Reviews
Falsettos
“Henstock delivers her three solos with a pro’s confident control and a real Broadway voice.”
-The Lakeville Journal
The Light in the Piazza
“”Piazza” boasts commendable performances across the board, from Henstock’s sweet-voiced singing to the muddle of emotions in Burnham’s Fabrizio going crazy as he falls in love (“Il Mondo Era Vuoto”The World Was Empty”).”
-Rohan Preston, Minneapolis Star Tribune (March 21, 2007)
“Leslie Henstock (who splits the role in Minneapolis with Katie Rose Clarke) has a bell-clear voice and ably captures Clara’s conflicted woman-child.”
-Dominic Papatola, TwinCities.com (March 21, 2007)
“This impeccable production is thick with talent. On opening night the demanding, complex role of Clara was performed to seeming perfection by understudy Leslie Henstock. Her portrayal was assured, luminous and textured.”
-Dennis Brown, St. Louis River Front Times (Feb 11, 2007)
“I was, however, completely convinced and enchanted by Leslie Henstock, usually the understudy, who played Clara for the first week of the run at the Fox.”
-Bob Wilcox, West End Word (Feb 7, 2007)
“Henstock’s portrayal of Clara is especially touching; she sings like a woman but moves like a child.”
-Judith Newmark, Post-Dispatch Theater Critic (Feb 1, 2007)
Leslies’ Solo CD Defying Gravity
“The voice is especially sweet and youthful, the renditions earnest, the repertoire mostly musical theater. I liked her sunny sound right away.”
-Rob Lester, Talkin’ Broadway (July 13, 2006)
Les Misérables
“Adam Jacobs (The Prince in Cinderella national tour and San Francisco native) as Marius and Leslie Henstock (recently in the ensemble of Les Misérables) as Cosette are very good as the young lovers. Jacobs personifies the passion and naiveté of the student revolutionaries while Henstock offers genuineness and ardor in her performance.”
-Richard Connema, Talkin’ Broadway
“Also of note in the cast is Leslie Henstock, pretty and tuneful as Cosette.”
-Julie Kistler of The News-Gazette (Champaign-Urbana IL, Apr 28, 2005)
“Leslie Henstock makes a sweetly innocent Cosette, with a lighter-than-air soprano.”
-Everett Evans of The Houston Chronicle (Houston TX, Feb 24, 2005)
“Javert’s relentless pursuit of Valjean seems less compelling than the love triangle between Eponine, Marius and the grown-up Cosette. Credit for that lies primarily in performances by Adam Jacobs as the joyously smitten Marius, Melissa Lyons as the spunky but emotionally vulnerable Eponine and Leslie Henstock’s demure Cosette… For repeat viewers, those moments and interpretations that bring a new interest to familiar material make the evening rewarding.”
-Alice T. Carter of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review (Pittsburgh PA, Jan 13, 2005)
“Leslie Henstock’s Cosette is equally wide-eyed and optimistic (as that of Adam Jacobs’ Marius) about the love they have sparked in one another. Her song-bird soprano is well matched with Jacobs’ tenor.”
-From the Redlands Daily Facts, by Steven Sabel (Los Angeles CA, Dec 15, 2004)
“Leslie Henstock is the lovely/lyrical Cosette”
-Ed Kaufman of the Hollywood Reporter (Los Angeles CA, Dec 4, 2004)
“Leslie Henstock (Cosette) and Adam Jacobs (Marius) provide some breathtaking vocals in the show.”
-Anthony Del Valle of the Las Vegas Review-Journal (Las Vegas NV, Nov 4, 2004)
“…Leslie Henstock’s Cosette is a coloratura soprano perfectly matched to handsome Adam Jacobs’ heartfelt Marius.”
-Peter Birnie of the Vancouver Sun (Vancouver CAN, Nov 12, 2004)
Older performances
Avon Players production of “Evita” in which Leslie played Peron’s Mistress
“One of the productions standout performances is given by Leslie Henstock, a sophomore at Adams High School, in her portrayal of Peron’s mistress as she is cast aside for Evita. Her ex-mistress song, sitting on top of her suitcase, is one of the truly moving numbers of the show.”
-Rochester Eccentric (Rochester MI, May 1996)
Avon Players production of “Gypsy” in which Leslie played Louise
“Leslie Henstock, known as a junior Julie Andrews for her exceptional voice, has blossomed into an actress. Her expressive face captures a range of emotions: the fear of taking the runway for the first time, the growing self-confidence and the explosive contempt at being held back for so long.”
-Rochester Eccentric, (Rochester MI, October 1997)