Oliver!

It is no wonder that this musical has been entertaining audiences of all ages since 1960, and boasts four major West End revivals; it never loses its appeal.

From the opening bars, played by a terrific orchestra, it was evident that the sell-out house was going to be in for an excellent evening’s entertainment. The production had pace, aided by good use of the multi level set ensuring that the audience didn’t have time to get bored. The ensemble of both adults and children gave great support with excellent singing and good movement throughout, and the supporting roles of  Bet (Sian Francis), Noah (Jak Jobson) the Sowerbys (James Stickland, Helen Land, Millie McBeth) and the Brownlow household (Maurice McShane, Carole Young, Mark Lloyd) were all confidently played.

The light hearted humour between Mr Bumble (Martyn Banks) and Widow Corney (Rachael Amundsen) was excellent. They were perfect caricatures of the Dickensian period, and Martyn gave a first class rendition of “Boy for Sale”.

Ben Southwick, as “Oliver”, portrayed the pallid, sweet-natured underdog well, and Matthew Rankcom, as the streetwise, energetic “Dodger”, never let his cockney, confident character slip, winning over the hearts of the audience within moments of starting “Consider Yourself”.

Aaron Hepple, as “Bill Sykes”, had a brooding malevolence whenever on stage, and his attack on “Nancy” (Kelsey Douglas) was so convincing that it made you want to rush to her aid.  Kelsey gave a superb performance and delivered every one of her numbers with perfection from the upbeat and raucous “Oom Pah Pah” to the haunting and powerful “As Long As He Needs Me”.

The iconic role of “Fagin” was in the capable hands of Andy Oliver, portraying a character that was playful and yet had a sinister edge, and delivering both the comedy and the pathos with conviction.

This production was filled with many “Small Pleasures”, congratulations!

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