MICHAEL HARDART
Actor, Director
Praise for Michael in...
Indians, by Arthur Kopit, Metropolitan Playhouse
"Hardart does a fine job in the central role, and he has the requisite swagger and bravado in the early scenes. As the play chugs forward, the weight of history elicits an existential crisis in the character, and Hardart's Buffalo Bill poignantly and powerfully embodies cultural and personal guilt." James Wilson, Talkin' Broadway
***
End of Summer by S.N. Behrman, Metropolitan Playhouse
"The ensemble work is strong, with standout performances by McNulty, Friedlander, and Hardart." -- Sarah Play, Theatre is Easy
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The Henrietta, by Bronson Howard, Metropolitan Playhouse
"The cast of 12, directed by Alex Roe, is splendid. Michael Durkin brings an infectious bluster as van Alstyne. Blaine Smith and Michael Hardart, as his sons, are sharp." -- Ken Jaworowski for The New York Times
"Michael Hardart as his devious son is both oily and cunning" -- Victor Gluck for TheaterScene.net
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On Golden Pond, by Ernest Thompson, Public Theater of Lewiston, ME
"Michael Hardart (Charlie Martin) warms the cockles of your heart with his infectious laugh and spot-on comedic timing. Perhaps the Maine accent isn't perfect, but his performance is." -- Michael Tobin for BroadwayWorld.com
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The Drunkard, by W. H. Smith, Metropolitan Playhouse
“The cast is exemplary. Michael Hardart is wonderfully sympathetic as poor Edward Middleton, showing us both the upstanding, promising "before" version as well as the down-on-his-luck and at-the-end-of-his-rope "after."” -- Martin Denton for nytheatre.com
“Some commendable performances among the 13 actors help maintain the play’s credibility... Michael Hardart is convincing as Middleton, both drunk and sober.” -- Wilborn Hampton for The New York Times
“Michael Hardart is an amiable, likeable hero, even when overtaken by drink.” -- Victor Gluck for TheaterScene.net
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Dodsworth, by Sidney Howard, Metropolitan Playhouse
“Hardart displays impressive versatility, enacting this typical, slightly clueless Midwest son-in-law, as well as Mama’s boy Kurt (with a puckishly on-target German accent).” -- David Noh for Noh’s Way
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Nellie and the Madhouse, by Laura Livingston, Metropolitan Playhouse
“I loved Michael Hardart's blustering editor” -- Rachel Grundy for nytheatre.com
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Power, by Arthur Arent, Metropolitan Playhouse
“Michael Hardart is the affable, bow-tied, boater-wearing master of ceremonies” -- Karl Levett for Backstage
“Our anchor in the midst of all this action is the single-cast narrator, Michael Hardart. Using a campy tone, he sets the audience at ease and acknowledges his role as an outsider, especially when he calls out “Hey, Valentine!” to the stage manager (Valentine Amartey) asking for lights. This attitude allows him to move beyond the fourth wall without taking advantage of it, and he slides in and out of the play with grace and ease. “ -- Amanda Halkiotis for New Theatre Corps
***
Nowadays, by George Middleton, Metropolitan Playhouse
“Michael Hardart is splendidly earnest and likable as Peter, and the chemistry he shares with Jones is terrific –
they are indeed a couple to root for.” – Martin Denton for nytheatre.com
“Fine work by Michael Hardart as Diana’s reluctant suitor” -- Ron Cohen for Backstage
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Year One of the Empire, by Elinor Fuchs and Joyce Antler, Metropolitan Playhouse
“Michael Hardart is bully as Teddy Roosevelt” -- Wilborn Hampton for The New York Times
“Michael Hardart is excellent as Theodore Roosevelt, conjuring his iconic identity in look and posture while not shying away from those characteristics that make him less attractive than history usually remembers him.” -- Martin Denton for nytheatre.com
“Confident and sharp work from Michael Hardart as the young, irascible, determined Roosevelt” -- Edward Karam for offoffonline.com
“Among the leading personalities are Michael Hardart's energetically bellicose Theodore Roosevelt and Gregory Jones' smug Senator Henry Cabot Lodge, both effectively stopping short of caricature.” -- Ron Cohen for Backstage
***
The Pioneer, Five Short Plays by Eugene O'Neill, Metropolitan Playhouse
"As the fast-talking sharpie... Michael Hardart has a Cagneyish flair and gives the hard-boiled dialogue bite."
-- Rachel Saltz for The New York Times
“There’s a real treasure on this bill, The Movie Man, from 1914... The play is funny and smart and decades ahead of its time. Rodgers is a grand creation, sort of like the James Tyrone of A Moon for the Misbegotten without the drunken binges and self-recrimination -- just a shrewd, cool, detached guy. Michael Hardart is terrific in the role... The Movie Man is the triumph of The Pioneer and deserves to be seen not just by O’Neill buffs but pretty much everybody.” -- Martin Denton for nytheatre.com
“Michael Hardart is amusing as the swaggering filmmaker” -- Victor Gluck for TheatreScene.net
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The City, by Clyde Fitch, Metropolitan Playhouse
“Provides a remarkably believable interpretation of a man in crisis.” -- Karl Levett for Backstage
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The Devil’s Disciple, George Bernard Shaw, Metropolitan Playhouse
“Makes the most of significant comic opportunities.” -- Martin Denton for nytheatre.com
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Eleanor Rigby is Waiting, by David Parr, New York Fringe Festival
“Standout performances are given by DeAnna Gonzales and Michael Hardart—they are able to dig deep consistently.”
-- Leslie Bramm for nytheatre.com
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The Octoroon, by Dion Boucicault, Metropolitan Playhouse
“A Fair-haired hunk of a hero.” -- An Incidental Critic