Time Stands Still (2010)
“Mr. d’Arcy James, a remarkably versatile actor equally at home in splashy musicals like ‘Shrek’ and the chiaroscuro delicacies of Conor McPherson’s ‘Port Authority,’ has never been better than he is here… The darker feelings that reside just below his congenial surface — envy of Sarah’s career success, rage at a betrayal he at first chooses to ignore — eventually burst forth, in scenes to which Mr. d’Arcy James brings fierce, raw anger that sets the stage crackling with currents of powerful feeling.”
— Charles Isherwood, New York Times
Next to Normal (2010)
Brian was interviewed by Iris Wiener of Improper Theatre about playing the role of Dan in NEXT TO NORMAL.
“IM: What is the most challenging aspect of playing Dan?
James: What I’m really curious about is the mixture of the complexity of his feelings of duty and responsibility, which are continually challenged by this illness that no one has a cure for. I can only imagine what that’s like to live. I have a sense of it from my own experiences and from reading and from research. I think the most challenging aspect is to try to find all the positives and all of the negatives in the confusion of trying to assist in making things good.”
Solo Album: From Christmas Eve to Christmas Morn (2004)
“It’s a must-have for that time of year or any time of year!”
— Paul Wontorek, Broadway.com
“One of the best albums of the year…a treat from start to finish.”
— Jonathan Frank, Talkin’ Broadway
The Good Thief (2001, 2003)
“Brian d’Arcy James…knows just how to perform the sleight of hand that’s required in an exquisitely calibrated performance. What’s described is ugly and violent; the description itself is hypnotically soft-spoken. And from this contradiction there somehow emerges a glimpse of redeeming grace. … Mr. James, best known for his work in the musicals ‘Titanic’ and Andrew Lippa’s ‘Wild Party,’ is correspondingly sparing in his gestures, and when he smiles it’s so unexpected that it jolts. With hair cropped close and his body listing slightly, as if before a brisk wind, his natural leading-man handsomeness seems to have gone underground. He would look like nothing more than a garden-variety punk if his eyes weren’t so restless and questioning. The performance exactly matches the understatement, indirection and contained tenseness of Mr. McPherson’s prose.”
— Ben Brantley, The New York Times (full review)
“Brian d’Arcy James, best known for starring roles in Maury Yeston’s Titanic and Andrew Lippa’s The Wild Party, gives a winning performance. He has an amazing gift for holding an audiences’ undivided attention. And his thick Irish accent is absolutely perfect.”
— Ron Lasko, Broadway.com
“Played with great charm by Brian d’Arcy James, the Dublin thug somehow manages to be extremely likable even as he describes some of the bad things he’s done. James, best known for his musical roles in Titanic and MTC’s The Wild Party, possesses good looks and a commanding stage presence that helps woo the audience to his side. At the same time, his piercingly intense gaze and unshaven face suggest the dangerous edge needed to make the character believable.”
— Dan Bacalzo, TheaterMania.com
“James makes a most appealing low-life, his good looks not at all eclipsed by the five o’clock shadow he sports. He’s a tough guy you can’t help but love and, ultimately and oddly enough, care about. James gets him just right, brogue and all. None of the character’s personality is permitted to overwhelm us: he can be alternatingly slick, violent and romantic, always with his sense of irony intact.”
— Les Gutman, CurtainUp
White Christmas (2004)
“Mr. d’Arcy James, who’s got more than a little Jolson in his soul, has a swell voice, and knows how to put across a tune of any vintage.”
— Charles Isherwood, New York Times
“James croons … beautifully in a soft, rich baritone [as Bob Wallace]. He, too, brings down the house in a knockout first-act finale ‘Blue Skies’ in Bruce Pomahac’s wonderfully jazzy arrangement, a blissfully choreographed production number with an interwoven chase scene. James and Denman’s Phil Davis pair up pleasantly as the central song-and-dance team.”
— Robert Hurwitt, San Francisco Chronicle
Sweet Smell of Success (2002)
“Vocally superb Brian d’Arcy James carries much of the score.”
— Ken Mandelbaum, Broadway.com
“Brian D’Arcy James is ideally cast as Sidney Falco…James has a powerful musical theater voice.”
— Elyse Sommer, CurtainUp
“The most expanded aspect of the original story is the character of the hungry sycophant the columnist corrupts and ultimately destroys. This part is played with energy, intensity and clarity in a knock-out performance by Brian d’Arcy James. It comes as no surprise that James also sings the heck out of the part. His big number ‘At the Fountain’ is not only integral to the show, it is absolutely essential. It has all the musical and lyrical content to do its job. But add the ingredient of James’ thundering voice and it becomes a lynchpin of both the first and the second half of the show as it is reprised.”
— Brad Hathaway, Musical Stages
“Brian d’Arcy James drives [the show] forward, unrelenting, inch by inch. Always the consummate musical theatre performer, his doomed press flack Sidney Falco is responsible for what emotional and musical impact the show has. Here, Brian d’Arcy James assumes the stature almost of a force of nature. The lust for the sweet life is right there on the surface and he plays it for all it’s worth in a performance that completely overpowers everyone else on stage.”
— Thomas Burke, Talkin’ Broadway
The Wild Party (2000)
“The score is dominated by four principals: Brian d’Arcy James, Idina Menzel, and Taye Diggs are wonderful singers who leave nothing to be desired.”
— Ken Mandelbaum, Broadway.com