What people are saying about Molly in…
Frank Loesser’s
THE MOST HAPPY FELLA
THE NEW YORK TIMES
Anthony Tommasini
“The sweet-voiced and lovely soprano Molly Mustonen is wonderful as Rosabella…What a pleasure to hear Ms. Mustonen filling Rosabella’s arching melodic lines in the wistful “Somebody, Somewhere” with her shimmering voice, while making the words come through so conversationally.”
New York Concert Review
Harry Saltzman
“Superb, magnificent, sublime all come to mind. Forget about 1957—this was the best performance I’ve heard of this great American masterpiece; the perfect amalgam of wonderful unamplified singing…Possessing a beautiful soprano voice, Ms. Mustonen is a fine singing actress. Her deepening love for Tony was palpable and brought tears to my eyes.”
TheaterOnline.com
Minda Larsen
His love interest was played by the honey-voiced Molly Mustonen. Her even singing was quite lovely and consistent and her portrayal of Rosabella, vulnerable and charming.
It is no wonder that audiences are flocking to this performance.
Rodgers and Hammerstein’s
SOUTH PACIFIC
“The show was Molly Mustonen’s the second she walked out on stage. Playing the lead character, nurse Nellie Forbush, she is a believable naive Arkansas girl desperately in love-at-first-sight with French plantation owner…Her enthusiasm and voice brought a warmth to the theater and enthralled the audience.”
— Michael Aaron, Q-Salt Lake
“(The director)Harrer’s gamble pays off richly in the person of Molly Mustonen, a Minnesota native making her UFOMT debut as U.S. Navy Ensign Nellie Forbush. Mustonen plays that role with such wide-eyed innocence that she not only makes the improbable reactions of the self-proclaimed “hick from Little Rock” to her first romance believable, but also infects her fellow cast members and the audience with her enthusiasm. From its opening curtain, this UFOMT production is Mustonen’s show; it is her spirited singing and dancing that makes some of the musical’s well-known production numbers work.”
— Charlie Schill, The Utah Herald Journal
Thomas Pasatieri’s
THE HOTEL CASABLANCA
“In particular, Molly Mustonen brought a powerful sound and striking stage presence to Tallula”
— Steve Smith, The New York Times
“… the performance of Hotel Casablanca proved to be nothing short of sensational. Funny and charming…and performed in excellent voice, particularly Molly Mustonen in the role of Tallulah.”
— Douglas Harrington, Hamptons.com
“…A height of romantic tragedy was reached quite easily by Mustonen…the soulful soprano consistently maintained a haunting air of dreamy fragility. A soft, affectionate woman, Mustonen’s deeply emotional aria marked by the somber words, ‘I blame my breaking heart,’ truly grips that of the viewer, as the bright and extraordinarily expressive vocalist performs splendidly.”
— Olga Privman, Review Fix
“…one could glean that there was real talent in the cast. Molly Mustonen, as Tallulah, made the strongest effect, perhaps because she was playing the opera’s most thoughtful character – its Countess Almaviva figure…She did not seem to have taken the measure of Dicapo’s 200-seat theater – at high volume, her bright lyric soprano seemed to overload the space – but she created a touching figure. Her diction was also commendable”
— Fred Cohn, OPERA NEWS
Thomas Pasatieri’s
THE SEAGULL
“Molly Mustonen brought a rich soprano voice and lovely grace to Nina.”
Anthony Tommasini
The New York Times
“Soprano Molly Mustonen gave a sensitive, nuanced portrayal of Nina’s progression from innocent, idealistic naif into a woman who, though battered by life’s storms, has come to know and believe in herself.”
Arlo McKinnon, Opera News Magazine
“Molly Mustonen (Nina) sang with passion and grace. She really shined in her extended duets with Constantine and Trigorin, and she and Haja cut a handsome couple. Her luscious voice carried her well throughout the performance.”
Victor Wheeler, The Classical Source
Frank Loesser’s
THE MUSIC MAN
“Molly Mustonen, who was memorable as Nellie in SPO's South Pacific two years ago, makes for a lovely Marian the librarian. Her singing voice is exquisite, and all thoughts of the Beatles evaporate during her stirring "Till There Was You." Her "My White Knight" was also splendid.”
Peter Nason, Broadway World
Henry Mollicone’s
THE FACE ON THE BARROOM FLOOR
“Soprano Molly Mustonen played twentieth-century Isabelle and nineteenth-century Madeline. Mustonen has a strong and accurate voice, capable of considerable expressivity and fluent range. Mustonen has well-developed acting skills; her supple voice can shimmer in flirtatious affection, whisper throatily in supplication or fill the house with intense drama, while never losing the coherence of the melodic line. One example of the subtlety of her voice lies in the different styles of Isabelle’s performance-singing and Madeline’s performance-singing.
Twentieth-century Isabelle sings opera: her brief sample Traviata aria excerpt is entirely credible as the sound of a classically trained singer reveling in Verdi. In contrast, nineteenth-century saloon girl Madeline sings an old-time pioneer ballad of love and violence: the song transports us to the Wild West of our collective American imagination. That Mustonen can so easily carry these different styles and identities within a single performance is testament to her depth and maturity as an artist.”
— TheaterScene.net, Jean Ballard Terepka
Mozart’s
DON GIOVANNI
“Mustonen is utterly adorable as the round-heeled bride who initially would love to fall victim to Don Giovanni’s charms if only Donna Elvira would stop interrupting the process.”
- Charlie Schill, The Utah Herald Journal
“Molly Mustonen as Zerlina and Gabriel Preisser as Masetto were extraordinary as a young couple celebrating their marriage … providing some of the opera’s most lyric and comic moments.”
- Robert Coleman, Salt Lake City Tribune