Oliver !

Thank you to Corby Amateur Theatrical Society for inviting me to come and see Oliver ! It is always a pleasure to come to such a lovely venue as The Core Theatre.

It must be quite a daunting task for a director when faced with such a well known musical as Oliver ! Most audiences have a pre- conceived idea of what they are going to see, but Jon Berridge put his own interpretation into this production, and I liked what he did with it, this wasn't the usual syrupy version so often seen. All the principal roles were well cast and had obviously been well rehearsed, his work with the chorus was good too, and all the children were excellent. Congratulations Jon for what you have achieved with this production.

Barbara Hockey's musical direction was at her usual high standard, with some good quality vocals from all the company. The orchestra was excellent, with some talented musicians giving solid backing throughout the musical, well done to you all.

Choreography was very good too, Kerry Gallon had clearly worked hard with the company, there were some really nice routines, the children all performed well, a difficult task considering their varying ages and abilities. Well done Kerry.

There were good, strong performances from all the principals. Oliver, played by Finlay Gray gave a very endearing performance, he sang " Where is Love ? " beautifully and with a great deal of charm; Finlay said in the programme that he hoped to make his family and friends proud, well I'm certain he did ! Conlan Wilkinson gave a confidant performance as Dodger, with some strong vocals and acting and was a perfect contrast to Oliver. Well done boys, I hope you both enjoy the rest of the run.

Janice Young as Widow Corney and Vincent Hanratty as Mr Bumble worked very well together and they both managed to bring out the humour in their roles.

Andy Hall as Fagin, gave an outstanding performance, playing the role in the way I think it should be played, very dark and at times quite scary, but still with a good deal or humour, he had a good rapport with the children too. Congratulations Andy !

A confidant portrayal of Nancy was given by Adele Logue, with strong vocals and acting, her rendition of " As long as he needs me " was excellent. Sophie Tranter as Bet, worked well alongside Nancy and she too had good vocal ability.

Gordon Richie brought a lot of menace to the role of Bill Sykes, giving a solid, assured portrayal of the character. What a pity the The Core Theatre wouldn't allow the company to have a " Bullseye ! "

Janet Askew and Richard Nicholls as Mr and Mrs Sowerberry and Jess Nicholson and Jack Jenkins as Charlotte and Noah brought lots of humour to the undertaker scenes, they worked very well with each other. There was good support too from the actors in the smaller roles, each playing their part in what was an excellent principal line up !

Technically this production was very strong too. The scenery, props and costumes were all of a high standard, helping make Oliver a visually excellent musical. A special mention must go to Hallam Knight for the lighting design, which gave the production a very real Victorian feel.

Congratulations to the entire company on an excellent opening night, I hope you enjoy the rest of the run.

Thank you Corby C.A.T.S for the wonderful hospitality shown to my guests and myself and for the extra ticket for my friends son, we all had a thoroughly enjoyable evening.

Caroline Jervis

East Midlands NODA District 7 Representative.

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