"Twist and Shout" - A review of "Oliver!" performed on October 1st 2013.

A review of "Oliver!" written on Thursday 31st October 2013.

“Small pleasures, small pleasures, who can deny us these?”

It’s a dreary October evening, yet inside The Lawrence Batley Theatre there’s liveliness and warmth which can only be created through an excellent rendition of the musical “Oliver!” performed by the Longwood Amateur Operatic Society, and co produced and choreographed by Jayne Davison and Neil Broadbent.

Lionel Bart’s musical “Oliver!” is based on the novel “Oliver Twist” by Charles Dickens. The story is about a young orphan who runs away to London after being kicked out of a workhouse and sold to an undertaker.

The musical premiered in the West End at the New Theatre on 30^th June 1960, it ran for 2,618 performances and has become increasingly popular over the years. The popularity of the production is arguably due to Andrew Lloyd Webber’s “I’d do anything”, a reality television programme where he searched for a woman to play Nancy and three boys to play Oliver.

Oliver was played by both Thomas Burley and Connor Pickles who played alternate performances.  This was the first leading performance by actor Thomas Burley who was a very brave Oliver. Neil Broadbent was a humorous Fagin and injected just the right amount of comical humour whilst maintaining a sinister edge. Broadbent stole the show with a powerful delivery of “Reviewing the situation” which was also executed perfectly by the band.

Holly Comber – Moccia portrayed Nancy and created a perfect balance of excitement and sorrow, creating ambiance with her performance of “Oom Pah Pah” and reducing some audience members to tears with her heart rendering version of “As long as he needs me.”  Her death however was disappointing as it took place at the left of the stage and could not be seen from certain seats including mine.

The play opened with a mighty performance of “Food glorious food”, and despite the ages of the young orphans was completed with perfect synchronicity, which captivated the crowd instantly. Following the song was the infamous workhouse scene in which Oliver asks for “more”, and Burley created a sense of tentativeness heightened by the band, that worked well with Richard Cook’s (Mr Bumble’s) almost humorous reaction.

Both Helen Woodhead (Widow Corney) and Richard Cook (Mr Bumble) were placed under a lot of pressure as they were the first adults to perform a duet and the opening set high expectations. However, their rendition of “I shall scream” was flavoured with enough satire through the flirtatious banter  that the audience laughed out loud.

Martin Stead was an intimidating Bill Sykes, and roared the lyrics of “My name” successfully subduing the crowd into silence. He was a convincing villain particularly at the end of the play, where the audience desperately hoped that he would be caught by the police.

James Buckley played a cheeky Dodger and was performed to perfection complete with an excellent accent and an enthusiastic performance particularly when working with Neil Broadbent, wooing over the females of the audience,

Each song was a delight in itself due to the raw energy exerted from the both the cast and band members and  “I’ll do anything” was one of the most popular songs in the play gaining a huge round of applause at the end, and could only be described as “west-end worthy.”

At the end of the play James Buckley (Dodger), Neil Broadbent (Fagin) and Holly Comber-Moccia (Nancy) scooped the greatest round of applause after surpassing expectations and respectively outdoing Jack Wild, Ron Moody and Shani Wallis of the film cast.

Overall the performance was more than a “small pleasure” and was an extremely enjoyable adaption. There is nothing which should upset younger audiences so it’s a safe viewing for the family. It's definitely worth watching and is a perfect treat.