SOMEWHERE IN THE PACIFIC

(Manbites Dog Theater, Durham, North Carolina)

“Best of all is Adam Smith. There are moments when his face and physical style resemble that of the young Paul Newman, but there’s nothing tried or over-familiar in his acting. Smith gives himself over to the character’s many moods, making each emotional segue believable, pitiable and deeply human.” 
                                         - CITYSEARCH  (Scott Ross)

 

THREE SISTERS

(Chalk Rep, Los Angeles)

“But the surprise center of the show turns out to be Adam J. Smith’s Tuzenbach. With Chekhov, you have to bring the truth along with the funny, and Smith’s awkward first lieutenant, hopelessly in love with the blithe Irina, embodies the play’s striking juxtaposition of comedy and longing.”

                                          - LOS ANGELES TIMES  (Charlotte Stoudt)

 

“Adam J. Smith is achingly compelling as Irina’s smitten suitor.”

                                           - TOLUCAN TIMES (Pat Taylor)

 

EDWARD II

(UCSD/LA Jolla Playhouse, San Diego)

“Adam Smith conveys with moist eyes alone an object lesson in subtle, reactive stagecraft. That moment is almost worth the three-hour production.”

                                           - LA JOLLA VILLAGE NEWS (Charlene Baldridge)

 

 

INTIMATE APPAREL

(Pasadena Playhouse, Los Angeles)

“Smith has the intelligence to find Mr. Marks' seductiveness in his decency.”

                                       - LOS ANGELES TIMES (Charles McNulty)

 

“…the always excellent Smith counters with a strong and gentle Mr. Marks who would clearly be Esther’s Mr. Right in another place and time.”

                                       - STAGE SCENE LA (Steven Stanley)

 

“Adam J. Smith is superb as textile shop owner Mr. Marks in a subtle and moving performance.”

                                       - LAIST (Terry Morgan)

 

“The casting of Adam J. Smith as “Mr. Marks” is brilliant; and [he] played [his] role exquisitely; delivering fully on the skill required to adequately expose the underlying complexities of their relationship; without compromising the restraint necessary to nurture their unspoken dialogue.  And through the awkward and sometimes downright painfully stilted movements of “Mr. Marks,” (a smart and effective character choice), we see a man so desperately wanting to step outside of the strict structure of his cultural history; but lacking the courage to do so.”

                                      - EURWEB  (DeBorah B. Prior)

 

“Smith soars with Marks' gentility and sweetness.”

                                     - BROADWAY WORLD (Don Grigware)

 

“Ms. Williams is so simple and graceful as Esther, I could have watched her for hours. I didn’t say watch her act because her performance is so sublime and simple that I felt like I was not watching an actor, I was watching Esther. The same can be said of Mr. Smith. Their scenes together are so loaded with tension that in lesser hands would feel like a soap opera."

                                      - LOS ANGELES MAGAZINE  (MSQ)

 

“Mr. Smith, as the Jewish cloth merchant, stands out as never having a false moment—the struggle between his faith and his heart is palpable.”

                                     - STAGE AND CINEMA  (Tony Frankel)

 

“[a] refreshingly uncliched approach to familiar types: Adam J. Smith as a Jewish fabric supplier, bonding with Esther through their shared outsider status.”

                                      - VARIETY (Bob Verini)

 

RECKLESS

(Shafer Theater, Durham, North Carolina)

“Adam Smith displayed a flare for dead-pan comedy under the amiable good looks of some half-forgotten 1940’s movie star (Sonny Tufts?).”

                                    - THE INDEPENDENT (V. Cullum Rogers)

 

 

ORPHEUS & EURYDICE

(Adobe Theater Company, Off-Broadway)

“[Smith] is just right.”

                                    - NEW YORK TIMES (Margo Jefferson)

 

 

ROSETTI’S CIRCLE

(The Complex, Los Angeles)

“Smith excels as Morris, who may be in love with Rossetti, and a moment where he quietly tells his friend ‘I've missed you so’ is deeply moving.”

                                            - VARIETY (Terry Morgan)

 

“Adam Smith projects a gentle web of interesting repressions.”

                                            - CURTAINUP (Laura Hitchcock)

 

PRIVATE LIVES

(International City Theater, Los Angeles)

“Adam J. Smith brings to his character delightful levels of distinction which lesser actors would not even suspect existed.”

                                        - WORKING AUTHOR (Ernest Kearney)

 

“A wonderful cast proves that there is still a small classically trained group of actors in LA who are maybe more versatile and fascinating to watch on stage than any young to-date film & TV actors in Hollywood... Smith embodies the perfect 1930's gentleman.”

                                 - LA SPLASH MAGAZINE (Sandra Plazinic)

 

“Smith is adorable and captivating.”

                                 - EXAMINER.COM (Marlon Deleon)

 

HOW THE OTHER HALF LOVES

(International City Theater, Los Angeles)

“Smith as a cad so puckish he's almost lovable.”

                                    - LOS ANGELES TIMES (Daryl H. Miller)

 

“[Smith is a]… veritable tornado, blasting through the entanglements as hard-edged, unpolished moderns with little care for traditional rules and roles, and a lot more emotional than intellectual prowess.”

                                        - THE INDEPENDENT (Joseph Sirota)

 

12 ANGRY MEN

(Pasadena Playhouse, Los Angeles)

“There’s no denying the power of the dynamic dozen actors…Smith could scarcely be better."

                                      - STAGE SCENE LA (Steven Stanley)

 

“Each member of the cast brings their A-game to this show…all of the performances were stellar by this cast."

                                       - PARK LA BREA NEWS (Karen Villalpando)

 

“In this tight ensemble each actor is strong, vital, distinct and an integral part of this outstanding show. There is not a single false note.”

                                        - EXAMINER.COM (Candyce Columbus)

 

“Juror # 12 played artfully by Adam J. Smith…this entire cast shines like none other I have seen before.”

                                        - NOHO ARTS DISTRICT (Lorenzo Marchessi)

 

 

HENRY IV, PART 1

(Antaeus Company, Los Angeles)

“One other actor’s work really stood out for me. Adam J. Smith as Mortimer married complete fluidity with the text and a tremendous emotional register and brought the kind of heightened experience that I always hope for in a classical piece.  I was inspired to hurriedly dart through my program in the dark no less to highlight his name."

                                 - GIA ON THE MOVE (Tracey Paleo)

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AN EVENING OF BETRAYAL: BETRAYAL & OTHELLO

(6th Act, Los Angeles)

“Smith is, by turns, charming and infuriating, as Jerry. He's a smooth talker, smug in his wooing and persuasive enough to get what he wants without compromising his public life...so he thinks.[As Iago] Smith is exceptional in the role. He is devious one moment, defenseless and meek the next. All the while, his level of contempt rises, and when he breaks the fourth wall to share his sickening stratagem with the audience, we see the full fury and elation of a blackened heart. Smith's command of the language is superlative and his Iago is perhaps his finest work to date. One hopes some smart director out there will give this actor an opportunity to play the full role on an L.A. stage in the near future. For now, you'll have to do with his abbreviated performance in AN EVENING OF BETRAYAL."

                                 - BROADWAY WORLD (Ellen Dostal)

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"The actors were absolutely breathtaking in their Britishness. Pinter simply cannot be done without the accent. I actually had to ask at intermission if they were really English! Don’t tell the Queen. This is a brilliant production, I have already recommended it to several friends. The performances are excellent and the fierceness of the relationships between each character is a beauty to behold."

                                 - NOHO ARTS DISTRICT (Samantha Simmonds-Ronceros)

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"DeMeritt, Seneca, and Smith give Masterpiece Theatre Brits a run for their pounds sterling as Betrayal’s sophisticated cheaters...Then, minus English accents, the four master Shakespeareans dig deep into characters heroic, villainous, or victimized while speaking speeches so trippingly on the tongue that even those who might is less capable hands find the Bard’s iambic pentameter no more comprehensible than Greek will be riveted."

                                  - STAGE SCENE LA (Steven Stanley)

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THE WINTER'S TALE

(Antaeus Company, Los Angeles)

"Smith is excellent as the horribly misguided Leontes, giving a transfixing performance as a man eaten alive—as described in the play —by “diseased opinion,” raging and clutching at his chest as if his ailment isn’t just mental but also physical....The Antaeus production of Tale is an excellent rendition of a rarely performed play"

                                     - ARTSBEAT LA (Terry Morgan)

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"...a marvelous cast, many of them Antaeus regulars, who are, from the largest roles down to the lesser characters, simply superb. Among the uniformly adept cast, Smith is especially noteworthy as paranoiac King Leontes. Tortured, twitchy, and formidable, Smith allows us to unquestioningly accept Leontes’s lightning- fast change to paranoiac jealousy as well as his equally sudden shift into grief and repentance."

                                     - STAGE RAW (E. Kathleen Foley)

​

"Antaeus stalwart Adam J. Smith (Leontes) does the bulk of the heavy lifting as the tortured Leontes, consumed at first by paranoia and jealousy, then shame, guilt, and remorse. Smith brings a relatable contemporary resonance to the language that makes us understand, if not agree with, his actions. Even when not on stage Leontes drives the action."

                                     - GIA ON THE MOVE (Guy Picot)

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"Performed by a crème-de-la-crème cast composed of talented Antaeus Theatre staples...Smith commands Act One with his seething-with-jealousy-and-rage Leontes. Antaeus Theatre Company at their Shakespearean best."

                                       - STAGE SCENE LA (Steven Stanley)

​

"Features a talented cast. Especially remarkable are the performances by Adam J. Smith as Leontes....the scene is gripping, and Adam J. Smith does a fantastic job. On his final urging of his son to “Go play,” he embraces him, a touching moment, and in contrast to earlier deliveries of the line.... It is such a sudden turn that the jealousy and distrust must have already been within him, and Adam J. Smith does a great job of showing that."

                                       - MOSTLY SHAKESPEARE (Michael Doherty)

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"Actor Adam J. Smith portrays Leontes with passion and a convincing transformation into a man consumed by his inner demons. In a similar manner, he also morphs smoothly into the repented husband, father, and friend that is so eagerly looking for redemption."

                                       - GLAMGICAL (Glamour)

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IN THE NEXT ROOM (OR THE VIBRATOR PLAY)

(Chautauqua Theater Company, New York)

"The play’s most uproarious moments come when guest actor Adam J. Smith, as Dr. Givings, brandishes his tools, which resemble something like a cross between a power drill, a dildo and a KitchenAid mixer."

                                     - CHAUTAUQUAN DAILY (Rebecca Ritzel)