Theater review: Oliver!

by Mandy Rausch of John Garcia's The Column

Theatre Coppell has put together an aesthetically beautiful production with fine performances that audience members will enjoy.

The musical Oliver! (now showing at the Coppell Center for the Arts) is one that I have heard referenced my entire life. Lines such as "Please sir, I want some more!" and songs like "Consider Yourself (at Home)" are very familiar and often referenced and/or parodied in pop culture. The musical, based on the novel Oliver Twist by Charles Dickens, is the story of a young orphaned boy who commits the egregious act of asking for more food at dinner one night, a decision which leads to consequences such as his removal from the orphanage, sale to a funeral director, and inclusion into a band of young pickpockets, just to name a few. It features many well-known and well-loved songs such as "Where is Love?," "Consider Yourself," and "As Long as He Needs Me."

However, with all its charm and beloved characters and songs, the production elements appear to be quite difficult. There are so many songs and scene changes that the production could easily be, and sometimes was, disjointed and clunky. The plot line is also a bit slow, and the exposition building up to the climax is very long (in this case, an hour and a half). This appears to be a fault of the book and score, though, not of the actors themselves. Overall, I think Theatre Coppell succeeds, difficult production elements notwithstanding.

My first impression upon walking into the small, black-box theatre was that set designers Robert Batson and Connie Savard had better not be overlooked for a Column Award next spring. The flats used for the orphanage, the Three Cripples tavern, and the busy London streets were both beautiful in their use of intricate, distressed detail, and forced perspective and also functional, rotating pieces that made the set changes much smoother than I would have anticipated upon first glance. In such a small space as the stage at Theatre Coppell, this much attention to detail is absolutely necessary, since the closest audience members are seated mere inches from the action onstage.

Lighting Designer Paul Arnold must also be given recognition. The navy blue screen behind the buildings coupled with the soft lighting and detailed gobos gave the feel of a London street at twilight, and the harsh lighting in the scenes in the orphanage and tavern made the setting feel seedy without being too dark to see the actors' expressions.

The costumes were adequate throughout, but just as the set requires strict attention to detail in such a small performance spaces, so do the costumes. There were often threads hanging from hems and sleeves, and not just from the attire of the poor and neglected orphans. A bit more attention could also have been paid to hair and makeup design, as there were several modern hairstyles and makeup applications that were glaringly anachronistic.

Director Wheelice "Pete" Wilson did a fine job creating small but beautiful stage pictures and smooth, effective traffic patterns with a large cast in such a small space. I also appreciated that he used the entire space, including crawl spaces below the elevated portion of the set and even a "rooftop" in one pivotal moment. Since the stage at Theatre Coppell is just one wall shy of being completely in the round, it requires that a director always be conscious of where and how the action happens, so that no audience member is staring directly at an actor's back for any extended period of time. Wilson excels in this with his staging.

Richard Gwozdz put together quite a wonderful, albeit small, orchestra of four to accompany the action onstage. The sound was well-balanced, and never intrusive or too loud or soft for the singers. At times, the violin player darn near stole the show, especially during Fagin's song "Reviewing the Situation," and I found myself wanting to applaud after each of violinist Ashton Fineout's beautifully played solos! Aside from the music, there were some distracting sound problems throughout the production. When an actor was not directly facing the side of the theatre in which I was seated, I lost any comprehension of what was being said or sung onstage. I saw mics on some actors, but those actors were not any louder or clearer than those not wearing mics.

Since this was my first experience with Oliver!, having never seen the movie or the stage version, I was not aware of just how many songs there actually are in the show. At times I even wondered why Lionel Bart decided to put in a song that, as far as I could see, did nothing to really further the plot in any necessary way. Not only do the songs seem arbitrary at times, they are quite difficult. However, I must give credit to the actors during the musical numbers; their attempts to keep the energy level up are visible, and the voices onstage ranged from pleasant to outstanding.

As a musician myself, you will rarely hear me say this, but Oliver! is one of only a small handful of musicals that do not require classically trained singers to really sell the characters. These roles are either made or broken by the acting rather than the beauty of the voice. The actors in this production come very close to hitting the mark, but at times fall just short. Part of this is due in large part, I think, to two main contributing factors: the use of various English accents throughout, and the size of the performance space.

Any time an actor has to use an accent other than his or her own, the pace of the scene tends to slow down, the words are difficult to understand and the accent slips or altogether disappears during the songs. I would prefer, nine times out of ten, to instead hear the actors use clear, articulate speech rather than affecting an accent, but this is an instance where the distinction of different English dialects is important in indicating the social class of the various characters in the story. Some of the actors in this production choose not to use accents and, while they were much easier to understand, it added a bit of inconsistency to the production. The small space seemed to hinder the actors and keep them from going from "good" to "great." It seems very difficult to really give 100% in these larger than life and over-the-top character roles when the first two or three rows of audience members are completely visible, smiling at you.

This was especially true in the characters of the Widow Corney and Mr. Bumble, played by Anicia D. Brown and Tom E. Moore, respectively. These two characters are nothing short of ridiculous, and should be played as such. I felt as though both actors were holding back a bit, especially in the scene in which Mr. Bumble is making amorous advances towards the Widow Corney, who is half-heartedly objecting. I found myself wondering if the live cat used in the scene was going to freak out when it was placed into a closed basket instead of really being captivated by the comedy of the scene. Brown's performance of "I Shall Scream," however, was very well done. Her singing voice is beautiful and her facial expressions are reminiscent of Lucille Ball at times. Moore fell just short of matching her energy level, but brings it up a notch by the time he is a cuckolded husband in Act II.

Chase Lovelace as the title character and Caleb Pierce as the Artful Dodger left me wanting more throughout the production as well. Both young men possess wonderful singing voices, but I didn't find myself rooting for their characters. Instead, I admit that I tended to forget about them completely when they weren't onstage. When the action wasn't completely centered around his character, Lovelace didn't draw the eye, and he lacked the overall energy and "lovable ragamuffin" air that I would have expected from Oliver. His voice was so sweet during "Where is Love," however, that I felt my heart ache for him in that moment. Pierce had all the smooth physicality and polish in his choreography needed to play Dodger, but I felt he lacked the charm and mischievousness necessary to make the character really believable. I must admit, ever since I left the theatre Saturday night, I have struggled with what to say about the younger cast members. It's very hard to find a way to review children, since they lack as much training and experience as the older cast members and cannot really be faulted for that. The children overall were very cute as the orphans and the members of Fagin's gang. They had lots of energy, gave 100% in their songs, and put a lot of physicality and spunk into the scenes.

Alex Smith and Bethany Lorentzen are living proof that there are no small parts, only small actors. Both of these young actors took smaller, featured roles, and made them into two of the most enjoyable performances of the evening. Smith used his snide voice and physicality to make the bully Noah Claypole about as mean and nasty as they come, and Lorentzen used a piercing tone, a lot of attitude and coquettish moves to turn a blink-and-you'll-miss-it character like Charlotte Sowerberry into a comical and memorable performance. Lorentzen also proved to be a beautiful dancer as a different character in a later scene.

There were three standout performances in this production: Terry Colquitt as Bill Sykes, Rachel Joy Robertson as Nancy, and Greg English as Fagin.

The character of Bill Sykes is about as unlikeable as they come, and Terry Colquitt made quite sure that the entire audience felt that from his very first entrance. His gruff voice, dirty clothing, and generally surly attitude made me dislike Bill immediately. Colquitt also possessed one of the strongest and most consistent uses of an accent in the show, most notably in his song "My Name." His cruel and rough treatment of Nancy and Oliver – or anyone weaker than him – is deplorable and makes him the true villain of the entire piece. He also stayed completely in character at all times. When I would glance his way during another line or song, he was always watching those around him or keeping a close eye on Nancy; always trusting no one.

The character of Nancy is not your typical musical theatre ingénue. Nancy has obviously lived on and off the street most of her life and she currently lives with the abusive Bill Sykes, whom she loves wholly and completely despite his physical and verbal abuse. We are told that she once worked as a thief for Fagin and I believe in Dickens' novel she is even written as having worked as a prostitute for a time. However, Nancy's spunk and maternal instincts towards Oliver make her a heroine just like any other. Rachel Joy Robertson nails this role. She's bawdy and unladylike at times, such as during her rousing number "Oom Pah Pah" at the beginning of the second act, but she is also a vulnerable woman desperately in love, which she shows off in "As Long As He Needs Me," a song that Robertson completely knocks out of the park. She uses a mixture of soft, gentle tones at the beginning and soars to a jaw-dropping belt that rattled the walls in her determination to stay with him no matter what the cost may ultimately be. I applaud Robertson for not being afraid to, as I mentioned earlier, sacrifice some of the "pretty" in her powerhouse number in order to really sell the song. This causes the song to have much more impact than if it were song with perfect technique. Robertson also succeeds in never breaking character. I found myself watching her during Sykes' song "My Name," as she watched Bill with a mixture of arousal and disgust on her face.

Fagin, the leader of the band of pickpockets, is a tough one to pull off. He's got to be a lowlife criminal who entices children to lie, cheat and steal for his personal gain, but also must be likeable at the same time (a character trait that Lionel Bart gave to Fagin, whereas in Dickens' novel, Fagin is generally evil). Greg English does a fine job of showing the duality of Fagin's character. He simultaneously acts as a twisted sort of father figure to the group of urchins as well as a self-absorbed "bad'un" who will look out for himself, his worker boys be damned, before anyone else. English has definitely mastered the humor in Fagin, especially in his second act number "Reviewing the Situation," in which he hems and haws about potentially leaving a life of crime to become a better man. My only criticism in English's performance is that he only touched on the "evil" side of Fagin. I would have preferred to see a bit more of Fagin's bad side in order to really understand the catalyst that causes him to start reconsidering his choice of lifestyle.

Other memorable and well-done performances included David Willie and Kelley Perlstein as the morbidly funny funeral directors Mr. and Mrs. Sowerberry, Kristin Hinkley as Nancy's younger but equally sassy sister Bet, and Richard Houhnholt as the kind and generous Mr. Brownlow.

In conclusion, despite a bit of slow pacing and low energy in places and a few times when I found myself really wanting to see and hear the actors give just the bit more that I knew they had in them, the production succeeds. Overall, Theatre Coppell has put together an aesthetically beautiful production with fine performances that audience members will enjoy.