Winter Wonderettes - (November 2007)
El Portal Forum Theatre
 
  • "Malone is a hoot in "¿Dónde Esta Santa Claus?" and as a pregnant snowflake sporting an uproarious costume in "Suzy Snowflake."" - LES SPINDLE, Backstage West

  • "My personal favorite is Suzy Simpson, played by Bets Malone. Suzy is a sometimes level-headed, sometimes air-headed loudmouth who’s carrying twins. They belong to the guy in the lighting booth, and she makes sure he knows it, too. Ms. Malone is hysterical; anyone who can watch her performance without laughing should have her/his vital signs checked. Just to name one example, Ms. Malone sings a song called Suzy Snowflake dressed in a silver lame jumpsuit. Somehow, her wardrobe leaves her feeling upbeat." - KUCI Radio Review

  • 'Malone's is the most distinctive comic creation, a distant cousin of "Golden Girls' " Rose Nyland with a sassier streak.' - BOB VERINI, Variety

  • "As daffy Wonderette Suzie, Bets Malone especially charms with a winsome tap-dancing number..." - PAUL BIRCHALL, LA Weekly.
 
 
Annie Get Your Gun - (July 2007)
Moonlight Amphitheatre
 
  • "It is with eager, widestretched arms (so big one could "get lost in" them) that Moonlight Stage Productions welcomes back one of its own, the enormously talented Bets Malone, in a luminous performance that should be remembered for quite a long time.

    Last seen here in "The Will Rogers Follies" two summers ago in the role of Betty Blake, another country girl with showbiz connections, Malone has a girl-next-door quality well suited to such roles; in fact, given her impressive credits, it's a wonder she hasn't played this role before. Armed with a level of musical comedy skills seldom seen (at least on this Coast) and a natural down-home charm, hers is a plucky Annie Oakley who's a force to be reckoned with, definitely not some "lily-livered rag doll." From the moment she lopes onstage to retrieve the stuffed bird shot from prim Dolly Tate's (Stacy Goldsmith) hat, her presence illuminates a show that's grown a mite musty with age. It's easy to forget the cobwebs when she launches into the tongue-in-cheek lament of "You Can't Get a Man with a Gun," or tones it down a notch for the languorous "Moonshine Lullaby" (with solid backup from a trio of cowboys played by Michael Kelly, Brian C. Veith, and Justin Weatherby). Wearing a ballgown, she also adds an unexpected cartwheel to her jubilant "I Got the Sun in the Morning." - FRANKIE MORAN, San Diego.Com

  • "From the moment Malone swaggers onto the Moonlight Amphitheatre stage as the hillbilly sharpshooter, the show takes wing. Malone grew up at the outdoor Vista theater (playing an orphan boy in Moonlight's very first show, "Oliver") and the L.A. resident returns to her old stomping grounds in a role that seems ideally suited to her voice and personality.  ...what Malone brings to the part besides a large, ear-pleasing sound is strong stage presence, charisma, comic physicality, articulate phrasing and a natural likability. Seeing her perform songs like "Doin' What Comes Natur'lly" and "You Can't Get a Man With a Gun," it's hard to imagine anyone doing better in the part, whether they're in Vista or on Broadway." - PAM KRAGEN, NCTimes.Com
 
 
The Marvelous Wonderettes - (October 2006)
El Portal Forum Theatre
 
  • "Malone is a joy as Suzy, and her Woody Woodpecker laugh is contagious. She's so convincing as the low-key, likable character that when she suddenly revs up and knocks "Respect" out of the park, belting it out with the best of them, it's both an impressive piece of singing and a satisfying turn in Suzy's story." - TERRY MORGAN, Variety

  • "Standout performances here include... ... "Respect," sung by Bets Malone, whose Suzy is ditzy yet extremely likeable and sweet." -- JULIANNE FYLSTRA, UCLA Daily Bruin

  • "Bets Malone is Suzy, the all-American giggly gal who is probably friends with everybody and probably peaked somewhere between Labor Day and Memorial Day in senior year. Among the highlights... ...Malone's powerhouse interpretation of Otis Redding's "Respect." -- In Magazine
 
 
Grease - (May 2006)
Fullerton Civic Light Opera
 
  • "Malone makes a strong anchor for the ensemble. Rizzo is arguably the most interesting part in the show, and Malone captures every scene she's in, featured or not." -- MELINDA SCHUPMANN, Backstage West

  • "Bets Malone also deftly sketches her character, the Pink Ladies' tough leader, Rizzo. Instead of turning her portrayal into a caricature of gum-chewing world-weariness, Malone invests it with undercurrents of defeatism and a fiery defiance of society's expectations. Like London, she uses her songs to vent the role's most powerful emotions." -- ERIC MARCHESE, OC Register
 
 
On The Town - (September 2005)
Reprise!
 
  • "Taking the spotlight instead (is)... ...Malone, whose Hildy is the adhesive of the entire show. Her combination of moxie and a belting voice make her delightfully sexy. What's amazing is that Malone joined the production rather late in the game, as a replacement for Alanna Ubach. Watching her, you would think that she had been cast first and that the production has been built around her. She really takes this Town." -- JONAS SCWARTZ, TheatreMania.Com

  • "Malone is a cab-driving babe--wise-cracking, enterprising, and purposeful-- as she goes after the shy Schecter when he grabs her cab to hunt for Ivy. Their comic numbers are standouts." -- MELINDA SCHUPMANN, Showmag.Com

  • "Bets Malone, delivers just the right sassiness for Hildy Esterhazy, a taxi driver who describes herself as free, young and "highly attainable." Her numbers with the likable Schecter — "Come Up to My Place" and "I Can Cook Too" — swell with the cheeky confidence of a woman who's not afraid to lead." -- STEVE OXMAN, LA Times

  • "Bets Malone is perfectly adorable as the taxi driver with a one-track mind, the role originated by Nancy Walker. You can hear a little Nancy Walker in Malone's sly delivery, but she also puts her own comic stamp on the material." -- SHARON PERLMUTTER, Talkin' Broadway

  • "Bets Malone employs ample man-hungry brass as amorous cabby Hildy Esterhazy..." -- EVAN HENERSON, LA Daily News
 
 
Will Rogers Follies - (August 2005)
Moonlight Amphitheatre
 
  • "Malone's performance as Rogers' Arkansas farmgirl wife, Betty, seems a sweet throwback to the 1940s-era Judy Garland films. She's plucky, bright and brings down the house with her second-act torch song "No Man Left for Me." -- PAM KRAGEN, North County Times.
 
 
Guys & Dolls - (July 2005)
Musical Theatre West
 
  • "Bets Malone is an irresistible Miss Adelaide, finding the perfect balance between daffy kewpie doll and surprisingly smart cookie." -- LES SPINDLE, Backstage West

  • "As his "well-known fiance," Miss Adelaide, the priceless Bets Malone, suggests Judy Holliday on Sudafed." -- DAVID C. NICHOLS. LA Times

  • "But I really liked Malone's Adelaide and Damiano's Sarah. Long-suffering, realizing, for the moment, that they can't change their men, they both take their own gamble on love." -- JAMES SCARBOROUGH, Grunion Gazette.
 
 
Lana Mae's Honky-Tonk Laundry (January - March 2005)
Milwaukee Reperatory Theatre
 
  • "Bets Malone gets all the best lines in the show and delivers them with considerable Southern charm." -- RUSS BICKERSTAFF, On Milwaukee.Com

  • "Speaking in Southern /country accents, the two actresses create characters that one can't help caring about. But it's their deliveries of the songs that really carry the show. The two belt out heartfelt solo numbers and tight duos with a real feel for country music. They sprinkle in an a cappella number, a little dancing and even a bit of yodeling along the way." -- ELAINE SCHMIDT, Journal Sentinel Online
 
 
Winter Wonderettes - (December 2004 - January 2005)
Milwaukee Reperatory Theatre
 
  • "Reprising the role she originated for The Rep, Bets Malone plays the sweetly playful Suzy. Clearly pregnant, Suzy plays the dichotomous role of child-like mother. Her sense of comic delivery and timing are reminiscent of a very young Lucile Ball." -- RUSS BICKERSTAFF, On Milwaukee.Com
 
 
Babes In Arms - (September 2003)
Reprise! UCLA Freud Playhouse
 
  • "The one shining light in this production - and it's a beacon you could land a 747 by - is Bets Malone as Susie Ward. Malone stands out from the ensemble of clean-cut young people even before it becomes apparent that she's playing a leading role; her perkiness is somehow infectious, rather than irritating. Malone has a beautiful full voice which is overflowing with unrequited love in "My Funny Valentine." She follows up with a swinging good "Imagine." But what really steals the show for her is a short reprise of "The Lady is a Tramp," in which Malone's power just highlights how miscast Jodi Benson is." -- SHARON PURLMUTTER, Talkin' Broadway.Com

  • "Bets Malone provides the heart of the piece as Val's love interest, singing "My Funny Valentine" persuasively." -- JONAS SCHWARTZ, Theatermania.Com
  • "But, ultimately, what ends up stealing the show is....the spunky spirit of Bets Malone, whose Susie pines away for McIntyre's Val in a powerful "My Funny Valentine;" and the knock-em-dead muscle of the bubbly Benson, whose rousing rendition of "Johnny One Note" simply leaves the audience cheering." -- TERRI ROBERTS, Showmag.Com
 
 
Children of Eden - (August 2003)
Moonlight Amphitheatre
 
  • "Bets Malone made an exuberant Eve. She delivered her two showstopping numbers, the heartfelt title song, and the raucous gospel belter "Ain't It Good?", with powerful elan." -- ROB STEVENS, Showmag.Com
 
 
1776 - (September 2001)
Reprise! UCLA Freud Playhouse
 
  • "And Bets Malone shines as Martha Jefferson, a woman who knows her husband far better than he knows himself. Martha's paean to her lover, "He Plays the Violin," charms even the formidable Adams into dewy-eyed submission." -- PAUL HODGINS, MyOC.Com
  • "Other standouts are Bets Malone as Martha Jefferson..." -- JOEL HIRSCHHORN, Variety

  • " Adams sends for Jefferson's wife, Martha (Bets Malone, a first-rate musical theater talent), who sings "He Plays the Violin" and praises Tom's bowing technique." -- MICHAEL PHILLIPS

  • "Bets Malone as Martha Jefferson and Marcia Mitzman Gaven bring fine voices to parts that are little more than sketches." -- LAURA HITCHCOCK, Curtain Up
 
 
Crazy For You - (February - March, 2000)
Fullerton Civic Light Opera
 
  • "Bets Malone as Bobby's snooty high society fiancée Irene, is wonderfully bitchy and her seductive number "Naughty Baby" is a riot." -- ANNIE CHAMBLISS, Daily Trojan
 
 
     
 
     
     

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