ACT Reviews 2022-2023 Season

OLIVER! Director: Brenda Hindle Choreography: Tyne Bayliss Musical Director: Ian Bird

Ulverston Amateur Operatic Society You only have to say “Oliver!” and people smile: the show is in musical theatre audiences DNA. Lionel Bart’s comic melodrama is a challenging entertainment to get right. Based on “Oliver Twist” by the master of storytelling, Charles Dickens who certainly knew how to woo his readers. It is a shame Charles Dickens is not included in the show’s credits.

This latest version from the rights holders has script revivals and exciting musical re-arrangements. The balance of the show is stronger for these changes except for the “death of Nancy”. Reducing Bill Sikes lines weakens the dramatic climax. The Coro stage had the space to accommodate and give justice to the UK Productions’ set which was handsomely framed by the proscenium arch. Molly Limpet’s costumes looked as though they were designed for this set so that they were looking like a Boz drawing. Character presentation, wigs, hair and make-up completed the look of grimy Victorian life. Oliver Twist’s journey starts from the loveless workhouse to the bosom of his newly found Grandfather. The lighting created atmosphere for each stage of Oliver’s adventure. The sound design was so good you did not notice it; I haven’t yet sat through a production which served so well as with this sound design. The Company was musically strong: a good tempo giving a high quality to all those wonderful songs. A first class band played the new score with gusto. The choreography was lively, inventive and energetically interpreted. The music and dance were under the creative umbrella of the director whose vision guaranteed an original production.