“…the opera is all there in spirit. Starting with Nikki Renée Daniels’ exquisite opening rendition of ‘Summertime,’ the Paulus-Parks Porgy is a streamlined, intimate, musically ravishing show.”
– Richard Zoglin, Time Magazine
“A woman, Clara (Nikki Renée Daniels), enters, holding a baby. We hear the sweet, mournful strains of “Summertime,” and, as Clara sings, we realize that the baby isn’t a prop; it’s real. The child, like the song, is more than just a symbol of the “oppressed” black life that Clara longs to escape. Daniels uses the song as a kind of natural conversation with the audience. Drawing us in, she turns us, for a few moments, into fellow-inhabitants of Catfish Row. The meditative calm she conjures up is the same mood evoked by Miles Davis and Gil Evans’s 1958 recording of Porgy and Bess. This is not canned showbiz.”
– Hilton Als, The New Yorker
“Nikki Renee Daniels as Clara, sings a suitably ethereal ‘Summertime,’ and shows off excellent couple-chemistry with Joshua Henry’s Jake. (Several of Heyward’s ancillary neighborhood characters have been carefully cropped out, focusing more of our attention on this pair—a wise choice for a musical paring-down of operatic sprawl, and one that Henry and Daniels never give us a chance to second-guess.)”
– Scott Brown, NYMag.com
“Daniels and Henry loft ‘Summertime’ to the sky.”
– David Finkly, TheaterMania
“The lovely Nikki Renee Daniels and the always-welcomed Joshua Henry play the doomed couple Clara and Jake and leave us wanting to see and hear more.”
– Mark Kennedy, Huffington Post
“Joshua Henry and Nikki Renee Daniels sing brightly and add earthy glamor as the doomed young couple Jake and Clara.”
– Elysa Gardner, USA TODAY
“Nikki Renée Daniels and Joshua Henry (The Scottsboro Boys) bring sweet tenderness to the ill-fated young couple who nurse their baby while singing ‘Summertime'”
– David Rooney, Hollywood Reporter
“Nikki Renee Daniels is poised and fragile as the tragic Clara and her ‘Summertime’ opens the show with a lithe power that softly dazzles”
– Rex Reed, The New York Observer
“In The Gershwins’ Porgy and Bess, Nikki Renée Daniels, as Clara, looks adorable and sings ‘Summertime’ sweetly.”
– Anthony Tommasini, The New York Times
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“Daniels sings like an angel and easily persuades she could be anyone’s soulmate.”
– Bob Verini, Variety
“Daniels brings multiple layers to Della B with her peaceful voice and loving demeanor.”
– Jonas Schwartz, Theatermania.com
“Charles’ long-suffering wife Della B is well-rounded and beautifully sung by Nikki Renee Daniels.”
– Theatertimes.org
“As Caroline’s daughter, Emmie, Nikki Renee Daniels positively radiates a youthful exuberance befitting her character’s undiminished determination. It’s an electrifying performance and one of the standouts of the production – which makes sense since Caroline, or Change is to some degree the story of one generation passing the future on to the next. Daniels captures that spirit of youth with unparalleled passion.”
– Brad Richason, The Examiner