Oliver

I would think most people will know the story of Oliver Twist and also the film/show from it, Oliver and of course the iconic parts of the title role and Fagin.

When Wickersley YoungStars decided to do this show I doubt they would have imagined how much of a success it would be, in the title role of Oliver they had chosen Joe Woods and what a find they had, his singing of “Where is Love” was beautiful and I doubt they would have been a dry eye in the house and he was able to sustain his character all the way through.

I mentioned above the role of Fagin and here once again the company had made the right choice in Harvey Cartlidge, he may have been very young to play such a well known role but he pulled it off, his interactions with his young gang and Dodger played by Georgia Green were perfect. As we all know the part of Dodger is usually played by a boy or young man but here we had a young girl playing it and I loved her portrayal. Georgia was nothing less than excellent and she managed to get everything out of it.

One part very close to my heart is that of Mr Bumble having played this three times and I was pleased to say Oscar Brockbank was perfect, he managed to get every ounce of humour from the part and his scenes with Widow Corney played by Maisie Vera were a joy to watch. The whole audience laughed and enjoyed their song “I Shall Scream”.

The arch villain of this piece is of course Bill Sykes and here Wickersley YoungStars had made the perfect choice in Kyle Baker, he was able to get the right amount of venom to make his part believable.

To me the person whole stole the show, and I am sure the majority of the audience had the same idea, was Caitlin Deakin as Nancy, she was fabulous and her singing of “As Long as He Needs Me” was delightful, Caitlin was able to pull on the heart strings of the entire audience and I am sure we all felt for her and how she loved this villain.

It would be difficult to mention everyone in this review but I have to say there were no weak links and every part was played to the full and all the members must be congratulated on their performances.

Something I don’t usually mention is the set used on shows but here Wickersley YoungStars had chosen a great set to compliment the show, I especially thought it worked well in the “Who Will Buy” number where we could see Oliver and Mrs Bedwin, played by Manda Hacker, above the action to give the appearance they were actually in a bedroom.

Many congratulations to everyone involved in Oliver.

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