Oliver!

As I said to the cast when I popped backstage after the show, in the midst of clubs doing newly released shows which is great, you sometimes just can’t beat a ‘golden oldie’ to look forward to, and that’s exactly what we got with APOS’s production of Oliver!  Surprisingly a first for the club presenting this classic in their long history.  Playing the title role on the evening I was there was Jamie Wardrop who captured an innocent Oliver very well with strong character acting and singing.  His rendition of ‘Where is Love’ had the audience melting.  The opposite to Jamie’s sensible Oliver was Hugh McCulloch as a cheeky and energetic Artful Dodger.  The talent in these two young leads was excellent and matched by the full children’s ensemble who each had their own wee characters, expressive faces and mastered their group choreography.  Leading the children’s ensemble was Ron Swanson as Fagin.  His enthusiasm was infectious and he used his strong; comic timing, vocals and connection with Fagin’s gang and other cast members to create his take on this well-loved character.  Within the Fagin gang scenes we get introduced to Nancy and Bet.  Mari McCrindle’s performance of Nancy was just wonderful.  Balancing the vulnerable yet gutsy character, she captured an enchanting and real character, bringing a breath of fresh air to the role backed by fantastic vocals in all her numbers.   A huge well done.  She was ably assisted by Jessica Rodger as Bet, who had lovely connections with the younger ensemble in particular and echoed the warmth and realness of Nancy.  Bet and Nancy’s relationship was lovely and believable.  Bringing a dark cloud over these joyful characters was Adam Dawson as Bill Sykes.  His menacing, tough and dark characterisation earned him the fear from the other characters and had the audience flinching in their seats when he was on the stage.  Comedy was given throughout their scenes by Graeme Strawhorn and Olive Lindsay as Mr Bumble and Widow Corney.  Their connection was great, humour faultless and resulted in very strong performances.  Continuing the comedy, but in a very creepy way when we moved into the funeral parlour scenes, were the Sowerberry’s.  Allan Ward’s eerie physical characterisation and demure delivery of the dialogue and song was excellent.  In contract to this, and dominating Mr Sowerberry was his wife Mrs Sowerberry, played by Lisa MacMillan.  Lisa’s crabbiness and screeching was very entertaining, had the audience laughing heartily and brought a depth to this character, which can sometimes be lost in amongst the large number of principal roles.  Neil Kerr and Emily McPhail brought the gutsy and mischievous characters of Noah Claypole and Charlotte to life and complimented the rest of the players in these scenes very well.  The other characters in this talented principal line up of; David Russell (Mr Brownlow), Margaret Nicol (Mrs Bedwin and Old Sally), Robery Flynn (Dr Grimwig) and Lilian O’Pray (Annie) were all well rounded and all helped move the story forward within their scenes.  A brilliant adult ensemble completed a very experienced and capable cast which brought this classic story to life.  Credit of course must go to Artistic Director’s Linda Ormiston, Andrew Nicol and Choreographer Gwyneth Grant for producing a lively and energetic show and breathing some new life into this ‘golden oldie’ classic. 

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