Great job to everyone!!

Amanda Hugerman

I loved the music and the words of Vincent Van Gogh!

Funny and oddly relatable…with a wonderful mixture of art forms.  I loved it!

Darleen McRacken

Very Nice! Incorporates all forms of art! Very Unique!

My wife and I rank your Vincent John Doe production, which we saw on Monday, among the shining lights of all events we have seen in a dozen years of Spoletto and Piccolo events!  The acting space, the live music to accompany live performances, and your ability to create credible art work in the fly were elements that once again reinforce: there is NOTHING to compare to live theater. We are left to contemplate, did Vincent get it better this time on his return to his age – did he now have some experiences to aid him in combating the suicidal demons which overtook him in his first life?  My wife and I like to believe that he did, and that he was able to live longer, create more, and even stumble on an artistic mentor/sponsor like the relationship between Degas and Gauguin. You are unique in that you have the artist’s hand and with prior experiences the playwright’s ability to pull this off.

It was a triumph of imagination and performance.  Loved the creating of art and music live. This is true theater and creative fun.

We put our names in the drawing for one of the spontaneous pictures you created while performing, so who knows, maybe we will have even more to remember that production than the program and our vivid memories.  Thanks from my wife Lezlie and I for the play and its marvelous performance.  Your physical resemblance to the artist only made the play better!  We have seen Van Gogh originals in museums including those at Amsterdam.  My wife and I also have been to St. Remy in France where he went for some recuperation and I have marvelous shots of a work he painted at the sanatorium, next to a photo I made of those same trees and mountains today.

We will now have to see your gallery to see what you can produce when you have time to paint without the clock of dialog to work within. As I said when we briefly shook hands at the Monday performance, “What fun!”

I actually think this work would be excellent as a novel or on film. Fabulous concept!

And the actual paintings from the actor.

I connect so much to Robert, such a complex figure in such an experiential way.

The interaction in the play is very fresh. Really enjoy the moments of reflection while “Vincent” paints.

Good Acting!

Script was engaging – Art and mental health really go together. Portraiture was inspiring.

And I mean that in the best of ways!

Actors were excellent. Pace was fantastic.

This play incorporates live music, film, and Van Gogh reproductions painted onstage. It’s an incredible story about the nature of art and its place in the world, all performed with a view of the Charleston Harbor.

Last night was off the chain!!! You nailed it, wow, thank you! My jaw is still on the ground. Just beautiful Rob!!! Enjoying all your reviews…truly heartwarming and dreamy…bringing dreams to life! A most perfect night for Piccolo Spoletto’s Vincent John Doe play Starring Rob Maniscalco as Vincent Van Gogh at the City Gallery with Karen and Jan! It was a fantastic play!!! Cheers!

Talented artist and actor – Good lines!

Very impressed!! Also, its fascinating to watch VJD paint in in real time.

Fantastic, interesting subject! 🙂

. . . of appreciating nature!

Very different and creative. Will spread the word.

Music so enhancing. Acting so well executed!

multi-dimensional nature of the play reinforces love facts. Listening the musical selections in the program would be a good idea. Perhaps just a bit shorter interludes with the voice over and briefer first scene and John Doe being taken from the streets. Some of the set could be set farther back upstage. Thank you so much!

Most amazing performance I have ever seen – so creative – watching the actor paint in the performance – the music – the quotes – all wonderful!!

I’ve never experienced anything like it! Painting and music during the play as part of the action was wonderful! Such talent is very impressive! It was a great interpretation and revival of Van Gogh and his art and philosophy! I admire his art and story as a fan. I loved the performance.

Wonderful! Great use of the gallery space. Loved the interaction with the audience. Well Done!

Enjoyed seeing three different types of works in progress at the same time. Play, music, visual art.

Kudos to All!!!!

A transplanted New Yorker, Thoroughly enjoyed the clever dialogue. Your daughter is lovely.Thanks for the great success. See you in Greenwich Village!

So poignant, beautifully written. Pleasantly, wonderfully surprised. Thank you robert!!

Insightful and thought provoking.

Amazing the bringing together of us all across time, culture and identity.

Impressive, Deep and Satisfying journey through colorful inner terrain.

Loved the cafeteria scene!

Everyone was fantastic!!

What marvelous layering of media and thoughts. Thoroughly enjoyed the thoughts, painting and acting. Thank you all.

Good mix of humor and drama. great idea to have Vincent’s thoughts in voice over, with live music, while painting.

Second time I’ve enjoyed your work as an actor on stage.

Amazingly creative! Loved the actors.

What would happen if Vincent Van Gogh showed up in New York City today? That’s the pretext for the play “Vincent John Doe,” which just completed a three-day Piccolo Spoleto Festival run at the City Gallery.

Charleston painter and actor Robert Maniscalco plays Van Gogh Vincent John Doe) in the Big Apple. His character is arrested and assumed to be mentally ill. He meets with therapists and fellow patients who challenge the definition of “the crazy artist.”

After escaping the hospital, he exploits the contemporary commercial art market by painting — Maniscalco creates two works during the show, accompanied by music (Beethoven’s Moonlight Sonata) performed by his brother James Maniscalco.

“Where is home?” Vincent John Doe is asking.

Blurring the boundaries of theater, music and visual art, the play, written by Robert Maniscalco, transforms abstract philosophical ideas into a visual experience that explores artistic temperament and commercialization.

Reviewer Chunzi Shi is a Goldring Arts Journalist at Syracuse University.