moments of silence, these two communicate such depth and dimension. It's not just their expressions, but their delivery of these characters' simple acts of friendly intimacy.
- Kelsey Lawler, Broadway World
THE HEART SELLERS Is a Winning World Premiere
"Rep's comedy about Asian immigrants in 1970's will sneak up on you with its insights. The play is almost a thoughtful test pilot for a new sitcom ("Luna and Jane Go to K-Mart").
The babbling loose-tongued Javier runs around the apartment on tippy toes...
- Dominique Paul Noth, Urban Milwaukee
Javier is simply a marvel as the exuberant, gregarious Luna, so real yet so larger than life. And both actresses filled moments until they were brimming over with laughs or with tears.
- Harry Cherkinian, Shepard Express
Nicole Javier (Luna) and Narea Kang (Jane) have great chemistry and play off one another incredibly well. Then there are times when each is charged with commanding the stage alone, and command they do. In these privates moments, we see their curiosity... truly, every moment of this play is purposeful and powerful.
- Amy Menzel, Around the Town- Chicago
ALL'S WELL THAT ENDS WELL
"Later in the play, when the action shifts to Italy, Nicole Javier gives the production some fortitude and backbone as Diana, an innkeeper's daughter pursued by Bertram and ultimately co-opted by Helen to help set things right."
- Joy Evan Henerson, Broadway World
TOKYO FISH STORY
"It's the explosive fiery feminist badass newbie Ama (Nicole Javier) that brings the most pungency to the narrative."
- Karen D'Souza, San Jose Mercury News
"Helping round out the talented ensemble is Nicole Javier. As Ama, Ms. Javier displays persistence and purpose of her own desires while fully embracing with knowing looks and caring eyes the respect and reverence due to the honored Koji."
-Eddie Reynolds, Talkin' Broadway
"Javier manages to give Ama more dimensionality than is on the page, making her more of an equal in Takashi's realm. Her dreamy appearances as The Woman are haunting and timeless."
- Jeanie K. Smith, Mountain View Voice
EDITH CAN SHOOT THINGS AND HIT THEM
Listed in KQED's Arts Do It List
"A winsome Nicole Javier plays Edith with such engaging and uncutesy bravado..."
- Jean Schiffman, San Francisco Examiner
"Javier as Edith has a taller order. As the youngest kid, she has to straddle that chasm between childhood and adulthood and not give one of those annoying “adult playing widdle kiddle” performances, which she studiously avoids. Edith is a firecracker, Javier certainly delivers on ferocity, intelligence and emotional volatility."
- Chad Jones, Bay Area Backstage
"Javier adroitly captures the title character's contradictions. She is a wise, mature adult, a tough-talking, trigger-happy maverick, and a terrified little girl."
- Lily Janiak, SF Weekly
RAPTURE, BLISTER, BURN
Listed in KQED's Best Theater of 2014: A Year Full to Bursting with Powerful Performances
"Nicole Javier's Avery... is the fresh, not to mention caustic breeze of youth, challenging - and judging - her elders... "
- Robert Hurwitt, San Francisco Chronicle
"Midriff-bearing Avery (a jaunty Nicole Javier)... delivers many of the tartiest lines in the play, including an unforgettable joke about the commonalities between porn and Google Maps, nicely framed by Javier's keen comic instincts."
- Karen D'Souza, San Jose Mercury News
"Avery (a fierce, forthright Nicole Javier) shine[s] in scene after hilarious scene. Together, Bogovich and Javier achieve something rare — a comedy that goes deep, yet never loses its sense of humor."
- Georgia Rowe, The San Francisco Examiner
SOME GIRL(S)
"New hotel room, and we meet Tyler (Nicole Javier), a hot lusty babe with seemingly one thing on her mind, until we learn that she, too, nurses some wounds. Javier is a marvelous example of the wealth and depth of Bay Area acting talent."
- Jeannie K. Smith, Talking Broadway
EXPECTING ISABEL
"Nicole Javier is amazing in her distinct portrayals of therapist, junkie and overwhelmed young mother."
- Elizabeth Warnimont, Benicia Harold
FRESH VOICES SHOWCASE: DEMONS AND DELIGHTS
"Through a collage of Shakespeare, music, and movement, Nicole follows the footsteps of the famous Alice in Wonderland to discover that the rabbit hole turned out to be one of the best rides of her life."
- Kathy Lauer-Williams, The Morning Call