Azrielke in
THE DYBBUK:
“As Reb Azrielke, the sage who conducts the exorcism, William Metzo shows us a man assured of his spiritual power and yet all too aware of his vulnerability in the interplay of the living, the dead, and the Almighty. It’s a magnetic performance.” – Backstage
“…magnificent voice belongs to William Metzo, almost mesmeric as the elderly doubt-ridden rabbi faced with the challenge of exorcising the spirit.” – TheaterScene
Prospero in
THE TEMPEST:
BEST OF SAINT LOUIS AWARD
“…the effortless way he dominates the evening. No mere line reading, this. His Prospero is a mosaic of conflicting moods. At the same time, Metzo delivers the text with exquisite simplicity.
…
Best of all, there is Metzo himself. When he and his clan are onstage, The Tempest is a mature thoughtful, even charming meditation that delivers moments of sublime satisfaction. ‘We are such stuff as dreams are made on,’ Prospero reminds the audience in the play’s most famous passage, ‘and our little life is rounded with a sleep.’ There won’t be much sleeping when Metzo is onstage. His performance stirs the imagination and helps the viewer to understand why, all these centuries later, Shakespeare remains the consummate theatrical dream-maker.” – The Riverfront Times
(Read entire review – CLICK HERE)
The title role in
KING LEAR:
WILLIAM METZO SHINES AS TRAGIC KING LEAR
” . . . William Metzo is extraordinary as King Lear. An exhibition of depth and stamina, a force quite inexplicable, even when costumed inside what appears to be a white dressing gown and garlands of pale, pink roses, the man was clearly a titan of virility and strength.” –
The Spectrum
KING LEAR CROWNING ACHIEVEMENT AT FESTIVAL
” . . . In Metzo, the Utah Shakespearean Festival has a commanding centerpiece, a vigorous — and cheerfully complacent — leader who’s stunned to discover how swiftly, and completely, the world he’s always taken as his right falls away.
. . . his intensity and clarity . . .
By plunging us into the mud and blood with him as he scrambles to find his way through the maddening maze of life, this ‘Lear’ makes his journey ours — and makes this ‘Lear’ the crowning achievement of the season” – The Las Vegas Review-Journal
“This season’s plays range across the Shakespearean spectrum: The Lear is especially good, due to William Metzo’s magnetic, multifaceted performance.” – Backstage
“The power of USF’s production rests on William Metzo’s multidimensional performance. His Lear possesses both commanding presence and tremulous tenderness. The descent into madness and moments of revelation are achieved subtly but with piercing clarity.” –
Salt Lake Observer
The title role in
JULIUS CAESAR:
Featured in
‘THE SOURCEBOOKS SHAKESPEARE’
Edition, 2006
“William Metzo is a megalomaniacal Julius Caesar, who isn’t above grabbing an opponent by the hair and pulling hard to get his way. Nevertheless, audiences will leave with a great respect for the emperor, for he doesn’t immediately fall and die. He fights, sometimes taking on two at a time, and goes down swinging, giving credence to Antony’s line, ‘Here was a Caesar! When comes such another?'” – Newark Star-Ledger
“And Mr. Metzo as Julius Caesar manages to humanize the man to the point of making him a somewhat charming rogue, a nice touch in an evening of spine-tingling clash and discord.” – New York Times
Captain Ahab in
MOBY DICK:
DRAMA DESK NOMINATION
…presents Ahab, like Lear, as an unhinged old man, riding his madness to destruction… uttering Melville’s grand cadences with naturalness and flair.
-Village Voice
…illuminates Captain Ahab’s unquenchable determination…and puts a very human, tortured face on the demonized Ahab.
-Nassau Herald
Marquis de Sade in
QUILLS:
WINNER Carbonell Award BEST ACTOR
A GLEEFUL, GRUESOME DEFENSE OF FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION, BASED ON THE MARQUIS DE SADE, PLAYED WITH MANIACAL GUSTO BY WILLIAM METZO
” . . . Enacted with gleeful gusto by William Metzo as the wizened, wily Sade, intoning his prose in a rich plumy voice, roaring with malevolent amusement at the ease with which he outsmarts his adversaries. . . . –The Palm Beach Post
” . . . Metzo’s performance is as good an argument for that expression as Wright’s text. Metzo manages to imbue the cerebral issue of literary freedom with as much dramatic interest as the prurient indictments against the Marquis. He does this at one point (amazingly) after being stripped nude by his captors.” – The Sun-Sentinal
“William Metzo plays the role of the Marquis perfectly. He captures the power of his character’s defiance and depravity, which we would expect, but also reveals his queer sense of humor and loss. All this humanizing creates a frightening effect. We begin to identify and sympathize, even if just a little, with the Marquis de Sade.” – Boca Raton News
Reverend Dr. Phillip Gotshall in
GOD’S MAN IN TEXAS:
BEST ACTOR Carbonell Award Nomination
“An 81-year-old colossus, Metzo’s Gottshall is a silver-haired autocrat, who does not scruple to intimidate his inferiors. Whether preaching a sermon, with his fingers curled like claws around the pulpit, or inviting Jerry to punch him in the stomach, he is as agile as a cat and as tough as a brick wall.” –
Palm Beach Daily News
“Delving beneath the arrogant, dogmatic stereotype of Gottshall, actor William Metzo reveals frightening layers of credulity rather than fanaticism. Metzo’s despotic performance would steal the show in most plays.” – Sun-Sentinel
“William Metzo as Dr. Phillip Gottshall, an 81-year-old whose belly is as hard as his will, enjoys every facet of his powerful job as The Rock’s longtime pastor. Metzo is both imposing and smugly pompous,… others pale by comparison.” –
Miami Herald
Franklin D. Roosevelt in
ANNIE:
” . . . a veritable reincarnation of Franklin D. Roosevelt.” – Madison Tribune
” . . . looks and acts the role superbly.” –
San Francisco Chronicle
” . . . eerily like an apparition of the myth . . . combining warmth and humor.” – Atlanta Journal
Jonathan in
ARSENIC AND OLD LACE:
WINNER Show Business Award SUPERIOR ARTISTRY
“William Metzo is so uncannily like Boris Karloff as to make your heart miss a beat.” –
New York Times
” . . . a wonder — he looks, moves, and talks like Karloff. Very funny and not a little creepy.” –The Daily News
” . . . a flawless study in inspired lunacy.” –
Back Stage
Deputy Governor Danforth in
THE CRUCIBLE:
” …a riveting performance by
William Metzo as Deputy Governor Danforth.
He demonstrates a cunning intelligence in a magnetic performance. He can be beguilingly sympathetic, then vengeful and fearsome.” – Independent Press
” . . . But after intermission, the play heats up,
thanks to a remarkable performance by William Metzo as the deputy governor who will try the case. His unctuous tones and imperious manner are put to good use in such lines as,
“The pure in heart need no lawyers.”
But he shows quiet malevolence when he utters,
“Those that will not confess will hang.” – Newark Star-Ledger
” William Metzo’s portrayal of Danforth, who represents the heavy hand of God and government, sifts all the layers of a complex character, managing to radiate pure evil while preserving the belief that what he is doing is righteous and moral. Metzo is perhaps at his best when convincing the audience he may still change his mind, even when you have already read the play.” – Daily- Record