Troubadour Theatre Company's Lizastrata at the Getty Villa (2021)
"I WISH my costumes were that beautiful!"
"I was delighted to see the hilarious production of LIZASTRATA at the Getty Villa on closing night. The Troubies are a group of talented, funny, and exceptional artists. It was a truly special night."
- Liza Minnelli
"The stampede of penises is playfully brought about by costume designer Halei Parker and Joe Seely (officially credited as "additional phallus designer"), both of whom have a jocular sense of human anatomy. Breasts come in for their share of drollery as well in a play that sets up two superannuated choruses, one droopily male, the other saggingly female."
- Charles McNulty, LA Times
"The Troubies’ creative team includes costume designer Halei Parker, who arguably deserves co-star status along with Joe Seely, who has what may be the most original stage credit I’ve ever seen: “Additional Phallus Designer.” The raiments they have rendered are as if the Marx Brothers were set loose in a Victoria’s Secret or Frederick’s of Hollywood, combining Greco-style togas with lingerie and sex novelty-like anatomical appendages. Body parts and sexuality are depicted in a decidedly lighthearted as opposed to lascivious way. Instead of apparatuses dispensed by Dave Levine, the “Sex Toy King,” think more along the whimsical lines of balloony tunes."
- Ed Rampell, People's World
Rogue Machine Theatre's Earthquakes in London (2020)
"Halei Parker’s costumes, such as old fashioned bathing suits, sometimes inject a note of wit and whimsy into a story some may find ponderous, helping to lighten the mood at times."
- Ed Rampell, People's World
"Dressed to impress by costume designer Halei Parker"
- Shari Barrett, Broadway World
Troubadour Theatre Company's A Christmas Carole King (2019)
"Special kudos to Halei Parker’s great costumes, a hallmark of the Troubadour brand."
- Elaine Mura, Splash Magazine
"A Christmas Carole King looks fantabulous on Christopher Scott Murillo's ingeniously designed set, lit by Jeremy Pivnik with abundant pizzazz. Even more worthy of oohs and aahs are Halei Parker's supremely imaginative costumes"
- Steven Stanley, Stage Scene LA
"outrageously hysterical Costume Design by Halei Parker"
- Shari Barrett, Broadway World
IAMA Theatre's Mama Metal (2019)
"Cipriano and Telesmar not only personify Chippendale’s-ready hotness and hunkdom, they are scrumptiously underdressed by Halei Parker, who scores just as many costume design points for Demonic Afterbirth’s metalwear."
- Steven Stanley, Stage Scene LA
Troubadour Theatre Company's Julius Weezer (2019)
"Costume designer Halei Parker has outdone herself with the abundance of jokes built into her looks from Andy Robinson's costume for Caesar's death scene set to Weezer's "Undone - the Sweater Song," to Joseph Leo Bwarie's glitter eye shadow and Roman rock star garb as Caesar's nephew Octavius Caesar, to Rick Batalla's sheer pink caplet sleeves for Brutus' effeminate servant Lucius."
- Ellen Dostal, Broadway World
"Tragedy and comedy zanily commingle when Robinson’s Caesar heads to a Senate session dressed in a wrap-around cloak-sweater-chenille bedspread. He soon finds himself encircled by dagger-armed conspirators, who pull red bungee cords from the cloak — his spouting wounds — while everyone sings Weezer’s “Undone — The Sweater Song.” That, in a nutshell, is the Troubies."
- Daryl H. Miller, Los Angeles Times
"The show’s creative staff serves the company’s style to a T with a fluid set design by Christopher Murillo (lighting design by Bo Tindell) that features a high platform and curtains that can be opened and closed with speed. Sound is critical for this show, and Daniel S. Tator’s sound design is superb. Costumes by Halei Parker are perfect for characters and action."
-Paul Myrvold, Paul Myrvold's Theatre Notes
"Director Matt Walker unleashes the gods of merriment to clown away in pursuit of silliness. There are the usual ridiculous wigs and overbaked pancake make-up plus errant limbs, nerf arrows, bungee wounds for Caesar and other hilarious costumes, too (compliments of Halei Parker)."
- Table to Stage
Rogue Machine Theatre's El Nino (2018)
"Things go from bad to worse with the arrival of Colleen's self-satisfied sister, Andrea (Melissa Denton). She might seem more pulled-together; she's certainly a sharper dresser than Colleen, who lives in jeans and singularly unattractive T-shirts. (The clever costumes are by Halei Parker.)"
- Daryl H. Miller, LA Times
Troubadour Theatre Company's The Year Without A Santana Claus (2018)
"designer Halei Parker’s blindingly glitzy costumes should have their own curtain call"
- F. Kathleen Foley
Odyssey Theatre's Go Back to Where You Are (2016)
".DeLorenzo's staging is visually inviting. Nina Caussa's set design, Halei Parker's costumes and Michael Gend's lighting conjure the perfect ambience for a summer frolic"
- Charles McNulty, LA Times
Troubadour Theatre Company's How the Princh Stole Christmas (2016)
"Events — relayed in rhyme — unfold not in Dr. Seuss’ Whoville but the similar, wavy-lined Howville, where the buildings are skewed, as if designed by architects who couldn’t draw straight. A Christmas tree full of ski-slalom twists stands in the center of town. Everything is crayon-bright: buildings and clothes, as well as residents’ bouffants and pompadours (set by Christopher Scott Murillo, costumes by Halei Parker, lights by Skylar Johnson). ... A stage-side narrator (Michael Sulprizio) helps to explain why the Princh’s feelings are warped. Among the reasons are a too-dinky anatomical feature — not necessarily his heart, but rather hands that are “three sizes too small” (yes, the year’s news is fodder for the laugh machine). And, sure enough, Walker is outfitted with tiny-hands prosthetics to accessorize his scowling face and madcap malevolence. ... The Troubies keep their humor freewheeling and their stagecraft as playfully obvious as possible. Dr. Seuss’ young hero, Cindy-Lou Who, is played by an actress (Katie DeShan) whose adult-size body is always half-hidden so that as she morphs at the waist into tiny doll legs she looks creepily childlike. Similarly, the Princh’s evil idea to steal Christmas is indicated by a light bulb attached to an extension cord that another actor hauls out and holds above his head. Attention is called to the fact that Max is played by a human in a dog suit (Kennedy) by having the pup mention that perhaps he’s a “furry,” which quickly leads to a TMI moment."
- Daryl H. Miller, LA Times
East West Players' Animals Out of Paper (2014)
"Designer Naomi Kasahara's inventive set, with titular examples strewn around the venue's walls, dovetails with the fine contributions of Tom Ontiveros (lighting), Melanie Chen (sound and compositions), Halei Parker (costumes) and Ayako Inoue (property master). ... Lee's crack timing and multi-tiered attack works wonderfully as dweebish Andy, and Talkwalkar is a revelation as Saresh, with an energy and spontaneity that recalls the emerging Bobby Cannavale. It's a play full of symbolism, but not dauntingly so, and its accessibility is universal. As Ilana tells Saresh, a piece of paper is never the same again after it has been folded, that it has memory. "It's all twisted into something so far from what it used to be." The same cannot be said for this beautifully judged L.A. premiere."
- David C. Nichols, LA Times
"...a handsome set by Christopher Murillo and goth-accented costumes by Halei Parker lend the proceedings a smart polish. "
- Steven Leigh Morris, LA Weekly
"This production is outstanding. ...A story that explores the boundaries of existentialism without divulging in didactics can be tricky. But they pull it off. Long live the king."
- M Jarrett Christensen, The Tolucan Times
Chalk Rep's Gallery Secrets (2013)
"Great care was taken with period costumes in each piece, and as far as I could tell, not a thread was out of place in a sparkly prom dress or early 1900s suit. This detail is of great importance as the actors move among the audience in confined spaces, in some cases even interacting with them. Leading each group from location to location, there are characters much like muses, something of a cross between tour guides and toned-down Cirque du Soleil-style clowns, offering a few laughs—and sometimes a few shivers—and setting the stage for each new time era and piece."
- Jenny Platt, LifeInLA
"Gallery Secrets is a satisfying gift."
- Don Shirley, LA Stage Times
"The bold and artful collaboration between the museum and Chalk Rep brings an unrestrained creativity in the stories that are heartfelt, clever, and biting. In the end, the space, topics, and performances compel us to see and feel the museum in a deeper, more reverent way. "
- Kenneth Hughes, Flavorpill
"A running theme is the notion that spirits inhabit the place, an evocative and engaging idea. And one has to admire the timing and coordination it took to keep everything running smoothly. Halel Parker’s costumes, so important for evoking the various time periods, are fine, and the directors (Andrew Borba, Jennifer Chang, Janet Hayatshahi, Jeff Wienckowski) have done a good job with the actors. Overall, it’s a captivating evening of site-specific theater at one of the most intriguing sites in town."
- Kurt Gardner, BlogCritics
Chalk Rep's Lady Windermere's Fan (2013)
"I’ve rarely found cause to mention costume design in my reviews of L.A. theater, and perhaps it’s because this aspect of production is so often overlooked in favor of great scripts and powerful performances. Thankfully, director Jennifer Chang teamed up with freelance costume designer Halei Parker to show the local theater scene what costuming is all about. Bright colors, a mingling of both modern and retro styles, and high society couture dazzled the audience, particularly during Lady Windermere’s party. I was entranced by some of the ladies’ fluorescent fishnet party socks, but was mostly in awe of their flamboyant hats. Each lady’s outfit was topped off with an indulgent hat or scarf. Lady Agatha’s called to mind the Munchkins’ flowerpot headpieces in The Wizard of Oz, while the pièce de résistance was Lady Windermere’s cleverly designed fan hat. Such care was taken to ensure that each actor stood out, not only in performance, but in costume as well, and this was an integral part of a truly immersive production that I must highly recommend to theater aficionados and Wilde fans alike."
- Jenny Platt, LifeInLA
"Apart from providing an atmospheric backdrop for Wilde's epigrammatic assault on late-Victorian bourgeois respectability, director Jennifer Chang's environmental, modern-dress (courtesy of costumer Halei Parker) staging lends an engaging, naturalistic buffer to the brittleness of the play's 19th-century melodramatic tropes while rooting the wealth of its Wildean bon mots in a soil of contemporary psychological truth."
- Bill Raden, LA Weekly
"I won’t go on about this production, as it’s sold out except for a few tickets available on the days of performances at 5 pm. But I vote for a return engagement next summer. If Theatre 40’s The Manor can keep returning to Greystone in Beverly Hills year after year, why couldn’t Chalk Rep’s Lady Winderemere's Fan do the same at the Clark?"
- Don Shirley, LA Stage Times