press / in the news
"Gatchel especially reminded one of the gatling gun recitative songs sung by the incomparable Danny Kaye. The Chairman instigates all the action. Gatchel as performer/puppet master, is in complete control of his environment. The audience is in his grasp at all times.
Bob Gatchel: Actor, Director, Artistic Director
Heathers: The Musical - Best Director Award
Best Direction (Musical) - Bob Gatchel
Best Scenic Design - Bob Gatchel
Best Musical - Heathers: The Musical
REVIEW: The Mystery of Edwin Drood
"How Candlelight prepares for all those endings of ‘Drood’"
"And since the chairman (a character functioning as the narrator, played by Bob Gatchel) notes “we’re all entitled to a happy ending,” which of three female characters is matched with which of six male characters to sing a happy duet?"
REVIEW: Angels in America: Millennium Approaches
"Bob Gatchel as Roy Cohn was, for me, a revelation. I had last seen him in The Mystery of Edwin Drood, where he was a jaunty song-and-dance man. Here he shed every ounce of musical comedy charm to embody the venomous, swaggering power broker, dying yet defiant. Gatchel’s Cohn was mesmerizing: terrifying, pitiable, and grotesquely magnetic.
ALICE BY HEART - Winner of 10 Awards
Best Direction of a Musical - Bob Gatchel
Best Performer in a Musical - Josh Townsend
Best Supporting Performer in a Musical - Ava Taylor
Best Music Direction - Julie Lawrence
Best Choreography - Madalynn Martino
Best Costume Design - Sally Borghart
Best Lighting Design - Valerie “V” Gatchel
Best Set Design - Jay Keenan
Alice By Heart - Best Director Award
"Bob Gatchel and Caleb Tracy understand the assignment of over-the-top Mel Brooks characterizations. They both chew the stage, spit it out, and dance ALL over it! Even though it’s a group song, “Keep It Gay” is owned by Gatchel. The scene leading up to that song and, really any time Gatchel and Tracy are involved, are riotous events. The full cast, you’ve-got-to-be-kidding-me, here’s-what-you’ve-been-waiting-for number “Springtime for Hitler” does not disappoint. When the banners unfurl and the goose-step runs amuck, you certainly know that Mel Brooks’ zaniness is in the building."
- Rosanne DellAversano - BroadwayWorld.com
REVIEW: The Producers
The Smyrna Opera House’s Cabaret isn’t just good—it’s a minor miracle ... they went straight for one of the most stylistically demanding, tonally complex shows in the canon. And they pulled it off with grit, intelligence, and surprising polish ... This wasn’t a revival; it was a reinvention. Many cast members were returning to the stage after long absences, while others were making their debut in the space. That kind of instability usually shows. Here, it didn’t. That’s not luck—that’s leadership.
Enter Bob Gatchel, the production’s not-so-secret weapon. Calling him a “triple threat” undersells it. Gatchel is the rare performer-director who understands that Cabaret lives in the margins—the glances, the pauses, the undercurrents. His direction is precise without being fussy, shaping performances that feel lived-in rather than indicated. Every shrug, every sidelong look had intention. And yes, the accents—so often a community theatre casualty—were consistently on point, from Sally to Schneider to Schultz to Tristan Torres’ sharply drawn Ernst Ludwig.
Gatchel has clearly been in the jaws of the theatre beast for decades (think Jonah and The Whale), and here it pays dividends. His enthusiasm is infectious, but more importantly, it’s disciplined. This is a thought-out Cabaret.
REVIEW: Cabaret
Bob Gatchel - Director
