Praise for Million Dollar Quartet:
“James Scheider… is a KNOCKOUT as Jerry Lee Lewis, capturing his cockiness and ebullience with delight while also recreating his spectacularly acrobatic piano playing. His strawberry blond curls bob as he leaps, spins, kicks and otherwise plays his little heart out.”
– Encore Michigan
(2016, Saugatuck Center for the Arts)
“James Scheider plays the boyishness, ebullience, and irritating cockiness of Jerry Lee Lewis as well as his acrobatic piano playing but with a confidence that doesn’t require the kind of over-the-top upstaging that often overwhelms performers in this role. HE’S A KNOCKOUT.”
– Revue
(2024, Saugatuck Center for the Arts)
“James Scheider…is the show’s most enjoyable personality and provides PLENTY OF SASSY ENERGY.”
– Sifter
“Scheider relishes the reckless and obnoxious nature of up and coming, bigger-than-his-britches Jerry Lee Lewis. He is a REAL SCENE STEALER, delivering some of the funniest one liners in the show while madly sweeping those piano keys.”
– The Sleepless Critic
(2019, Greater Boston Stage Company)
Praise for ROCK & ROLL MAN: THE ALAN FREED STORY:
“James Scheider is simply PHENOMENAL.”
– Entertaining Options
(2017, Bucks County Playhouse)
“James Scheider THREATENS THE CEILING as Jerry Lee Lewis”
– Community News
(2017, Bucks County Playhouse)
“James Scheider has a KNOCKOUT TURN AT THE PIANO as a Jerry Lee Lewis performing ‘Great Balls of Fire.’”
– Off Script
(2019, Berkshire Theatre Group)
Praise for EVENING – 1910:
“BEAUTIFUL AND DELICATE…like a Sepia-tone memory…James Scheider [is] dapper, cocky…”
– The New York Times
“…the most EXQUISITELY CRAFTED MUSIC to be heard on the New York stage right now…boast(s) some of the best-crafted lyrics currently onstage… it is certainly a musical journey into the past that’s worth taking.”
– TheaterMania
“The result is beautiful to watch, simultaneously lulling and stimulating…The cast members SING ELEGANTLY AND MOVE GRACEFULLY.”
– Huffington Post
“The cast are all exquisite singers, and as an ensemble their sound is gorgeous…James Scheider exudes the right amount of entitlement that money brings and ABLY EMBODIES THE TIME PERIOD.”
– Stage Buddy
Praise for 42ND STREET:
“As the self-impressed but likable juvenile lead Billy Lawlor, James Scheider carries a heavy vocal and dance load admirably, and NEVER DISAPPOINTS.”
– Talkin’ Broadway
“Scheider, whose VOICE ASTOUNDS from the moment he opens his mouth… his amazingly athletic dancing is no slouch either.”
– BroadwayWorld
“James Scheider SINGS WITH PASSION and DANCES WITH BRIO.”
– The Seattle Times
“James Scheider felt FREE OF ARTIFICE AND CONTRIVANCE, a really nice kid whom we want to be with another really nice kid.”
– SeattleActor
Praise for JESUS CHRIST, SUPERSTAR:
“James Scheider as Simon not only THRILLED WITH HIS VOICE but also with his STELLAR DANCING AND ACROBATICS.”
– Broadway World
“Incorporating hip-hop dance and martial arts, Daniel Cruz’s dances have youthful immediacy, especially in…gymnastic “Simon Zealotes” featuring an AGILE, BACK-FLIPPING JAMES SCHEIDER.”
– The Seattle Times
“James Scheider…is RIGHT ON TARGET with his amiable, easygoing Simon”
– Talkin’ Broadway
Praise for COTTON PATCH GOSPEL:
“The cast is led by James Scheider, the narrator…Scheider has the CHARISMA AND STRUT OF MATTHEW MCCONAUGHEY at his best, along with a rich, expressive singing voice and his instrumental assuredness.”
– The Citizen Times
“Scheider and Sherwood make for a GREAT SINGING AND DANCING DUO.”
– Hendersonville Lightning