Lionel Bart's Oliver! was the first musical in which I ever performed. That was a scary forty three years ago and it engendered in me a lifelong love of the show and the wider world of musical theatre. Almost more amazing is the fact that, until last night, I had never seen a full production on stage!
Full credit to OxOps for assembling a huge company for their production. With two teams of child performers plus the adult company, you are looking at an ensemble of over a hundred people on to which you have to add the production team, the stage and technical team, the wardrobe and make up team and the chaperones. It is a huge logistical operation and it all came together to deliver a well received opening night.
Sat a couple of rows in front of me was a gentleman who was having the time of his life. His animated response to the performance was a joy to behold. He was loving every minute of his experience and that is the true power of theatre. The company should be proud to have elicited that sort of reaction.
OxOps is known for attracting very talented performers. Competition for roles is always very intense. Indeed for young performers, over four hundred auditions were held.
The standout performance of the night for me was Nicola Taylor's heartfelt embodiment of Nancy. She seized her opportunity and won over the audience with a glorious voice and the warmth of her stage presence.
On the comedy front, Guy Grimsley and Nicola Jones had great fun as Mr Bumble and Widow Corney. They are both gifted singers and have a natural understanding of comic timing and delivery.
Steve Mellin as Fagin delivered an energetic and well sung performance. There were moments where the characterisation, for my personal taste, tipped a little too far towards the caricature. But even then, he did light up the stage with humour and wit.
The child performers, as always in this sort of show, were endearing and characterful. One, however did stand out as being a true little star and that was Nicholas Siddle as Nipper. He has a lovely singing voice and genuine stage presence. For his first outing on a big stage, he shows huge promise for the future.
There are some elements of the production that, sadly, did not fully reach the necessary standard.
There were a number of technical issues with both sound and lighting that meant come key moments were lost. Similarly some of the scene changes were over extended causing the action to lose momentum from time to time. Hopefully as the week goes on, these issues will be resolved.
Costuming such a large company is always going to be a challenge both in terms of budget and in sourcing that quantity of period looks. Particularly with the adult ensemble, there were a few too many outfits that were not even close to being appropriate for the early Victorian era. This is something that not all will notice but it does make it harder to fully immerse yourself in the world of the piece.
My biggest concern was over the direction of the production. It lacked the consistent crispness and clarity that I have come to expect from the company. I fully understand the challenges in working with a large cast on a complicated show but some of the storytelling, particularly in some of the larger ensemble sequences, just fell short.
Having said all of that, the positives do, on the whole, outweigh the negatives. It is a production full of heart, great singing and huge amounts of enthusiasm. As witnessed with the gentleman sat near me, that enthusiasm is infectious.
And for those young people appearing on a big stage for the first time, I hope they have a wonderful week and that this Oliver! is the start of their life long love of musicals.