Past Favorites & New Teens Make Up Season Four Broadway.com Word of Mouth Panel

Broadway.com’s popular real-people review series Word of Mouth is back for a fourth season, with a twist. This year, we’ve invited back panelists from our first three years, and mixed in two brand-new teen critics.

“We’ve had 36 terrific Broadway fans over the past three years to act as our non-traditional critics,” Broadway.com Editor-in-Chief Paul Wontorek said of the panel. “They’ve all offered unique insight and agenda-free opinions to our customers and the community at large. It’s a thrill to ask a handful of them back to continue to share their one-of-a-kind perspective.”

The Word of Mouth panel will review every Broadway offering throughout the 2009-2010 season. First Up: A Steady Rain, starring Daniel Craig and Hugh Jackman. Click here to watch the video!

Meet the members of the Season 4 panel below!


Angie is a 15-year-old high school sophomore who lives with her family in Westchester. A big fan of the Broadway musical Wicked, she says that seeing Tony Award winner Idina Menzel perform the role of Elphaba inspired her to study musical theater. She’s played Lina Lamont in Singin’ in the Rain, Kim in Bye Bye Birdie, Asaka in Once on This Island and a Hot Box Girl in Guys and Dolls...twice!


Deanna, who was part of the Season Three line-up, lives (on the Upper East Side) and works (at a major department store) in Manhattan. “Glorious!” is how she felt to receive an invitation back on the panel. “I screamed and my whole office heard me!” Oh, and one more great thing: Deanna just got engaged!


32-year-old Ellen has shaken up her life quite a bit since serving as a Word of Mouth critic for Season Two: She swapped careers, is getting married, buying a house and moving from the city to the suburbs. “No,” she adds. “I’m not pregnant.” The best things about being on the panel? “Having people ask me for my opinion instead of me having to force it upon them” and “watching my haircuts change over the course of the year.”


Joe has gone from police officer to detective in the year since he served on Season Three panel. The 34-year-old lives with his wife in New Jersey, where he spends time “laughing with family and friends and crying with home improvement projects.” How does it feel to be back, Joe? “It feels like The Snuggie, but this is cooler than backwards bathrobes.”


Manhattan resident Kathleen, 48, holds the same job as an administrative assistant at a law firm that she had when she took part in Season Two. She loves her Kindle, taking bridge lessons, breaking bread with friends and family and Scrabble and the NY Times Crossword on her Blackberry. She was surprised to be asked back on the panel, but thrilled at the chance to see free shows in this economy!


Maggie, a holdover from the Season Three panel, is “75+” years old and spends her time reading, bowling, singing, playing tennis, walking her dog and directing theater in her New Jersey community. She’s the matriarch of a large family and a lifelong fan of Broadway.


Since readers last saw him as part of Season Two, 29-year-old graphic designer Matt became father to a baby boy. He lives in New Jersey with his wife (and the little bundle of joy) where he enjoys an abundance of hobbies: golf, horseshoes, movies, playing guitar, writing poetry, writing songs and web design. Being asked back on the panel, he says, made him grin from ear to ear.


Phil is 79 years young and lives on Long Island. This former New York City police officer served on the Word of Mouth panel during Season One. In his free time, he loves photography and classic cars and his children, grandchildren and friends. The best part of Word of Mouth? “Seeing wonderful shows and meeting nice people.”


Phyllis is still the domestic goddess she was when we first met her as part of Season One. Now 50, she lives in Staten Island with her husband and spends time cooking, reading, seeing opera and theater and missing her son, who is touring the U.S. and Europe in a rock band.


Randi, who was a part of our Season One panel, is a married 44-year-old mother of two teenagers. She’s the president of her own legal advertising company in New Jersey and enjoys running and bicycling in her free time. She’s thrilled to return to the Word of Mouth world: “Who wouldn’t want to see all the new Broadway shows first?”


Sam is a 17-year-old high school junior who lives in New Jersey with his family. An aspiring performer, he has appeared in productions of A Chorus Line, Hello, Dolly! and A Midsummer Night’s Dream. He has varied taste in theater: Among his favorite shows are La Cage aux Folles, Gypsy, Lost in Yonkers and Billy Elliot.


Tom is a 41-year-old lawyer who lives in Brooklyn with his partner. Since being a part of Season Two, he bought a 110-year-old Victorian house, lost 10 pounds and watch the economy collapse around him. Tom’s favorite part of being on the panel: “Having my opinions splayed across the internet without my last name attached. No repercussions!”