Oliver!

It was a welcome change to see the stage being utilised during the overture for something other than Oliver's pregnant mother arriving at the workhouse. Instead we were greeted by hunched over cooks and cleaners, who added dead vermin to the pot of gruel. A “mice” touch.

A stoic Mr Bumble (Sean Hynes) and a very sweet natured, Widow Corney (Jane Gillam) donned the stage, overlooking the workhouse children. A nice comedy duo.

It was very enjoyable to watch Sean take on a sinister character, for a change, still with ample opportunity to deliver comedy and impress us with his vocals.

“Boy for Sale” was a particular highlight of the show.

The role of Fagin was masterfully played by Gareth Barton. His portrayal showed us moments of vulnerability and a genuine questioning of his own conscience. A real “good vs evil” stance. Gareth had consistent characterisation, fantastic comic timing and wonderful vocals. A layered and captivating performance.

Emma Lambert portrayed a maternal, nurturing Nancy towards Oliver and her sidekick ‘Bet’ beautifully played by Hannah Percival. Those maternal instincts soon flipped to passionate outbursts when she was speaking about Bill and how he mistreats her, showing light and shade to the character. Emma has some powerful vocals and it's always a delight to hear them.

Darrell Jackson took on the task of playing Bill Sykes and created a gruff, East End gangster. He was convincingly intimidating during “My Name” and changed the mood entirely when he entered the stage. His death scene had some great character choices, making it a believable demise. 

Moving onto the children who are always the true stars of the show, our Oliver for this evening's performance was played by Joseph Wiltshire. Joseph has such a beautiful voice and delivered his songs with ease.

Olivers counterpart Dodger was played by Blake Williams. No stranger to this role, Blake gave a convincing performance as the lovable rogue. 

We were treated to a very nice double act in Nipper and Charlie Bates, who were played by Joseph Purton and Harry Lewin, respectively. These boys really brought their characters to life, with some lovely additional comedy moments for Nipper.

The adult ensemble and “Team Dodger” were clearly having a great time on stage and were utilised well, throughout. Special mentions to some spectacular secondary characters with Joe Drury as ‘Noah Claypole’ and Vic Gray as ‘Mr Brownlow’ for their fine acting skills. 

For me, the stand out adult ensemble numbers were ‘Oom Pah Pah’ and ‘Who will buy’ the latter producing stunning harmonies and well controlled vocals. 

The set was incredible. It really was a sight to behold and the show also had a great pace to it as the ensemble took the set changes on and off stage. 

From where I was sitting in the stalls, I had a great view of the entire stage. At times my view of the action was obstructed by positioning of ensemble with some of the more violent scenes being a little too exposed.

Costumes were fantastic, although maybe a little too clean for the era at times and I was left a little confused by some of items which stood out as not in keeping with the time period.

Miles Baldwin did an exceptional job with the lighting. It was incredibly effective and atmospheric.

There were some sound issues with mics not always being turned up on time and the reverb was far too heavy on certain numbers, which unfortunately, detracted from the emotion of these songs.

Once we got into the throes of the musical numbers the band were outstanding, lead by musical director Alex Wood.

Josh Handley in his debut as director for this much loved show, managed to add so many extra moments which worked beautifully (Oliver hugging Fagin was a particular favourite) and as expected from Josh, plenty of extra little comedic moments bringing a smile to my face and a fresh take on some of the scenes. Together with Vikki Purton, they handled this production well.

 

© NODA CIO. All rights reserved.