Reviews
"[In GRAND HOTEL] the two characters who emerge from the complex stew as its standouts and our de facto lead characters are definitely Daina Michelle Griffith as Grushinskaya and Scott Pearson as the Baron. Griffith reads rather young for the character, which actually plays in the show's favor: Grushinskaya is morbidly concerned with her aging, despite everyone insisting she is still young and beautiful and gifted: with a warm and charming actor like Griffith in the role, the character comes across as a neurotic in need of getting her groove back, as opposed to a relic being coddled by her underlings. Griffith brings humor and lightness to the prima ballerina's brooding nature, cutting through the chilly Garbo-ness of it all with a winning human streak."
- Greg Kerestan, BroadwayWorld
“[Grey Gardens] now is exquisitely revived by Pittsburgh’s Front Porch Theatricals, with a perfectly cast Daina Michelle Griffith leading the way. The former Post-Gazette Performer of the Year played another woman on the edge in “Next to Normal” on this same New Hazlett stage. Now she inhabits the dual roles of young Big Edie, as her aristocratic life takes a devastating turn, and later as Little Edie, mired in a destructive symbiotic relationship with her elderly mother. Ms. Griffith morphs from the sharp-tongued, Big Edie, with flowing red hair and an insatiable need to be the center of attention, to the eccentric Little Edie, encased in a hijab-like scarf for all of Act 2 and going on endlessly, with a Long Island-New England cadence that falls uneasily on the ear. It’s all the more poignant when Ms. Griffith brings out her sweetest vocals for “Around the World,” which includes the summation lyric, “When you live off mother you can't be free.” Doug Wright’s brilliant script re-creates two women with outlandish exteriors and infuses them with a desperate sadness and neediness — embodied in all their tragic and often hilarious glory by Ms. Griffith.”
– Sharon Eberson, Pittsburgh Post Gazette
“Griffith turned my heart inside out nearly two years ago, in Quantum Theatre’s WHEN THE RAIN STOPS FALLING, so she had her own tough act to follow last night, but she did not let me down. Daina’s Diana doesn’t so much run the gamut of emotions as she runs the gauntlet of them—careening from funny to tragic to sexy to deranged to no-nonsense like a bumper-car ride that never shuts off.”
— Chris Rosella, Boring Pittsburgh
“Griffith has such a distinct voice, smooth and comforting while singing the more somber songs but that same voice will slap you in the face when she lays into a power ballad. She just kills it in ‘My Death.’”
— Mara E. Nadolski, Pittsburgh Stage Magazine
“The show’s real star is Daina Michelle Griffith, whose dynamic awakening as frank’s wife, Lucille, creates a flurry of action and hope. Griffith’s Lucille is fearless and focused on winning her husband’s freedom.”
— Alice Carter, Pittsburgh Tribune Review
“In this space, Griffith is a revelation as Irene, a character who has the emotional intelligence as a therapist to manage the unfolding culinary disaster, but whose low-blood sugar forces her to admit her needs in endearing and comical ways. With pregnant looks, Griffith makes her character an open book, which matches so well with Van Liew, who brings wavering stoicism to his Peter’s hunger. The two also commit fully to the physical comedy at hand, which is hard not to love.”
— Craig Idlebrook, The New England Theatre Geek
“So let’s say the second act is where Daina Michelle Griffith gets a chance to unfurl her considerable talents as Tess. Griffith effortlessly makes vivid the emotional churning happening just underneath Tess’s numbed exterior, giving us a real sense of aching need for connection.”