Oliver!

06-18 Feb ,

Theatre reviews

Recommended

Consider yourself in for quality musical entertainment at Riverside

First published on 12 Dec 2011. Updated on 19 Feb 2012.

This event has finished

Oliver (Damian Hampstead) is the orphan who asked for more food and was subsequently sold as an apprentice to an undertaker who he then ran away from. Picked up by the Artful Dodger (Jake Woodhead) and taken to Fagin’s lair of child-robbers, he comes across Bill Sikes (Todd Keys) and his girlfriend Nancy (Katie McKee) – the bad apple and the one who would pluck him from the barrel. The story, based on the Dickens novel, continues towards its uber-coincidental climax at a cracking pace, ending for the most part happily ever after.

Kermond plays Fagin as the most malleable of men, scuttling around the stage like a spider on skates, licking his lips at every opportunity which comes his way. Keys gives a convincing brutality to Bill Sikes, an unpredictable temper with the power to scare half the audience, especially when he unexpectedly slams his club on a table during one of the scenes. McKee as Nancy excels as the headstrong but downtrodden lover who finally takes a stand, while the two child actors acquit themselves well, Woodhead especially so.

The sets are perfectly serviceable - compared to most theatre at the Riverside, downright spectacular. The acting in between musical numbers is often as good, though sometimes the comic timing is not quite there and the scene suffers dramatically. On a purely musical level this production is a resounding success, with any previous faults forgotten as the cast break into glorious song. And considering the price of the tickets (especially when compared to the cost to get into the Lyric), you won’t find better value for money anywhere else in Sydney.

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Words by Tomas Boot