Comments (0) |

Brilliant 'Oliver!' revival serves its cast, crew, audience and history well

By Candace Chaney Contributing Theater Critic

VERSAILLES -- Long before it had a home, or even a name, what would become the Woodford County Theatrical Arts Association began modestly with a staging of Oliver! at the amphitheater at Midway College. Other shows followed in whatever venues and with whatever resources the troupe could scrounge.

Now, 20 years later, the troupe has a home, and a beautiful one at that. What’s more, WCTAA is celebrating its 20-year milestone with a production of the very same play that launched them along their two decade journey, Oliver!

With book, lyrics and music by Lionel Bart, Oliver! is a musical adaptation of Charles Dickens’ classic Oliver Twist. The tale follows the trials of a young orphan boy in 19th-century London as he struggles to survive on his own.

After his mother died in childbirth, Oliver was cruelly brought up in a workhouse, a kind of exploitative orphanage. The story opens with the iconic scene in which young, starving Oliver dares ask for more gruel, a kind of thin porridge that barely qualifies as food. Threatened with beatings, Oliver is sold to an undertaker for 5 pounds. After barely a day of nasty treatment, Oliver runs away. This begins the 10- year-old’s life on London’s grimy streets and launches the audience into the meat of the play.

Though only a few people might remember that very first show in Midway, this production is a fitting testament to its legacy. Soaring musical numbers deftly delivered by a cast of young and old, beautifully functional technical design, and skilled direction are hallmarks of this enjoyable show

Up-and-coming Scott DiMeo, a fifth-grader at Lexington’s School for the Creative and Performing Arts, is charming, spirited and at times heart-wrenching in the title role, particularly in his rendition of Where Is Love? I did not expect the younger cast members to attempt a British accent, but DiMeo and others go for it. His is surprisingly sharp and consistent and he has a strong voice with a tone of clarity and emotion that is promising in one so young. It will be exciting to watch him develop over the coming years.

The supporting cast of rag-tag London orphans, who double as workhouse children and later, Mr. Fagan’s band of pick-pocketing street kids, are nothing short of adorable. Not just cute, though, these youngsters can sing. Some of them seemed a bit timid in their delivery in the first scene and opening-night nerves might be to blame, not to mention the intimidation of a theater packed full of friends, family and strangers alike. They soon warmed to the crowd and let their voices ring through the theater. Take heart, kids, and have confidence, you sound great.

As for the grown-ups, well, Bart and Dickens provide ripe opportunities for developing deliciously wicked and complex characters, and this cast proves up to the task. Robert Hoagland as Bumble and Cynthia Ackley as the Widow Corney launch into delightful loathsomeness with the cruel and occasionally hilarious numbers Oliver! and I Shall Scream!

Other highlights include Dave Dampier’s terrifying rogue, Bill Sikes, who delivers a chilling rendition of My Name. Carmen Geraci’s Mr. Fagan is a self-confessed crook who uses an army of street children for his work. And yet, there is something oddly likeable about him, flashes of kindness and wry humor followed by selfish cowardice. His two numbers, You’ve Got to Pick a Pocket or Two and Reviewing the Situation, are keenly executed and wildly engaging.

Bonnie M. Stuck delivers a charismatic performance as Nancy, a grown-up version of Fagan’s street kids who is in love with the treacherous Bill Sikes. Stuck uses her gorgeous, potent voice to evoke pure sauciness and strength at times, but other times, she is tragically vulnerable, particularly in the song As Long as He Needs Me. An obvious victim of domestic violence, her character’s fate conveys the darker truths of Oliver’s world.

Finally, Oliver! would not be complete without an Artful Dodger, one of Fagan’s more advanced and charming pickpockets. Melissa Denise Ratliff does a fine bit of gender bending to deliver a spectacular crook and criminal mentor to Oliver. Her accent and performance are thoroughly convincing and she impressively manages consistency in delivering heavily accented songs like Consider Yourself.

Director Beth Kirchner doubles as set designer to remarkable effect. With three tall, rotating structures against a backdrop of the London skyline, the audience is plunged into the seedy London underbelly. Like a giant, moveable jigsaw puzzle, the set quickly shifts between scenes to efficiently detail a variety of places, from an orphanage to an undertaker’s lair to a pub to Oliver’s eventual home. Kirchner creatively employs her large cast to maneuver the intricate pieces between scenes by developing little subplots and back stories among the scene-changing characters. With a huge cast and innovative, mammoth set pieces, the play somehow manages to capture a feeling of intimacy. Oliver’s singular journey is always in focus and the myriad of meddling characters and shifting locations somehow sharpens that focus. In other words, every technical and dramatic component of the show lends detail and color to Oliver’s plight, rather than externally competing with it.

Kirchner notes the similarities between the title character’s story and WCTAA’s own tale – both orphans who eventually found a home to call their own.