press & TESTIMONIALS
First review of Hope Levy Sings Connie Converse! - by Eric Lindbom, freelance journalist - August 25, 2025
“For the past few years, Connie Converse has experienced more than a moment. The singular songwriter never achieved fame or even cult recognition during her probable life time. She disappeared in August of 1974 leaving Ann Arbor Michigan in her VW bug for a new life in a location TBD and was never heard from again.
Since she spent formulative years in New York City during the Greenwich Village scene that inspired Bob Dylan, some call her among the first female folk artists. To these ears, she was a pioneering free spirit, ala Joni Mitchell, and wasn’t singing about the exploited working class. Instead, Converse spun wistful tales, often with a fanciful poetic bent. In an ideal world, she would have enjoyed her late won influence, like Detroit’s Rodriguez did by a South African fan base who thought he was dead. Alas, if Converse is still lucid and with us she just turned 101 earlier this month.
Just on time comes HOPE LEVY SINGS CONNIE CONVERSE! (out now on CD and vinyl; check ConnieConverUniverse.com) from Hope Levy, a talented, amusing songbird in her own right. Levy has a long career as voice over actor (SHREK, BOSS BABY, AVATAR and as the dying deer in GET OUT!) so she’s a gifted interpreter. Since most of Converse’s surviving recordings are living room demos on guitar, Levy takes a similar minimal approach playing along in intentionally instrumentally unadorned versions that let Converse’s lyrics and Levy’s supple voice shine through.
With 16 tracks, the record is a bountiful sampling of the Converse catalog that displays her story telling strengths while Levy mainlines her cutting whimsy, damaged take on romance and allegiance to supposedly wanton women. Check this lyric from “Roving Woman” -- “a lady never should habituate saloons/and that is where I find myself on many afternoons/but just when I begin to blow away the foam/someone tips his hat to me and takes me home.”
Levy brings a jaunty brogue to “Johnny’s Brother” a story about a woman sexually doubling dealing with her lover and his sib. There is wide-eyed wonder to her approach on “Man in the Sky” about a literally star struck woman who wants to marry a constellation and “Father Neptune” about another besotted with a sailor and competing against the sea. The record ends with a nifty pop closer – an original Levy sang and recorded as a 7-year-old that prescribed a wrinkle cure in the pre-Botox era.
Levy has toured her one-woman tribute to wowed crowds on the east and west coast. It’s a gift her Converse collection is now etched in these warm, emotive takes”.
Hollywood Fringe Festival 2024 Reviews
Ernest Kearney, TheTvolution.com https://www.lahiddengems.com/post/hope-levy-brings-connie-converse-back-to-life-at-the-actors-company
Dan Ruth, LAHIDDENGEMS.org https://www.lahiddengems.com/post/hope-levy-brings-connie-converse-back-to-life-at-the-actors-company
Glamour, Glamgical.com, https://glamgical.com/fringe-review-the-connie-converse-universe/
San Diego International Fringe Festival Review - The Connie Converse Universe by David Coddon
Santa Monica Daily Press - Recommended “The Connie Converse Universe” starring Hope Levy
https://eastbayexpress.com/calendar-picks-week-of-nov-9-15/
VoyageLA: Life & Work with Hope Levy
NOHO Arts District: The Connie Converse Universe
"Hope Levy honors Connie Converse's legacy while making the songs her own in a night of poignant, often hilarious cabaret entertainment. …Wherever she is, Connie Converse couldn't wish for a more heart felt interpreter than Hope Levy."
— Eric Lindbom, Co-Editor TriggerWarningShortFiction.com
“Hope Levy takes you on a journey in song and story, exploring the life and mystery of Connie Converse. Along the way, Hope's clear beautiful voice elevates the experience as she tells her own funny poignant anecdotes about growing up with a love of music. It's more than entertainment, it's a tribute to a talented gone-too-soon singer songwriter.”
— Patricia Lawler Kenet, Writer.
“Hope Levy and Connie Converse are a match made in cabaret heaven! Hope puts her own fresh, quirky take and her clarion voice on Connie’s fresh, quirky songs. I’ve seen this show twice and I truly can’t wait to see it again!”
— Jason Graae, Wicked, Ragtime
“Hope Levy took us on a fascinating musical journey into the Connie Converse Universe. The combination of Connie’s songs and Hope’s originals was a fun and thought-provoking way to approach the mystery of Connie‘s disappearance. What a brilliant show!”
— Carlease Burke, Actress, Dave
“Connie would have been proud to the tribute to her work.”
– Kjehl Johansen, Trotsky Icepick, Circlons, Danny and the Doorknobs.
“The Connie Converse Universe is that rare show that gives us a glimpse into a fascinating real person as told through the quirky and colorful lens of Hope Levy. Levy brings a bright-eyed humor and personal insight to this fascinating and mysterious real life character. You will leave wanting more!”
— Jay Irwin, El Portal Theatre
