Selected Reviews
Urinetown - George Washington University
"... this hysterical production was one of the most enjoyable nights I have spent in the theatre this year... there is so much to rave about here so to avoid making this the longest review on record, I will cut to the highlights... there are also serious themes in the show-environmental concerns-and Director Muriel Von Villas nicely balances the funny with the serious and scary."
5 Stars - DC Metro Theatre Arts
5 Stars - DC Metro Theatre Arts
Sweeney Todd - George Washington University
"In this stellar production, directed by Muriel Von Villas, there is an almost uncanny transferring of the angst-laden lines of Hugh Wheeler’s book and Stephen Sondheim’s alternately ravishing and macabre score directly to the collective gut of the audience members... this Sweeney Todd is one of the most disarmingly direct and audacious productions of this classic Sondheim musical that I have ever seen... director Von Villlas has delivered a totally organic and unique version of this Sondheim classic and one cannot help but get swept up in the maelstrom for she implicates us all in a frenzy of collective guilt... do not miss this Sweeney Todd!"
5 Stars - DC Metro Theatre Arts
5 Stars - DC Metro Theatre Arts
Dialogues des Carmelites - Opera International
...few operas have been so universally defined by a single production. Therefore, it took some courage for Opera International to mount "Dialogues," and it is to the company's credit that the results were so involving. Muriel Von Villas's direction was sweeping and intimate, while Edward Roberts led his small, scruffy orchestra with an easy command of the score's musical vector.
Washington Post
Washington Post
La Serva Padrona - Opera Theatre of Northern Virginia
...The reasons for this opera's perennial appeal were evident last night in Arlington when the Opera Theatre of Northern Virginia revived it, in a rather free English-language adaptation by Seymour Barab titled "The Perfect Wife." ...These two comedies made a varied and satisfying evening, enhanced by the expert conducting of John Niles, the adept, sometimes brilliant stage direction of Muriel von Villas
Washington Post
Washington Post