Actor & Writer
“The most purely delicious production... relentlessly inventive...I began to marvel at Ms. Salerno’s embrace of limitations...As the performance built, the elasticity of Ms. Salerno’s creativity became clear. Reveling in restrictions, her show turned out to be a paragon of Fringe form.”
"Dominique Salerno thinks outside the box while performing inside one. In her intensely creative collective of vignettes, The Box Show, she crams herself into a cupboard-like cube for 90 minutes, and like a magician pulling rainbow-colored strings from her mouth, she keeps surprising you with what she can produce in the space... It’s often hilarious, but what makes the show most memorable are its moments of darkness, expressed in fleeting, poignant side thoughts and comments. This interplay between light and dark helps The Box Show achieve what every vignette show wants: It is even greater than the sum of its parts."
"In lesser hands, this might be just a great sketch show. But beyond being a highly skilled comic (which is a huge deal in itself); Salerno is a masterful playwright and theatrical actress—and even a powerhouse singer! Salerno employs her breathtaking array of skills to take her audience on a roller coaster ride of emotions as delightful and satisfying as virtually any show currently playing in NYC... Salerno is certain to be a star; and this is the finest show of any kind I saw at FringeNYC."
"Our nomination for Off-Broadway performer of the year...This work firmly establishes Dominique Salerno as one of our most inventive, entertaining, and accomplished writers and performers.”
"Dominique Salerno’s The Box Show is one of the most original acts I’ve ever seen. Incredibly, the whole production is confined to one small box – every prop, every costume change – like a puppet theatre with myriad human puppets. And Salerno is the puppet master, changing herself into a giant woman, a fighting couple, a demanding pop star – and a few more esoteric surprises it would be a crime to give away...I’m in awe of her imagination. The Box Show is fast-paced, never letting up for the whole hour, the sketches building to a hilarious crescendo. Audacious, funny, and perfectly crafted, The Box Show is performed with wit and precision...Grab a ticket while you can – this Fringiest of Fringe shows is one not to miss."
"One comedian. One box. One hour of delightful fun in what might be the most creative comedy act I’ve ever seen. Dominique Salerno’s imagination is not limited but unleashed by the small environment of the box on stage that she inhabits. She deftly takes on multiple roles (sometimes within the same sketch) with impressive transformative skills and hilarious commitment to even the most absurd scenarios. She embodies her characters with the physicality and animation of a Pixar cartoon. She tumbles, she falls, she screams, she seduces, she commits crimes, and she goes on epic journeys, all inside a box. And she seems to be having so much fun doing it, which makes it even more enjoyable to watch. It is hard to pick stand out moments, but the creativity of the show was raised to new levels in a sketch that follows a camp talent show from an unexpected perspective. And I found myself getting surprisingly emotional during the monologue of a lonely giantess. However, even that sketch never sacrificed its silliness for its poignancy, letting both reside comfortably beside each other. Salerno approaches her act with fearless energy and is truly a joy to watch."
Edinburgh comedy reviews: The Funniest Shows at the 2023 Fringe:
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"In a nutshell: Dominique Salerno thinks outside the box by clambering inside it. A hit in New York in 2016, her inventive one-woman sketch show is performed entirely in a cube too small to stand up in, with four hinged doors that flip open in different combinations. Within that constraint, she creates a stream of clever ideas; a high-school dance where two lovers are seen only from the legs down; a silent Mission: Impossible spoof; or half a dozen Greek heroes squabbling inside the Trojan horse... terrifically funny... if some scenes work better as theatrical vignettes than outright comedy, that’s not necessarily a bad thing. The most memorable one in the show, about a lonely 60-foot giantess, is a delicately performed routine that begins as a joke before swerving into real, heartstring-tugging pathos. 'You know what it’s like to wish for less of yourself?' the giantess asked, and I felt a lump in my throat."
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"The La Jolla Playhouse WOW festival has some wow moments not to be missed, Brilliantly conceived and executed, Dominique Salerno’s award-winning show The Box Show is one of them... The Box Show is not merely a hilarious run of sketches, but also brings us to moments of tender emotion as well as stunning singing to accompany the occasionally astounding physical comedy. It is rare to find such a high level of talent in so many different areas of theater, Salerno clearly has it all... The multitalented actress, comedian and singer Salerno wrote every piece. She is amazingly limber and has the voice of an angel. This kind of experience comes along so rarely that it is not to be missed."
"the New Yorker performs this ticklishly enchanting, one-woman sketch show... A frame for self-expression or a cage for entrapment, an ocean seabed or even a human womb, the box evokes pathos, jokingly as a letter with a priceless stamp fatally wings its way to its final destiny, or genuinely, when it's the restrictive horizons for a giantess shunned by her community. There's slapstick and clever prop arrangement in a Dirty Dancing-inspired flirtation. Best of all are Frida Kahlo agonising over her unsmiling self-portrait; a punkish, feminist pop star incorporating her luckless producer into her protest record; a sibilant diamond ring bigging up its gifter, and an intimate part of the female anatomy, smug in its Bond villain-style lair but destined to be bested. More than just a gimmick, The Box Show is charming testimony to the invention possible from imposing theatrical limits."
"Salerno’s world is non-stop laughs but it’s also as smart as it is edgy and provocative. Running the majority of her lighting and costumes from within the box, Dominique is a master at seamlessly weaving together dance, inventive props and singing into a creative, in-your-face, laugh-out-loud experience. The only bummer of the evening was learning that there are no current plans to re-open the show, this show would shine on the comedy channels."
TURNUS ut infractos adverso Marte Latinos defecisse videt, sua nunc promissa reposci, se signari oculis, ultro implacabilis ardet attollitque animos. Poenorum qualis in arvis saucius ille gravi venantum vulnere pectus tum demum movet arma leo gaudetque comantis excutiens cervice toros fixumque latronis inpavidus frangit telum et fremit ore cruento: haud secus adcenso gliscit violentia Turno. Tum sic adfatur regem atque ita turbidus infit: 'Nulla mora in Turno; nihil est quod dicta retractent ignavi Aeneadae, nec quae pepigere recusent. Congredior, fer sacra, pater, et concipe foedus. Aut hac Dardanium dextra sub Tartara mittam, desertorem Asiae (sedeant spectentque Latini), et solus ferro crimen commune refellam, aut habeat victos, cedat Lavinia coniunx.' Olli sedato respondit corde Latinus: 'O praestans animi iuvenis, quantum ipse feroci virtute exsuperas, tanto me impensius aequum est consulere atque omnis metuentem expendere casus. Sunt tibi regna patris Dauni, sunt oppida capta multa manu, nec non aurumque animusque Latino est; sunt aliae innuptae Latio et Laurentibus arvis, nec genus indecores. Sine me haec haud mollia fatu sublatis aperire dolis, simul hoc animo hauri. Me natam nulli veterum sociare procorum fas erat, idque omnes divique hominesque canebant. Victus amore tui, cognato sanguine victus coniugis et maestae lacrumis, vincla omnia rupi: promissam eripui genero, arma impia sumpsi. Ex illo qui me casus, quae, Turne, sequantur bella, vides, quantos primus patiare labores. Bis magna victi pugna vix urbe tuemur spes Italas; recalent nostro Thybrina fluenta sanguine adhuc campique ingentes ossibus albent. Quo referor totiens? Quae mentem insania mutat? Si Turno exstincto socios sum adscire paratus, cur non incolumi potius certamina tollo? Quid consanguinei Rutuli, quid cetera dicet Italia, ad mortem si te—-Fors dicta refutet!—- prodiderim, natam et conubia nostra petentem? Respice res bello varias; miserere parentis longaevi, quem nunc maestum patria Ardea longe dividit.' Haudquaquam dictis violentia Turni flectitur: exsuperat magis aegrescitque medendo. Ut primum fari potuit, sic institit ore: 'Quam pro me curam geris, hanc precor, optime, pro me deponas letumque sinas pro laude pacisci: et nos tela, pater, ferrumque haud debile dextra spargimus; et nostro sequitur de volnere sanguis. longe illi dea mater erit, quae nube fugacem feminea tegat et vanis sese occulat umbris.’ At regina, nova pugnae conterrita sorte, flebat et ardentem generum monitura tenebat: 'Turne, per has ego te lacrimas, per siquis Amatae tangit honos animum (spes tu nunc una, senectae tu requies miserae, decus imperiumque Latini te penes, in te omnis domus inclinata recumbit). unum oro: desiste manum committere Teucris. Qui te cumque manent isto certamine casus, et me, Turne, manent: simul haec invisa relinquam lumina nec generum Aenean captiva videbo.' Accepit vocem lacrimis Lavinia matris flagrantis perfusa genas, quoi plurimus ignem subiecit rubor et calefacta per ora cucurrit. Indum sanguineo veluti violaverit ostro siquis ebur, aut mixta rubent ubi lilia multa alba rosa: talis virgo dabat ore colores. Illum turbat amor, figitque in virgine voltus: ardet in arma magis paucisque adfatur Amatam. 'Ne, quaeso, ne me lacrimis neve omine tanto prosequere in duri certamina Martis euntem, O mater; neque enim Turno mora libera mortis. Nuntius haec Idmon Phrygio mea dicta tyranno haud placitura refer: cum primum crastina caelo puniceis invecta rotis Aurora rubebit, non Teucros agat in Rutulos, Teucrum arma quiescant et Rutuli; nostro dirimamus sanguine bellum, illo quaeratur coniunx Lavinia campo.' Haec ubi dicta dedit rapidusque in tecta recessit. poscit equos gaudetque tuens ante ora frementis, Pilumno quos ipsa decus dedit Orithyia, qui candore nives anteirent, cursibus auras. Circumstant properi aurigae manibusque lacessunt pectora plausa cavis et colla comantia pectunt. Ipse dehinc auro squalentem alboque orichalco circumdat loricam umeris; simul aptat habendo ensemque clipeumque et rubrae cornua cristae. ensem, quem Dauno ignipotens deus ipse parenti fecerat et Stygia candientem tinxerat unda. Exin quae mediis ingenti adnixa columnae aedibus adstabat, validam vi corripit hastam, Actoris Aurunci spolium, quassatque trementem vociferans: 'Nunc, O numquam frustrata vocatus hasta meos, nunc tempus adest: te maximus Actor te Turni nunc dextra gerit. Da sternere corpus loricamque manu valida lacerare revulsam semiviri Phrygis et foedare in pulvere crinis vibratos calido ferro murraque madentis.' His agitur furiis; totoque ardentis ab ore scintillae absistunt, oculis micat acribus ignis: mugitus veluti cum prima in proelia taurus terrificos ciet atque irasci in cornua temptat, arboris obnixus trunco, ventosque lacessit ictibus aut sparsa ad pugnam proludit harena. Nec minus interea maternis saevos in armis Aeneas acuit Martem et se suscitat ira, oblato gaudens componi foedere bellum,tum socios maestique metum solatur Iuli, fata docens, regique iubet responsa Latino certa referre viros et pacis dicere leges.Postera vix summos spargebat lumine montis orta dies, cum primum alto se gurgite tollunt solis equi lucemque elatis naribus efflant: campum ad certamen magnae sub moenibus urbis dimensi Rutulique viri Teucrique parabant in medioque focos et dis communibus aras gramineas. Alii fontemque ignemque ferebant, velati limo et verbena tempora vincti. Procedit legio Ausonidum, pilataque plenis agmina se fundunt portis. Hinc Troius omnis Tyrrhenusque ruit variis exercitus armis, haud secus instructi ferro, quam si aspera Martis pugnavocet; nec non mediis in milibus ipsi ductores auro volitant ostroque decori, et genus Assaraci Mnestheus et fortis Asilas et Messapus equum domitor, Neptunia proles. Utque dato signo spatia in sua quisque recessit, defigunt tellure hastas et scuta reclinant. Tum studio effusae matres et volgus inermum invalidique senes turris ac tecta domorum obsedere, alii portis sublimibus adstant. At Iuno e summo, qui nunc Albanus habetur, tum neque nomen erat nec honos aut gloria monti, prospiciens tumulo campum aspectabat et ambas Laurentum Troumque acies urbemque Latini. Extemplo Turni sic est adfata sororem diva deam, stagnis quae fluminibusque sonoris praesidet (hunc illi rex aetheris altus honorem Iuppiter erepta pro virginitate sacravit): 'Nympha, decus fluviorum, animo gratissima nostro, scis ut te cunctis unam, quaecumque Latinae magnanimi Iovis ingratum ascendere cubile,praetulerim caelique lubens in parte locarim: disce tuum, ne me incuses, Iuturna, dolorem. Qua visa est Fortuna pati Parcaeque sinebant cedere res Latio, Turnum et tua moenia texi:nunc iuvenem imparibus video concurrere fatis, Parcarumque dies et vis inimica propinquat. Non pugnam aspicere hanc oculis, non foedera possum. Tu pro germano siquid praesentius audes, perge: decet. Forsan miseros meliora sequentur.' Vix ea, cum lacrimas oculis Iuturna profudit terque quaterque manu pectus percussit honestum. ‘'Non lacrumis hoc tempus,' ait Saturnia Iuno: 'Adcetera et fratrem, siquis modus, eripe morti, aut tu bella cie conceptumque excute foedus: auctor ego audendi.' Sic exhortata reliquit incertam et tristi turbatam volnere mentis.