Between Riverside and Crazy
Nominee- Best Featured Actress 2019 Theatre Tampa Bay Awards
Winner- Best Ensemble Theatre Tampa Bay Awards
"Every once in a while, a show brings all of the magic. Something fresh, brilliantly written and superbly acted, about real people with joys and pains that cut against the audience members in their seats. Between Riverside and Crazy at American Stage is that show...The most important character change in the show could not happen without the Church Lady. Sara Oliva does remarkable work in the role, one that stores a surprise that cannot be described." -Tampa Bay Times
Courtesy of the playwright’s tight script and the production’s superior acting, “Between Riverside & Crazy” serves as a delightful beginning for the season....And the appearance of a mysterious church lady (a hilarious Sara Oliva, who is in one of the funniest sex scenes I have ever witnessed on stage)... adds to Pops’ chaotic life even more. - Splash Magazine
Sara Oliva is Church Lady, a role that if less skillfully acted could become a stereotype, but Guirgis offers enough strong writing that Ms. Oliva does not allow that to happen. - Talkin' Broadway
The hilarious and touching Sara Oliva as the Church Lady gets the most memorable scene of the show and maybe even of the year in local theatre, with a communion sequence that kept the audience in constant stitches...the cast is thrilling to watch. - Broadwayworld.com
"...When Pops is confronted by a mysterious “Church Lady” who may be a Candomble priestess (played ingeniously by Sara Oliva), his destiny takes an unexpected turn. - The Weekly Challenger
"Sara Oliva, whose Church Lady is more comfortable with the spirituality of Brazilian Candomblé than with traditional Catholic communion, nails one of the wildest onstage transformations imaginable." -The Miami Herald (Full Review HERE)
"The acting under Adler’s hand is remarkable...Sara Oliva is equally adept. This cast believably persuades that they are, indeed, an extended family that has bonded together. Much of this stems from the actors and Adler delivering smooth rapid bantering with the musical cadences of people who have known each other for some time." - Florida Theatre Onstage FULL REVIEW HERE
“GableStage’s production of “Between Riverside and Crazy” is yet another coup, a bases-loaded four-bagger that will remind anyone who’s still wondering that you don’t have to go to New York to see great theater...The seven-person cast leaves nothing to be desired...one of the most satisfying shows I've seen so far this season." -The Wall Street Journal
"The awards for Between Riverside and Crazy are richly deserved. But what is more deserved for theatrical excellence includes the cast,
direction and technical excellence of the GableStage production—the Southeastern premiere. Joseph Adler's casting is superb...An A-One cast including Sara Oliva"- Florida Media News (Full Review HERE)
"You have to wait for the second act for Sara Oliva, and I don't know how many orgasm induced heart attacks you might have seen, but I guarantee, this is the funniest." Broadwayworld.com (Full Review HERE)
"You are not likely to forget Sara Oliva's eerie Church lady" MiamiArtsLover.com
My Name is Asher Lev
“Rivkeh's anguish, exacerbated by the death of her brother, is palpable in Her Rivkeh's journey is one that sees her battle loneliness, depression performance. Sara Oliva's,motherly struggle..breath-taking, riveting work...a wonderful production..... the audience's hearts break right along with those of the Lev family" Broadwayworld.com
"Sara Oliva's best moments come as the Jewish mother who can see outside of her small world; but she also shines as the foul mouthed gallery owner and the seduction-free model.” Ink 19 Arkiculture Digest
“Strong support..from Sara Oliva whose haunted face and pleading voice are a portrait of pain.” Orlando Sentinel
"Sara Oliva's selfless devotion to her son is as heart-wrenching as a Pieta .. a rare production that is equally affecting on both an emotional and intellectual level." Orlando Weekly
Born Yesterday
"Sara Oliva turns Helen the maid into a scene-stealer who disrupts arguments with badly timed entrances and then milks every step for all its worth." Palm Beach Magazine
"Sara Oliva makes her show time onstage worthwhile…and is hilarious as the footsoldier of public healthcare" Windy City Times
Birdsend
"The best performance is from Sara Oliva, who also is fun to watch as a neglectful nurse" New City Chicago
"Good supporting performance from Sara Oliva in a portrayal so nasty it has to have been based on a real life experience" - Chicago Tribune
"Sara Oliva...nearly steals the show" Barrington Courier-Review