​

“Nancy Anderson had been onstage for mere moments, performing a mini musical called 'The Pen', when I realized I was riveted and didn’t know why. 'The Pen' is the stop-you-in-your-tracks reason to go to 'Inner Voices'... One of those rare shows that elicit wonder all the way through, not just at the material but also at the exquisite combination of assembled talent. Dappled with humor and willful defiance, 'The Pen' is a portrait in miniature of living with mental illness, and it’s absolutely gorgeous.”

 

--Laura Collins-Hughes, The New York Times

​

​

​

​“In Inner Voices, one voice shines out gloriously ... a wonder. 'The Pen' is about a woman named Laura who suffers from what seems to be a germophobic form of obsessive-compulsive disorder, and who discovers a mysterious, chewed-up purple pen in her purse ... Laura is played by a tremendously impressive Nancy Anderson, who digs into the role with the fervor of an actor who knows that she couldn’t ask for a better part to show off her multitude of talents. The beauty of her vocals is equaled by the range and precision of her acting in a highly demanding part; it’s an immaculate performance. 'They call me crazy / But in that cute and friendly way,' Laura sings of her coworkers. 'Like it means funny / Like it means nothing.' Anderson is something.”

 

--Adam Feldman, TimeOut New York

​

​

"Anderson's performance is gorgeous, surprising, and unsettling, and fully uses, across some 40 minutes, the vast span of gifts of one of New York's singular, and singularly underutilized, talents ... With a manic look in her eyes, and her classical soprano wavering in intensity as Laura explores her own reactions, Anderson makes her at once the epitome of a modern woman (she lives, alone, in Milwaukee) and the timeless archetype of tortured bird longing for release from the cage of her own creation ...She's cacklingly funny one minute...and heartbreaking in plumbing the depths of Laura's defining loss the next, and she makes tiny three-act plays of such simple acts as searching for keys or spraying disinfectant. (One scene, in which she attacks a garbage can, is its own kind of demented ballet.) The medium elevates the message, and then Anderson elevates that—before long, something huge has grown out of something tiny enough to fit in a breast pocket. That's how musicals are supposed to work."

 

--Matthew Murray, Talkin' Broadway

​

​

​

“Obsessive-compulsive disorder and germaphobia comes to life in Nancy Anderson’s beautifully sung and acted tour-de-force performance in 'The Pen'... As she prepares to leave for work on one particularly bad morning–after checking, double-checking, and rechecking that she has turned off all of her appliances–she is waylaid by a strange purple pen she finds in her pocketbook while searching for her keys. Her perkiness turns from humor to concern, then alarm, panic, hysteria, and pain, and back to cheerfulness, as she reveals in heartrending song the traumatic events from her past that triggered her neuroses and dysfunction.”

 

--Deb Miller, DC Metro Arts

​

​

​

“A stunning performance ... Nancy Anderson is an important musical comedy leading lady who hasn't yet landed the role to establish her in the highest echelons... As 'The Pen' unfolds, the monologue demands heavy acting chops along with the demanding music ... Anderson, as anyone who has followed her career knows, is up to the challenge and beyond it ... In a wiser world catapulting Anderson where she's long deserved to be is just what would result.”

 

--David Finkle, Huffington Post