In ‘The Normal Heart,’ the AIDS crisis and a battle against an epidemic of indifference: The Boston Globe

Ned’s zeal is matched by that of Dr. Emma Brookner (a very good Cailin Doran), who knows the gravity of the situation firsthand.

New Repertory Theatre Presents: “The Normal Heart”: METR Mag

As Brookner, Doran gives a stern, methodical performance as the steadfast physician, trying to remain objective as a physician but soon realizing she cannot. 

Solo Play gives Voice to an Eartha Kitt who was more than ‘Glitz and Glam’: The Boston Globe

Doran says Wheeler has become an Eartha Kitt scholar, studying the many interviews and videos of her performances to capture her inflections and gestures in this slice-of-life play with music.

“Our work in rehearsal involves shaping the story Jade has written to reflect this truly unique performer,” Doran says. “Kitt was unafraid to take her time onstage, to indulge in the joy of creating herself.

“Who is Eartha Mae?” — Lady Sings the Sultry: The Arts Fuse

Anchored by the assured direction of Cailin Doran and Jade Wheeler’s dazzling performance, Who is Eartha Mae? sings with truth. . . The Multicultural Center for the Arts in Cambridge provides plenty of room in its performance space for Wheeler and director Cailin Doran to come up with inventive staging opportunities. They make the most of this creative freedom. 

Not only does Wheeler open the show on a high balcony at the top of a towering staircase (playing up the idealized nature of the Kitt persona?), but she also weaves through the nightclub-style seating area at the front of the stage. These choices add visual variety to the piece while dissolving the emotional barrier between Wheeler and the audience. As she charges through a high-energy dance number at the start of the show — the young Kitt, discovering her talents — the crowd is swept up in her passion and energy. There is no need for Wheeler’s Eartha Mae to say a word; we know exactly what the moment means to her.

WHO IS EARTHA MAE? World Premiere at Bridge Repertory Theater: Broadway World

Despite the dimensions of the cavernous hall, Director Cailin Doran, music director/pianist Seulah Noh (outstanding), and the design team (Esme Allen, scenic; Laura Hildebrand, lighting; Jason Rosenman, sound) lay the foundation for Wheeler to establish an intimacy that wraps us in its embrace. It is no small achievement to make this space work for a show that is more modest in scale, but the warmth and electricity that Wheeler radiates accomplish it effectively.

Channeling Gilbert and Sullivan: MIT News

[Doran] is an upbeat and demanding director. . . [she] directed her actors back into position, and the tempo picked up. They began to run around the stage in complicated patterns, at times colliding. A young man stepped forward to catch a young woman, and something went awry. “I’m used to catching a guy!” he shouted, after miscalculating the placement of his hands. He blushed and muttered, “It’s so different.” Doran patiently demonstrated how to correctly catch a woman. Then the players were back at it again.

She Looks Good in Black and Other Fine Evils: New England Theatre Geek

Cailin Doran is both stunning and tragic, refusing to play the role as a victim of circumstances, but rather, a woman who knows what she wants and knows how to get it, unapologetically so. Shea’s desperate loneliness is what makes her so relatable, and its hard not to feel sympathetic towards her odd display of grief.

Baring hearts (and more) in ‘The Full Monty’ at the Backstage Theatre: Summit Daily

Of them all, we’re drawn most to the story of Dave and his wife, Georgie (Cailin Doran). . . Rathbun and Doran create a wholly believable marriage that falters and heals throughout the course of the show.

Review: CU Opera presents crisp performance of ‘Candide’: The Daily Camera

"Candide" exposes the audience to an array of talent . . . Cailin Doran, as the Old Woman, steals every scene in which she appears.

Review: How I Learned to Drive: The Daily Camera

Doran's monologue in the middle of the play, though, is a stunner. It's the one moment we see Uncle Peck's wife, and during it Doran makes clear another part of the cost that's rendered from the incestuous relationship.