Oliver!

This was a good production from Hitchin Thespians. The show moved along at a good pace, and all the famous Lionel Bart songs were well performed.

The urchins performed the ‘Food Glorious Food’ opening chorus, which got the show off to a flying start.

Ethan Clifton made a very charming Oliver and sang beautifully, he was well supported by Alex Shadbolt as the Artful Dodger along with strong band of Orphans and pickpockets.

Bob Sulzbach was a very good Mr Bumble, he has excellent stage presence, and booming vocals, he was well supported by Alison Hudson as Widow Corney.

Fagin, Mike Roberts and Bill Sikes, Roy Taylor, sang and played their parts well, but the star of the show for me was Charlie Roberts as Nancy who was outstanding, in both her script and song and her rendition of ‘As long as He needs Me ‘, was brilliant. A very competent young actress who should be encouraged to do more in the future. An asset to the society.

The minor principals, the Sowerberry’s Jonathan Fletcher and Maz Greenbank and Mrs Bedwin, Gina Abbatt, all played their parts well and there wasn’t a weak link in the cast.

There was a very strong chorus and the ‘Oompah’ number fairly raised the roof.

I was impressed by the open set and changes were very slick from a competent crew. It isn’t always necessary to spend a fortune on lavish sets.

The Orchestra was competently led by Wesley Hughes and the lighting appropriate to the plot. The gloominess at the opening worked well.

Costumes were appropriate but some of the hairstyles did not conform to the Victorian period.

The only glitch of the evening was that it appeared that Oliver and the Artful Dodger mixed up their radio mic’ packs which resulted in Oliver’s Where is Love number being sung without any amplification whilst the off stage mic picked up incidental speaking from the dressing room. This would be off putting for any well-seasoned performer and I was pleased to see that this did not phase Oliver’s efforts. Well done

All in all this was a good production of ‘Oliver’, and the society should be well pleased with the outcome.

Thank you for a very pleasant evening.

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