Reviews
THEATER | Heart of a Dog
ReviewPlays.com writes "...His performance is truly delightful and entertaining in this physically demanding role. In one scene, he is taken to the operating room for "the change" and my heart wept. I loved this dog and I hated seeing what would turn to be a life altering experience for Sharik. Fria takes full control of the stage and it's hard to take your eyes off of him. Fria's performance is the best part of the play. I was anxiously waiting for his reappearance - I couldn't get enough of this character. Fria steals the show, no doubt about it..." read more...
LA Weekly writes "...At his estate-like home in Stalinist Moscow, a bourgeois Professor (Paul Dillon) implants the pituitary gland of a dead thief into a stray dog (Joe Fria). The transformation of the docile beast into something quasi-human - vulgar, violent and, well, beastly - represents the evolution of Soviet communism, at least in the imagination of Russia's greatest 20th-century novelist, the perennially persecuted Mikhail Bulgakov. Meanwhile, the local House Management Committee harangues the Professor into surrendering a couple of his rooms to the proletariat. The problem is, in 2004, even the Russians under Putin are encouraging collusion (rather than conflict) between government and market forces... read more...
Les Spindle of Back Stage West writes "...It might be tempting to quip that actor Joe Fria's career has gone to the dogs, but there's nothing about his consistently impeccable work that warrents derision... It's always a pleasure to watch Fria at work, and missing his canine-inspired triumph in this current project would have to be considered a doggone shame."
LA Weekly 10 Most Memorable moments of 2004"...Joe Fria as a dog in Mikhail Bulgkov's novel Heart of a Dog. With the help of a mask, this was the most persuasive transformation of the year from man to beast. The way he hung his head, details in the gestures of snuggling, explosions of happiness, of bewilderment yielding to terror. This dog's heart was beating on the stage."
THEATER | Gorey Stories
ReviewPlays.com writes "...Still, maybe the best thing about this respectfully twisted group of Gorey Stories, even surpassing a knockout and fearless ensemble cast which includes the likes of LA theatre's highly respected uber-clown Joe Fria and the superbly Winona-Ryder-in-Beetlejuice-y Ryan Templeton, is the make-up, hair and costuming whipped up by our town's most creative counterculture designer Ann Closs-Farley....read more ...
SoCal.com writes "...Joe Fria's Joker-esque grinning as Hamish in The Curious Sofa is chilling yet thrilling, and his hilarious waddling and pecking opposite the towering Joe Jordan's scowls in The Osbick Bird provides the perfect balance to the skit. Taking it's cue from Gorey's...read more ...
THEATER | The Shaggs: Philosophy of the World
Entertainment Today writes "...Rob Moore is a standout in this generally exeptional cast as Helen's painfully shy boyfriend, as is local treasure Joe Fria in several different roles, even managing to create a completely hilarious character during the many cast-generated set changes..."