Nicolas Fouquet in area premier of, "Power" (TRP, Minneapolis, 2008)
St Paul Pioneer Press - 09/23/2008 by Christy Desmith
"Rob Frankel, on the other hand, is the standout - he plays the king's middle-aged superintendent of finances, Nicolas Fouquet…Frankel handles the vulgarities and poetry in his lines with great comic timing and natural ease. He physically inhabits his character like no others in the cast - he clutches his heart when a beautiful teenager rejects his sexual advances; he takes deep, reverent bows at Louis' feet."
Minneapolis Star Tribune - 09/20/2008 by William Randall Beard "[Playwright Nick] Dear sets up the hedonistic Fouquet and the ascetic Colbert as wonderful foils, and Rob Frankel and [his counterpart] handle them expertly. The former's coarse masculinity plays well off the latter's effeminate, but equally deadly, foppishness."
TC Daily Planet - 09/19/2008 by Dwight Hobbs
"Frankel breathes vibrant life into Fouquet, the charming rascal whose spiritedness unwittingly proves his undoing."
James Tyrone in, "Long Day's Journey into Night" (TRP, Minneapolis, 2008)
St Paul Pioneer Press - 05/05/2008 by Dominic Papatola
"James Tyrone once was a great actor, but except for his ascot and the tome of Shakespeare he pages through,
there's nothing stagy about Rob Frankel's performance. If anything, his Tyrone is a little smaller than life -- a man aware that he's been diminished by his own compromises, but struggling to remain grand. It's a nicely aware performance that doesn't ask for sympathy or even understanding but just a chance to be heard."
In My Humble Opinion blog - 05/05/2008 by Matthew A. Everett
"Frankel plays Tyrone as a believable combination of defensiveness and contrition. He understands his responsibility for some of the mess they're in,
but he also refuses to shoulder the whole load. Good intentions on his part, and the need for other family members to have personal responsibility for themselves, is the combination Tyrone hopes in vain will balance the scales and reverse their declining fortunes."
Sidney Brustein in, "Sign in Sidney Brustein's Window" (Starting Gate Productions, Minneapolis, 2008)
St Paul Pioneer Press - 03/05/2008 by David Hawley
"Starting Gate's production...is a strong one that is anchored by Rob Frankel's warts-and-all portrayal of Sidney, a naive man seduced by his own sense of self-righteous intelligence."
Minneapolis Star Tribune - 02/28/2008 by William Randall Beard
"Rob Frankel's Sidney is also a plus. The character is self-absorbed, self-righteous and frequently insensitive, but Frankel manages to make him dashing and charming."
In My Humble Opinion blog - 05/05/2008 by Matthew A. Everett
"Trickiest of all is the title character, and Rob Frankel as Sidney anchors the play and production in a way they both very much need. Sidney is a bastard. A clever bastard, sometimes sweet, often charming, but still a bastard… The fact that Frankel makes Sidney watchable over the entire three hour span of the play is something of a miracle, and he deserves a tremendous amount of credit for helping hold the whole thing together…"
David Quinn in, "Voice of the Prairie" (TRP, Minneapolis, 2007)
St. Paul Pioneer Press - 02/18/2007 by David Hawley
"…and his edge-of-hysteria antics add a perfect lift to Rob Frankel's lunkering-yet-fragile portrayal of the adult storyteller."
Dillard Nations in, "Foxfire" (TRP, Minneapolis, 2006)
St. Paul Pioneer Press - 09/12/2006 by Christy Desmith
"The show opens to the breathy voice of Rob Frankel, who plays Dillard Nations, an Appalachian boy who always dreamed of playing guitar; he's now grown up and made good. Frankel is subtly lit in this scene. He handles his ballad with tenderness while gently strumming his guitar. Inkblot eyes open wide and then, gently close. It's stunning--for the eyes and ears."
"Frankel, too, lays bare an honest, even tender performance -- as does the rest of this cast."
