Oliver!

To quote a song from this show, I always consider myself at home when I see a production of Oliver! because it’s so familiar to me. From watching the film as a child, to performing in the show more than once, and seeing various productions over the years, I could probably quote much of the script by heart! So, it’s always nice to see how each amateur group tackles the show.

Oliver! is of course very much about its younger cast members and from the opening scene at Mr Bumble’s workhouse, you could see that this group of youngsters were going to be full of energy, great acting and an array of facial expressions. The sound they produced in Food Glorious Food was strong, although they unfortunately ended up ahead of the music in places, probably due to opening night jitters. The boys who went on to be in Fagin’s gang were all great little characters who should be very proud of their performances.

Playing Mr Bumble was Julian Cottee and he was particularly good at portraying the downtrodden husband later on in the show once married to Widow Corney. Corney was played by Lianne Larthe and she was very funny. She played the part in quite an OTT manner, but I liked it and she made the audience laugh. I was disappointed to see, however, that she was wearing what looked like black nail varnish! A real no-no for this show and a shame.

The action moved into Sowerberry’s funeral parlour where Sally Lightfoot played a very nice version of Mrs Sowerberry. She had good authority about her to boss around her husband who was played by Denis Foot. They had a few minor dialogue and lyric issues which again, I would put down to opening night, but made a good pair.

I was interested to see that the group had chosen to have only one cast of children, as normally there would be a few groups. Playing the lead role in such a big musical for a whole week must be tiring so well done to Jacob Browne for taking on the part of Oliver. He played it perfectly, and had a beautiful singing voice. It seemed an odd choice to have him standing towards the back of the stage to sing the first part of Where is Love, as it took away some of the vulnerability, but perhaps director Bradley Green wanted to try something new.

The other young principal part of the Artful Dodger was played by Gabriel Miller-Williams, who looked to be one of the youngest on stage, and he was excellent. He had the character down to a tee and was a great presence throughout the whole show.

This version of Oliver! was first performed in the West End in 2009 and it includes revised musical arrangements. I didn’t notice this in many places but the big chorus number Consider Yourself seemed to be longer than usual, which meant the dancing took a while to get going. But when it did, it was brilliant. I enjoyed the choreography and the dancers did a splendid job, full of energy and enthusiasm. Well done to choreographer Paige Willamson.

Fagin was played by Tim Cater and he was the best received by the audience who he had in the palm of his hand, with his adlibbing and characterisation. For me, the adlibbing was probably a little much in places but you can’t argue with a standing ovation! Fagin is such a well-known character that it’s very obvious if done badly, and Tim played it very well. He had a strong, steady accent and interacted well with his gang. He also had a good singing voice.

As with Fagin, Nancy and Bill Sykes are extremely recognisable characters and in this production they were played by Sarah Pettican and Chris Lidgard. Chris was good, but I think this part can never be too sinister and perhaps a little bit of menace was missing from him at times. Sarah was a great Nancy. Not only did she look ideal, she portrayed the character just as you’d expect and belted out As Long As He Needs Me with gusto. It was such a shame that during her solo, cast members were striking an entire set behind her. This meant your attention was drawn elsewhere and even in the reprise, there was set being brought on in the background. I felt sorry that Sarah wasn’t able to fully have her moment with these powerful solos.

This brings me onto the set, which was very impressive. However, there were many long scene changes, mainly undertaken during blackouts, where staircases had to be moved or other pieces of set brought on. I can understand the temptation to have the best looking set possible for a show but it did slow the pace at times and I think much of it was unnecessary.

The main principals were ably supported by those in smaller roles such as Alex Kersley (Noah Claypole), Gemma Carracher (Charlotte Sowerberry) and Ailish Murphy (Bet). The chorus were also very strong, particularly the voices of the sellers during Who Will Buy (Victoria Lidgard, Charlotte Daly, Laura Wilson and Alex Kersley) and I liked the new take on this song when circus performers appeared. The costumes for this number particularly were beautiful and were good throughout the whole show. I was also impressed with the lighting in the production which looked like it had been really thought about.

I know from speaking to Bradley and Paige during the interval that the tech and dress rehearsals of the show hadn’t quite gone to plan and so I do feel that to an extent, I was watching what would have perhaps been classed as a second dress rehearsal. Performing in shows myself, I know that this can happen often and it’s very frustrating. It’s perhaps a shame I was reviewing on opening night, as I think some of the niggles I saw could have been ironed out in the shows that followed. Having said that, there were some very strong elements within the production and the audience absolutely loved it. With the week sold out, I’m sure the show went from strength to strength.

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