Double-Bill: Rita and Il Segreto di Susanna (Sarasota Opera, 2019)
“The final production of Sarasota Opera’s season was a charming double-bill of Donizetti’s Rita and Wolf-Ferrari’s Segretto di Susanna. […] Both are seldom performed, and, judging by these performances, that is our loss.”
- Phillip Gainsley, Opera News (6/01/2019)
“Happily, Il segreto di Susanna, […] brought the evening to a rollicking close. From the sprightly overture […] to the lyrical arias and duets, the music of Wolf-Ferrari buoys and enhances the dated and paper-thin plot. […] This rather improbable plot is aided, abetted, and enhanced by the clever direction of JJ Hudson, who provides ample opportunities for the hide-and-sniff antics of all concerned, including a scenery-chewing fit of temper by the Count.”
- Edward Alley, YouObserver.com (3/11/2019)
Carmen (Lakes Area Music Festival, 2017)
“The space called for a minimal set. Singers/actors worked with a bare-bones collection of planked risers, with wooden stools and tables. […] Within these tight parameters, director J.J. Hudson did a sterling job moving his characters about the stage, especially when animating crowded set pieces such as the Act 2 gathering in Lillias Pastia’s seedy tavern.”
- Terry Blain, Minneapolis Star-Tribune (8/14/2017)
La Cenerentola (Opera Roanoke, 2015)
“With high production values, lofty musical standards, and a noteworthy cast, Opera Roanoke’s witty, winsome Cenerentola proved anew that world-class opera is not the property only of larger companies with deep-pocketed patronage and Chagall murals in their lobbies. Directed by JJ Hudson with imagination and sensitivity to the fact that principals have devilishly difficult music to sing, Opera Roanoke’s production of La Cenerentola fostered an environment in which the singers could engender sympathetic characterizations without being distracted by an overabundance of manic goings-on.”
- Joseph Newsome, Voix des Arts (3/23/2015)
South Pacific (Opera Roanoke, 2016)
“Opera Roanoke’s decision to mount a production of South Pacific follows the now well-established trend in opera of producing classical American musicals, effectively injecting a season with the laughter-and-tears cocktail that is Broadway’s hallmark. JJ Hudson’s direction […] captures the striking emotional shifts that made Rodgers and Hammerstein’s show such a groundbreaker in 1949.”
- Gordon Marsh, The Roanoke Times (8/08/2016)
Il Barbiere di Siviglia (Tri-Cities Opera, 2015)
“TCO’s stage director, JJ Hudson, made these potential [Rossinian dramatic] black holes interesting and amusing by staging that showed the layers of characterization available to principal, choral, and supernumerary performers. Everything was thought out; every empty spot was covered without becoming frantic. […] I know I have been tending toward superlatives in this review. Let’s just say that I have seldom had such fun watching an opera.”
- Sherri Strichman, Broome County Arts Council, 2015