*credited as Amanda Renee Baker
CHESS (White Plains Performing Arts Center)*
"This production could not have attained its top tier quality level without its absolutely stellar principal cast. [...] These four serve as the core of Chess, and when casting these roles, one must surely be more meticulous than usual. Unbelievable singers and actors who are capable of handling complex, struggling, imperfect characters must play them. [...] Baker's Florence was driven, intelligent, and headstrong, yet had such an emotional depth and complexity to her. Each of these four principals gives an unbelievable vocal performance [...] Baker's "Nobody's Side," Baker and [Ruby] Day's "Someone Else's Story," [and] Baker and [John] Cormier's "Florence Quits" were highlights."
- Adriana Nocco, OnStage
- Adriana Nocco, OnStage
"[Amanda] returned to the musical this weekend, as Florence in Chess [...]. I knew she could sing (though I didn't know what range, clarity, consistency, and power she had at her disposal). Amanda also communicates when she sings, such that her audience can feel her strength, her intelligence, her integrity. Her voice is a channel that makes all those internal traits so viscerally accessible."
- David DeWitt, independent reviewer
- David DeWitt, independent reviewer
OTHELLO (Southwest Shakespeare Company)*
"Amanda Renee Baker presents Desdemona as the Moor's poised and loyal wife. When, in the final act, Desdemona begs Othello for her life, Baker reveals the vulnerability and sensuality that must first have caught Othello's heart."
- Herbert Paine, Broadway World
- Herbert Paine, Broadway World
"Baker vibrantly displays Desdemona's suffering and confusion when confronted about her alleged indiscretion and you feel for her as the victim of her unfortunate circumstances."
- Gil Benbrook, Talkin' Broadway
- Gil Benbrook, Talkin' Broadway
TAMING OF THE SHREW (Hudson Warehouse)*
"Amanda Renee Baker is a very strong Katherine, rather more relatable than most I've seen. Witty indignance is more fun to watch than inscrutable rage. [Baker and Vince Phillip] do a particularly good job with the handful of rapid exchanges of wordplay [...]"
- Andrew Shuttleworth, Shuttleworth on Shakespeare
- Andrew Shuttleworth, Shuttleworth on Shakespeare