Consider Yourself Well Entertained
At JCCT "Oliver!"
(An Awesome Review by RKB)
Before I actually get to my review of the Jay County Civic Theatre
2007 version of "Oliver!," I have to be honest with you. Until JCCT
announced that it was doing the show, I had never seen it.
I knew and liked the three most famous musical numbers,
"Food (Glorious Food)," "I'll Do Anything," and "Consider Yourself,"
but I didn't know they were from this show until I popped the DVD into
my player. I hadn't even read Oliver Twist,
upon which the show was based.
So I watched it. And watched it. And watched it! If you haven't guessed yet,
let me tell you: it's LONG!!! It took me three nights to get through it.
Right away I hoped that JCCT's version would be less bombastic,
less over-the-top, and most importantly, SHORTER than the movie version!
So I went to see the JCCT show with just a touch of anxiety.
And guess what? I actually enjoyed myself!
I was pleasantly surprised that the show was better than the movie.
The movie stretched every little song into a full-blown EVENT
(consider "Consider Yourself" as sung by...the entire city of London!),
but on stage the intimate tunes were intimate and only the
group songs were large. This was definitely the way to go.
Also, the songs "I Shall Scream" and "It's Your Funeral"
were cut from the movie, but I don't know why. Both were
wonderfully funny! Of course, it helped that they were
handled by the absolutely hilarious comedians Don Enyart and
Jamie Fennig (as The Bumbles) and
Pete Vogler and Carly Fennig (as The Sowerberrys).
I knew that Don and Pete were wonderful comedians,
but I was happy to see that Jamie and Carly Fennig
were able to hold their own against them.
I look forward to seeing the Fennig Sisters in many more shows.
Speaking of differences between the show and the movie,
the placement of "It's a Fine Life" with the Pickpockets
instead of at the bar (as done in the movie) worked better as
far as I was concerned. And the placement of "Oom Pa Pa!" at the
beginning of Act Two instead of at the end worked better for me, too.
I imagine that was the way the show was originally done, so I found
myself wondering again at the logic of the movie version.
As for the rest of the cast, I must start with the fine
work of newcomer Morton Garringer as Oliver.
He had stage presence as soon as he appeared, then acted fiine
in his first few scenes. By the time he sang, "Where Is Love?"
he had planted himself firmtly in the role.
After the show, various cast members told me that Morton
had a problem appearing unhappy during the show. From the audience,
however, I did not notice that at all.
For a role that is mostly just being a cypher (reacting to
what goes on around him rather than acting on it) I found him totally honest.
I must also single out Jennifer McGraw as Nancy
and Emmitt Bales as Fagin.
They owned every scene they were in, and when they were on stage
together it was a total joy to watch.
Jennifer is always great (I consider myself a die-hard fan)
but I think this might have been one of her best roles ever.
As Nancy, Jennifer handled the light comedy and cute affectionate bits
(notably, "I'll Do Anything") incredibly well;
(to me, those types of things play to Jennifer's strengths)
then she turned around and sank her teeth into
the dramatic stuff, belting (yes, BELTING)
out songs like "As Long As He Needs Me."
Wow, Jennifer . You're awesome.
Mr. Bales, the new Drama Teacher at Jay County High School,
was making his Jay County Civic Theatre debut as Fagin.
Fagin is by far the hardest role in the show to play, because if he's too evil,
the audience wants him to get his comeuppance; if he's too good, we want
him to be adopted by Mr. Brownlow along with Oliver.
Luckily, hit just the right tone of
creepiness. (Is this faint praise? I don't mean it to be!)
He kept Fagin balanced on the fine line between good and evil.
I hope we continue to see Mr. Bales on the Jay County stage for years to come.
The rest of the cast was also very good. Jason McGraw as Bill Sykes
radiated evil. Anyone who knows Jason knows he's not at all like
this despicable character. Quite a good job, Jason (as always).
And newcomer Mark Houck as The Artful Dodger led the Pickpockets
with personality and verve. I would have liked a little more volume out
of him, but I guess that was probably accountable to first-time nerves.
As an actor, Mark was great. He more than held his own
with the other more-seasoned players.
Lastly, I would like to point out the return of
Chance Milligan to the JCCT stage.
Chance last appeared in a major role in The Secret Garden in 2003.
He was awesome in that as a young boy similar to that of
the Oliver Twist role, and he was awesome in this, too.
He has matured into a character actor with plenty of stage presence;
it was good to see him back.
Here's hoping he can stick around for a while.
However, as for the show itself, there were a few
things that I don't think really worked (they didn't work for me, anyway).
To me, in the same way that Fagin had to walk a fine
line between good and evil, Nancy had to walk a tight-rope
between love and hate: she is torn between supporting her husband and
doing what is right where Oliver is concerned.
Unfortunately, I didn't quite believe that Nancy
as a character was willing to risk her whole life to save Oliver.
It just seemed a tad too radical; too much of a change too quickly,
especially as she continually sang
about the way Bill loved and needed her!
This was definitely a fault I had with the story, though, not with
the actors. Maybe the character of Nancy was just written for
a different time? (shrugs)
Which brings me to my other criticism of the show:
it seemed too often that there were short-cuts or things ignored.
For example, at the end of Act One Oliver is dragged off to
jail in a scene that was literally "blink and you miss it."
Was that all there was to that? In the movie, there was a protracted
chase scene; I'm not sure we needed *that*, but a little more
of something besides Mr. Brownlow yelling, "Help!" would have
been nice.
Likewise, near the end, one of the crowd makes a reference to
the local tavern, calling it by name, but in the context of the
show it makes no sense because nobody has referred it before!
I wasn't the only person afterwards to ask, "What was that business
with "The Three Corpses"?"
It seems like a line or two of dialogue was lost and nobody
noticed it.
The one criticism I have of this performance
is how the show ends. When Oliver is re-united with
Mr. Brownlow and Mrs. Bedwin, I was expecting more of
an emotional display.
Unfortunately, the scene ran more like a business transaction,
with very little emotional depth.
Was this the Victorian way to play it?
Or perhaps the director's or actors' choice?
No matter whose responsibility it was, the scene
I was hoping for never materialized, and I was a bit disappointed.
Likewise, the final scene was an accapella version
of "Reconsider" by Fagin and The Dodger.
In the exact same manner as Oliver and his London relatives,
"the Baddins" showed no overt emotional reaction to their situation.
The scene totally underplayed the emotions inherent in
these characters' final embrace of each other and their life of crime
together.
I'm sorry, but I was hoping for something more...American, perhaps?
Sentimental? Was this, too, the British way it was written?
It wasn't necessarily a fault, but not the way I would
would staged it.
I was left thinking, "Could I have some ...more?"
Not to say that it wasn't overall a wonderful show.
Special praise should be thrown (like snot rags)
at first-time Director Darrin Sanderson.
I have no idea what possessed him to
take on such a monumental undertaking,
(perhaps insanity?) but he can be proud
that the show went off so well.
My comments regarding the show and the characterizations
should not be construed as criticism of the cast or of the director.
You did an awesome job, Darrin !
(A special note of congratulation should also
be sent to Jennifer McGraw.
I have it on good authority that she was
the show's de-facto Assistant Director.
Well done, Jennifer Joy!)
Darrin also got wonderful support from
Musical Directors Jan Rittenhouse and Greg Ashley,
as most of the leads' voices were in fine
form throughout the show.
And lastly but certainly not leastly,
I must praise the fine work done by Laura Vogler
as the show's Choreographer. This was the first
choreography I have seen by Laura,
and to coin a phrase, it was awesome!!
Thanks to all for a wonderful evening of live theatre!
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