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[straightfowardreviews-blog]

Oliver! - Oh Yeah!

Oliver! Presented by The Queanbeyan Players and directed by Jude Colquhoun in short is a delightful production with strong characters and a stellar ensemble which for two and half hours will have you entertained without realizing time is flying by!

Oliver, originally a novel by Charles Dickens and adapted to stage by Lionel Bart; is set in Victorian age England and revolves around a young orphan boy Oliver who runs away from his dire circumstances in a workhouse and abandons his apprenticeship to an undertaker only to escape to London and ends up joining a gang of thieves.

Well then, how to begin... What a way to start a show! We are first introduced to the junior ensemble in their performance of a well-loved favourite “Food Glorious Food”. The junior ensemble are truly stars in this show with great expressions and strong movement. Having stared down at the simple set I was a bit worried I would not be lost in the world and was asking myself ‘where are we?’ but the second their tiny feet started marching I had forgotten about the set and could imagine the scene vividly. It was splendid; especially one very small blonde girl who was bouncing and smiling throughout the whole tune! You could tell the cast had a fun time being on stage and loved every minute of it. I just had to put a big kudos to the juniors I cannot express enough how much you made this show! Keep it up!

Within these workhouse children is young Willum Hollier-Smith as Oliver who brought the entire audience to tears when he began to sing “Where is Love”. He was one of the strongest lead roles (regardless of having the musical named after his character) and will prove to be someone to watch out for in future shows as he has a real show stopping potential not just vocally, but his acting is superb and his took this character really making Oliver his own.

When we meet Nancy (Emily Pogson) and Bett (Alyssa Anderson) I was initially a bit thrown off with some accent mix ups here and there and a missed line to the start of a song; but both girls perform beautifully and had very vibrant costumes. Pogsons rendition of “As long as he needs me” was not my favourite song performed by her throughout the night. There were light issues where her face was completely dark while her shoulders down were in spotlight, and vocally I found myself being drawn into the emotion of the song then suddenly ripped back to reality when she would yell certain lines trying to be emotional and because of this I couldn’t lose myself to what is supposed to be a very powerful solo for the character Nancy; however in saying this her acting was strong and in speaking scenes Pogson had you fully convinced, it is worth note that Pogsons portrayal of Nancy in Act Two was splendid both in song and character. Anderson was very strong vocally and within “Oom Pah-Pah” I felt Anderson had me cheering along with the ensemble more so than Pogson. These two were well cast along side each other and were a convincing best friend duo.

Opposite Pogson as Nancy was her bully of a boyfriend Bill Sykes played by Michael Jordan. It is hard to play a villain because most audiences won’t cheer for you however you have the most complex and fun character out of the show. Jordan while not on stage as often as other lead roles was convincing and powerful (I would not want to run into him in character anytime soon). He had a great voice for the role and not only did he convince you on stage with his accent and singing but the way he chose to move on stage you could tell he wanted to portray an entire believable character from the ground up and not just go “Hi I’m Bill” sing a song then go off stage. Jordan made use of every second on stage, and whenever he was on were on the edge of your seat.

Fagin was played by Anthony Swadling who really brought a light-hearted side to this tale with brilliant characterisation, a convincing accent that was just the right amount of Jewish for the role, as well as a fun choice of movement during scenes. All his songs were brilliant I cannot choose just one to comment on, he was likely my favourite character throughout the show. I was completely speechless with a giant grin on my face after each of his songs. 

Tina Robinson and Chris Bennie were also a highlight of the show getting appropriate giggles from the very lively audience and the cheers were well deserved. Both Robinson and Bennie had very strong voices and characterised their roles well as Widow Corney and Mr Bumble. I was expecting great things having seen Robinsons performance earlier this year as Mrs Potts in Beauty and the Beast and was not disappointed. These two actors were well paired to play these roles off one another and I was always excited when they popped on stage.

I want to also provide kudos to John Potter and Sarah Powell as Mr and Mrs Sowerberry who performed brilliantly, Joss Kent as Dodger who was a total scallywag but was delightful to watch and provided a ton of humor with his movements and portrayal of the character, all cast involved in the song “Who Will Buy” which was one of my favourite scenes overall (some harmony hiccups in the start with the duets but as a group, OH MY GOD!) and the Orchestra who played wonderfully throughout the night even with a few song hiccups from singers they kept on the ball and supported the cast beautifully.

Overall, should you see this show? Yes. Definitely. Opening night can be a very daunting session and this is when every show from now on will only get better and better. The show downplays a few of the darker scenes making it quite welcoming to a wider audience, and the Q theater in Queanbeyan is a comfortable venue with no notorious ‘bad seats’ in the house, any seat is a good seat. The cast of Oliver would definitely consider you one of the family and spoil you with a fantastic rendition of a ageless classic.

 Well done!