BWW Reviews: Lyric Music Theater Essays OLIVER! Revival

In this season of ubiquitous productions of A Christmas Carol, a production of Lionel Bart's Oliver! comes as a welcome Dickensian alternative. South Portland's Lyric Music Theater has mounted a very respectable revival of Bart's 1960 musical based on Oliver Twist. A curious but catchy mélange of dark drama and vaudeville, Oliver! survives in its trio of principal characters, Fagin, Nancy, and Sykes, and the memorable music Bart has written for them.

So, too, is the case in Lyric's production, directed by Joshua Chard. Chard bravely tackles the show with a large cast of children and adults, keeps the action moving and weaves a taut tale balanced between the grim and gently amusing. His musical staging, with choreography by Jamie Lupien-Swenson, tends to the repetitive, especially in the children's choruses, though the shallow, wide stage is a contributing factor here. Music Director Bob Gauthier conducts the score with attention to the lyrical and excellent vocal preparation for the ensemble, though his tempi are often curiously slow, such as in the opening number "Food, Glorious Food." The six-person ensemble plays with feeling and style, most notably the strings.

As always Lyric delivers full-scale technical productions, and this Oliver! is no exception. Steve Lupien's multi-level unit set, dominated by the dome of St. Paul's Cathedral, is appropriately dingy and ominous. Wayne Russell as Stage Manager and Props Master manages the rapid scene changes with aplomb. Louise Keezer contributes a clever array of simple period costumes; Kate Herrold's lighting conveys the chiaroscuro of the novel, while Scott Whiting does his best to balance the sound design in this old theatre and to support the unmiked actors.

The cast is all willing and committed, though somewhat uneven. In the title role, Isaac Dinnerstein displays a clear, lovely boy soprano though his acting is wooden. Luke Turner is a young, sincere, but somewhat pallid Artful Dodger. Darrell Leighton uses his pleasing lyric tenor and imposing stature to etch a fine, idiomatic portrait of Beadle Bumble; Ashleigh St. Pierre makes a buxom, robust-voiced Widow Corney, and William McCue in the double roles of nasty Mr. Sowerberry and kindly Mr. Brownlee convinces more effectively as the latter. Among the ensemble actors, Lilly Thorne makes a graceful Bet; Erin Ritter a sweet-voiced Rose Seller, Danielle Raitt a haunting Strawberry Seller, and Finn Dierks-Brown a feisty Charley Bates.

But the production rests largely on the merits of Lauren Bamford as Nancy, Sean St. Louis-Farrelly as Bill Sykes, and Chris Newcomb as Fagin. Bamford gives Nancy her all, and she brings a gust of energy and freshness each time she takes center stage. She belts "As Long As he Needs Me" with dusky intensity and shattering climaxes and she turns the gravelly tone in her lower register to dramatic effect. Newcomb is a somewhat avuncular Fagin, incorrigible, but not evil, and while he eschews Clive Revill's memorably manipulative and manic style, he is, nonetheless, appealing in his own way. St. Louis-Farrelly delivers a commanding performance as the menacing, murderous Sykes. From the moment he appears snarling "My Name" to his brutal strangling of Nancy before his own demise, he creates an incisive portrait of a Dickensian villain. To everyone's credit (and absolutely essential to the play), the entire ensemble manages credible Cockney accents.

Once again this sixty-two-year-old community theatre demonstrates its venturesome spirit in tackling a challenging piece like Oliver! and for offering to so many Mainers of all ages the opportunity to witness and be part of the magic of musical theatre.

Photos Courtesy Lyric Music Theater

Oliver! runs from November 20-December 7, 2014 at the Lyric Music Theater, 176 Sawyer St., South Portland, ME www.lyricmusictheater.org 207-799-1421

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