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Twist and shout

When it comes to musicals do you ever feel you want more? Do you consider yourself one of the family? Have you ever wondered who will buy your sweet red roses and then ended up reviewing the situation?

If the answer to any of these is yes, then you are strongly advised to get yourself down to Draíocht the week after Easter and sing along with the young adults of Stagezone as they bring Lionel Bart’s much-loved musical “Oliver” to life in the main auditorium.

“Everything is coming together very nicely,” says director Gladys Coyle, between rehearsals. “I am totally blown away by the talent, not only of the leading actors, who are quite superb, but also the rest of the cast.

“In all we have a cast of 230, which is too big, even for Draíocht to accommodate at one time, so we have broken it down into four separate productions – there are two Olivers, two Dodgers, two Nancys and so on.”

As was evident from the epic production of “Les Miserables” two years ago, Stagezone don’t tend to do things by halves and in tackling “Oliver,” they have once again gone in with no holds barred. “Marie Barber is choreographing once again and she also puts on a lively show,” explains Gladys. “A lot of companies, when they put on “Oliver” tend to scale things down a little, simply because parts of it are just too difficult. The dancing sequence for “Consider Yourself,” for example, has four separate rhythms in it, which many companies shy away from.

“But Marie is from the same mould as myself. We don’t do things the easy way and she’s tackling it all head on!” Marie was of course a former champion ballroom dancer and has even led formation teams to the World Championships.

“Some of the performers are terrific,” Gladys continues. “You really do forget they are so young. Peter O’Reilly from Brompton – a veteran of “Les Mis” – is playing Fagin and he will blow you away. Ciaran Fay (11) and Daniel Walsh (13) are the two Olivers, both local lads who I am sure will bring the house down.

The set for “Oliver” was actually made for a production in the Opera House in Belfast and it has also been used at the National Concert Hall. The costumes are arriving from England and, with the inclusion of a large orchestra, this production of “Oliver” looks to be one that all aficionados will not want to miss.

However, despite the show’s almost universal appeal and Stagezone’s habit of selling out Draiocht, Gladys, as usual, has last minute worries about filling the theatre for the eight performances. “There really are so many shows out there and people have so much choice, that I always feel the need to keep publicising it,” she says. “For a start, the costs are sky high and it is always a worry if we will recoup our expenses or not, despite the fact that our sponsors have been generous to us as always.

“Secondly it is important for the children to see relatively full houses. They have been working away on this for months and are now totally excited by the whole experience. Imagine how they would feel if nobody turned up!”

I suggest that if she’s out of pocket at the end of the show, she could always rope in a few of the cast to go out and pick a pocket or two. Gladys laughs. “That might not be a bad idea,” she says. “I’ll remember that one.”

Stagezone’s production of “Oliver” plays Draíocht’s main auditorium from Monday 24th to Saturday 29th March at 7.30pm and on these two particular days at 2pm.

Tickets are €20 / €18 and, despite Gladys Coyle’s misgivings, they are liable to sell out very quickly.

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