Review: Highlight Of 'Oliver!' Is Its Cast Of Villains
Posted
David Slone-dslone@timesuniononline.com
While watching “Oliver!” Saturday night at the Wagon Wheel Theatre, I found myself thinking the musical was the boy version of “Annie.” In both productions, an orphan is treated poorly by the adults who are suppose to take care of him or her, and the kid has some positive experience, only to be snatched away by the bad guys. There’s a struggle of some sort, and the orphan ends up with a family – real or adopted – who actually loves the kid. Certainly, there’s some similar themes in both shows that make them good for Christmas – charity, family, kindness and love. “Annie” does have some actual Christmas scenes in it, while “Oliver!” does not. However, I’ve seen “Annie” more times than I can remember, so “Oliver!” is a nice change of pace. There are around 27 little kids in “Oliver!” and getting them to sing, dance and act in unison had to have been a chore for Artistic Director Scott Michaels. But, despite some obvious nervousness on the children’s part, they can really pull it together. Since the kids start the musical with the song “Food, Glorious Food,” that makes their cohesion that much more important – it sets the tone for the rest of the show. Watching them move in step and sing “Food,” it reminded me of a couple of movie prison numbers - Elvis Presley’s “Jailhouse Rock” or Johnny Depp in “Cry Baby.” In “Oliver!”, the orphanage is pretty much a prison and an indictment of the early years of the Industrial Revolution. Playing the title character of Oliver is Parker Irwin, 9, of Fort Wayne. Like the other kids, Irwin definitely is excited to be on stage. He hit all his marks and sings pretty well, too. He could have a future on the stage. However, on a constructive criticism note, the kids need to display more emotion. Now that they know what they have to do, making the audience believe their unhappiness, anger or joy is the next step. I have no doubt that will improve as they do more shows. The orphange is run by Mr. Bumble (Michael Yocum) with assistance by the Widow Corney (Hannah Hammond). The roles are very much caricatures, but again no different than the caricatures in “Annie.” When Oliver dares to ask for more food, he is rounded up and sold by Bumble to the undertaker, Mr. Sowerberry (Kenneth D’Elia) and his bossy wife, Mrs. Sowerberry (Mary-Elizabeth Milton). I actually loved these performances because they reminded me so much of Riff Raff and Magenta from the camp classic “The Rocky Horror Picture Show.” I don’t know whether the performances were intentional or not, but regardless, it made me love them. They’re undertakers, creepy undertakers, so giving them a “Rocky Horror” vibe just makes sense. I don’t expect the WWT would ever actually do a stage version of “Rocky Horror,” but if it did, it already has the amazing casting for Riff Raff and Magenta. The Sowerberrys sing the song “That’s Your Funeral,” and it was the most fun number throughout the entire show. Partly, again, because it was so “Rocky Horror.” Oliver doesn’t end up staying long with the Sowerberrys after getting into a scuffle with Noah Claypole, a worker for the undertaker. Playing Noah – and very well I will add – is Warsaw Community High School’s own Derek Grose. Grose didn’t have a major role in the show, but when he had some lines, he kept his accent real throughout. The show takes place in London, England, and Grose did the British accent impressively in my book. Grose wasn’t the only WCHS student in this show. Hannah Bishop plays Bet, while Lucas Thomas does a good job as The Artful Dodger. All three of these teens have been in many performances at WCHS or WWT over the years, so it’s nice to see them not only continously improve in their craft, but also become professionals. After the undertaker has Bumble return to take back Oliver, Oliver instead runs off. He meets Dodger, who introduces him then to Fagin (Robert J. Miller). Fagin runs a business of sorts of his own – he gets orphaned kids to steal for him. He’s in cahoots with Bill Sykes (Brett J. Frazier), but Fagin – as portrayed by Miller – actually has some heart to him. When Oliver gets nabbed by the cops, Fagin is worried about him, not only because of what he might say, but because he has some sympathy for the orphans. At least, that’s the sense I got from watching Miller's portrayal. Miller always does a good job with his roles. From his cool portrayal of Edna Turnblad in “Hairspray” to Fagin, he consistently shows why he’s been on the WWT stage for 21 years. Then there’s Frazier’s superior performance as Sykes. Wow. Going into the show, I expected something darker than what was on stage. It is Charles Dickens afterall, and based on his “Oliver Twist.” But until Sykes appears on stage, the musical is pretty “Annie” light. Frazier does an outstanding job of bringing the darkness into this musical and I appreciated it very much. It’s disappointing that Sykes appears so late in the show because he truly is the villain of the production. Frazier knows how to bring life to a bad guy! Unfortunately for Nancy (Kira Lace Hawkins), she’s in love with the bad man. Even when she’s playing a role with such a character flaw, though, Hawkins still steals every scene she’s in, especially with her God-given voice. As my friend with me at the show Saturday said, “She can make the most boring song mesmerizing.” She not only can sing, but she also delivers the emotion especially in songs like “As Long As He Needs Me.” Hawkins is a crowd pleaser and a joy to the ears. There are basically three kinds of musicals in my book. One is a musical with a few well-placed songs, one is a musical with songs after every action and the third is a musical with no spoken lines, just songs, like the rock opera “Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat.” “Oliver!” is the second kind – a little bit of action or dialogue, and then a song. Though the songs were well sung, I think a little less singing and more acting would greatly enhance this production. With fewer songs, more time could be devoted to characters like the Sowerberrys, Nancy or Bill Sikes. And other than “That’s Your Funeral” or “Be Back Soon,” none of the songs really stick in your head anyway. Some general good things about this show include the set design by the late Roy Hine; the costume design, as always, by Stephen R. Hollenbeck; and the choreography by Michaels. Overall, the show was definitely better than I expected. I think the story would have been better served with less singing and more character development, emotion and interaction, and toned a bit darker, but it was still an enjoyable night of live theater.My rating (out of four): 2.75. Tickets to “Oliver!” are on sale now by calling the box office or by visiting the website at wagonwheeltheatre.org For more information, call 574-267-8041.
