Oliver!

A new MD and Callander Kirk Junior Choir were happy additions to this company’s show. The opening chorus of the workhouse orphans was beautifully sung and enunciated. Here as in the Fagin Gang numbers, the youngsters showed concentration and discipline. Having set the bar, the principals topped it with some wonderful singing of their own.  Angela Dickinson as Widow Corney and Dan McKirgan as Mr Bumble sang their duet ‘I Shall Scream’ with style and humour, he thinking he was wooing her, while she reeled him in.  Mr Bumble hit all the right notes in the testing ‘Boy for Sale’.  John McGettigan sang a confident Oliver in the touching ‘Where is Love? ’, and showed different sides in his response to bullying and in his naivety at the antics in the thieves’ den.  In the quicksilver character of The Artful Dodger, Aiden Cronin captured the cocky Londoner and was no mean singer in his own right. Brian McKay gave us a wily Fagin, never missing a beat  in ‘Pick a Pocket’ and ‘Be Back Soon’ numbers while displaying ironic humour in ‘Reviewing the Situation’.  As Nancy, Lorna Stevens with her clear, modulated voice, understood the complexities of the role and commanded the stage. Feisty yet vulnerable, she sang ‘As Long as He Needs Me’ with touching but mistaken belief that Bill Sykes actually needed her.  The domineering Bill Sykes was well interpreted by Grant Webb cowing the punters in the pub, singing with menace and, to save his own skin, murdering Nancy, the one good thing in his life. The harmonised reprise of ‘It’s a Fine Life’ in Act 2 was a delight as was ‘Who Will Buy’. The chorus was suitably raucous and refined. This was a well produced show an example being a well executed Undertaker’s Scene: with credit to Euan Murphy as Noah; and to Charlotte McFarlane as Mrs Sowerberry, striking a truly ‘sour’ peal over hen pecked Mr Sowerberry, Steve Murphy. Minor principals added to the credibility of the performance. Costumes of the boys were suitably grubby in stark contrast to that of more polite society. Musically the orchestra had good tone and pace and, for me, a highlight was the beautifully played violin in ‘Reviewing the Situation.’ All played their part in a hugely enjoyable production.

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