Charles Dickens' timeless classic Oliver Twist is a study in dominance and the establishment of pecking orders. It is also the story of an orphan boy who is misused, and a study in the economics of scarcity and the effectiveness of government. It would therefore be very difficult for me to see the musical adaption Oliver! and not comment. Theater, orphans, economics and government all in one!
First, the theatrical review. In keeping with the notion that a theatrical work's purpose is to entertain the audience, the standing ovation the performance received is evidence that the show has done it's job. The show was indeed entertaining, but I felt it could have been more. So, in the event that any members of the cast or production team should read this, know that you've done well, and take what follows as merely comments on how the show might have been.
Oliver's story is one of creating, or creating the illusion of, dominance of one person over another. It starts with the workhouse beedle, Mr. Bumble exerting his dominance over the orphans and paupers in the workhouse, and continues with each succeeding character in the cast, each of which attempt to exert themselves in one fashion or another over the young boy or each other. Bumble, in his pretensions, exerts himself over not only Oliver and the boys, but over the widow Corney. The undertaker and his wife fence at determining who is dominant in their relationship. Noah uses his position as the older boy to needle and pick on the young Oliver. Fagin dominates and uses his little gang, and in his mold, so does the Artful Dodger. Bill Sykes being the most domineering of them all, to the point, established in song, that even mention of his name is sufficient to command others. Only Nancy and Mr. Brownlow are excluded from this continual struggle to establish pecking order. And in each case, Oliver is at the bottom.
It is therefor crucial that each of the characters establish traits that define how they attempt to exert their dominance. Unfortunately, I thought the performance was a bit uneven in this regard.
Fagin, as a principle character, was wonderfully played, the character believable (even when the fourth wall was deliberately broken in a wonderfully comic moment). Fagin's character as the somewhat reluctant villian, uses the boys as he must, and uses his wits to avoid domination by Sykes. Yet he has a soft spot for the boys, and his villainy is not entirely of his choosing. We see Fagin as villain at least partially out of self preservation, and we see that he truly cares about his boys, and is even proud of them.
Bill Sykes was menacing and heavy as he needed to be. This character exerts his dominance by simply being meaner and more evil than any who would challenge him. Yet we also get to see that he is afraid of the hangman.
Adriene Swenson was delicious as Nancy and her voice is worth the price of admission alone. Her rendition of "As Long as He Needs Me" and it reprise completely sold me on her devotion to Sykes as well as her determination to protect Oliver.
And the young boy playing Oliver was a special treat. (I'm sorry I don't have the program before me to include actor names, but it is at home, and I am not. Perhaps I will edit later.) The innocence, gullibility and inherent nobility of the character came across naturally. This young actor has a career ahead of him.
With Bumble and Corney it is bombast and pretension. Bumble's character certainly had bombast, but the pretension was weak. With Corney, it was missing entirely, leaving her character appearing as a strumpet. Noah is the bully, using his superior size and position to intimidate Oliver (and Charlotte). My advice to the actor here is to spend more time developing character and less on trying to sound cockney. The dialog here simply did not sell me.
Musically the performance was wonderful, though the sound mix was a bit weak on Oliver. Especially during "Who Will Buy?" Oliver's voice was lost under those of the street vendors. Choreography was, well, thin, almost seeming to be an after thought in places. The set design was wonderfully abstract and simple.
Lighting. For the most part I thought the lighting was well done. The lighting designer's use of color for mood enhancement worked well. There were a couple of places where actors were in shadow that seemed inappropriate, and a couple of places where the lighting distracted the focus rather than concentrating it. Sometimes lighting needs to change because something on stage motivates it (morning, evening, sunset, lighting a lamp or flipping a wall switch, etc.) and sometimes the lighting changes because the mood of the action changes (the lighting cools when evil lurks, or warms and brightens when something wonderful happens), and sometimes the lighting changes to focus the audience on what is happening on a particular part of the stage and away from what is happening elsewhere. Some of the lighting changes seemed not to fall within any of these motivations, and were disconcerting. From a static aesthetic point of view, the entire view of the stage was wonderful, but it didn't always enhance the performance.
Overall, the Grand's production of Oliver! is worth going. They did, after all, get a standing ovation. The show runs through this Saturday, so if you haven't gone yet, you'll need to hurry.
First, the theatrical review. In keeping with the notion that a theatrical work's purpose is to entertain the audience, the standing ovation the performance received is evidence that the show has done it's job. The show was indeed entertaining, but I felt it could have been more. So, in the event that any members of the cast or production team should read this, know that you've done well, and take what follows as merely comments on how the show might have been.
Oliver's story is one of creating, or creating the illusion of, dominance of one person over another. It starts with the workhouse beedle, Mr. Bumble exerting his dominance over the orphans and paupers in the workhouse, and continues with each succeeding character in the cast, each of which attempt to exert themselves in one fashion or another over the young boy or each other. Bumble, in his pretensions, exerts himself over not only Oliver and the boys, but over the widow Corney. The undertaker and his wife fence at determining who is dominant in their relationship. Noah uses his position as the older boy to needle and pick on the young Oliver. Fagin dominates and uses his little gang, and in his mold, so does the Artful Dodger. Bill Sykes being the most domineering of them all, to the point, established in song, that even mention of his name is sufficient to command others. Only Nancy and Mr. Brownlow are excluded from this continual struggle to establish pecking order. And in each case, Oliver is at the bottom.
It is therefor crucial that each of the characters establish traits that define how they attempt to exert their dominance. Unfortunately, I thought the performance was a bit uneven in this regard.
Fagin, as a principle character, was wonderfully played, the character believable (even when the fourth wall was deliberately broken in a wonderfully comic moment). Fagin's character as the somewhat reluctant villian, uses the boys as he must, and uses his wits to avoid domination by Sykes. Yet he has a soft spot for the boys, and his villainy is not entirely of his choosing. We see Fagin as villain at least partially out of self preservation, and we see that he truly cares about his boys, and is even proud of them.
Bill Sykes was menacing and heavy as he needed to be. This character exerts his dominance by simply being meaner and more evil than any who would challenge him. Yet we also get to see that he is afraid of the hangman.
Adriene Swenson was delicious as Nancy and her voice is worth the price of admission alone. Her rendition of "As Long as He Needs Me" and it reprise completely sold me on her devotion to Sykes as well as her determination to protect Oliver.
And the young boy playing Oliver was a special treat. (I'm sorry I don't have the program before me to include actor names, but it is at home, and I am not. Perhaps I will edit later.) The innocence, gullibility and inherent nobility of the character came across naturally. This young actor has a career ahead of him.
With Bumble and Corney it is bombast and pretension. Bumble's character certainly had bombast, but the pretension was weak. With Corney, it was missing entirely, leaving her character appearing as a strumpet. Noah is the bully, using his superior size and position to intimidate Oliver (and Charlotte). My advice to the actor here is to spend more time developing character and less on trying to sound cockney. The dialog here simply did not sell me.
Musically the performance was wonderful, though the sound mix was a bit weak on Oliver. Especially during "Who Will Buy?" Oliver's voice was lost under those of the street vendors. Choreography was, well, thin, almost seeming to be an after thought in places. The set design was wonderfully abstract and simple.
Lighting. For the most part I thought the lighting was well done. The lighting designer's use of color for mood enhancement worked well. There were a couple of places where actors were in shadow that seemed inappropriate, and a couple of places where the lighting distracted the focus rather than concentrating it. Sometimes lighting needs to change because something on stage motivates it (morning, evening, sunset, lighting a lamp or flipping a wall switch, etc.) and sometimes the lighting changes because the mood of the action changes (the lighting cools when evil lurks, or warms and brightens when something wonderful happens), and sometimes the lighting changes to focus the audience on what is happening on a particular part of the stage and away from what is happening elsewhere. Some of the lighting changes seemed not to fall within any of these motivations, and were disconcerting. From a static aesthetic point of view, the entire view of the stage was wonderful, but it didn't always enhance the performance.
Overall, the Grand's production of Oliver! is worth going. They did, after all, get a standing ovation. The show runs through this Saturday, so if you haven't gone yet, you'll need to hurry.
Comments