Oliver! - (4)

Last blog of this month : Gift ideas for Oliver!

To start at the very beginning – Food! All kinds of foods that are mentioned in the song, pease pudding (can be bought in tins), mustard, custard, cakes or sweets made to look like their savoury counterparts, strawberries (also mentioned in “Who Will Buy”). Perhaps even “Rennies” or similar indigestion remedies. These can be offered for all the children in the cast, whether they double as workhouse children and Fagin's gang or not, with the addition of sausages and fake gin (or ginger beer) for Fagin's boys.

For Fagin's boys too, wallets, handkerchiefs and coins, sweet watches and “jewellery”.

And for Dodger a top hat charm or phone charm, a lockable box (possibly also for Fagin) or if feeling really generous – a gold watch on a chain.

Mr and Mrs Sowerberry – again a top hat, with the addition of some black fabric as a mourning hat, or some Victorian mourning jewellery, possibly jet, depending on your budget.

Mr. Bumble and Widow Corney like their gin, so miniatures of London Gin might make good presents. And Widow Corney keeps a basket of kittens, so a little figurine of a cat, or a soft toy, for her.

The Drama Queen's Drawers has some horse brasses depicting the characters of Fagin, Oliver, Nancy and Mr Bumble, these are vintage items to be found in the Bottom Drawer category.

For Oliver whatever his gift, the wrapping and presentation could be “put in a box and tied up with a ribbon”, just as the lyric in “Who will buy?” suggests. A locket, books, friendship bracelet, strawberries and cream, or a love token.

For Nancy – small pleasures.

Oliver! - (3)

A very brief addition today; I have not been able to post anything for a few days because of computer problems, so this is short and hopefully sweet.

The setting and costumes for Oliver! lend themselves to an imaginative approach. The original West End production design by Sean Kenny was highly innovative, having a revolving set that moved with the action. This, however is beyond most amateur companies in technology and cost, much as they might wish for it. It is however possible to suggest many of the settings with dressing rather than large scale scenery.. Your props team might not forgive you for a minimalist set that has to be furnished with a lot of dressing, but it can be done.

Costumes can be colourful or sombre, depending on the mood of your production. Traditionally Nancy wears red, but this isn't set in stone, and there are many shades and variations. Much of the boys' wardrobe is ragged so can be produced from their own old clothes. It is the men's costumes that most need to be authentic in style. Particularly Mr. Bumble in his beadle's uniform, and the “better off” male characters who need frock coats and waistcoats, plus appropriate hats. The more flamboyant Widow Corney and Mrs Bedwin, who can be in uniform or just a more genteel style of Victorian dress, are not too difficult as one off pieces.

Oliver! - (2)

Our first introduction to the characters of this show is to that of Mr Bumble the beadle and Widow Corney, the workhouse mistress. Oliver is introduced through their perspective when he stands out from the crowd of boys by asking for more food. The wordy and fast “Oliver!” spells out the conditions under which the boys live, and the joy with which the power over them is wielded. Mr Bumble is definitely what today would be known as a “Jobsworth”, and Widow Corney is out for all she can get...including Mr Bumble.
Oliver isn't really established as a character until he has been introduced to the Sowerberrys, whose grim humour and cynicism is portrayed in “That's Your Funeral”.
Only once he is left alone in the funeral parlour does he start to show who he is with the solo song “Where is Love” and our sympathies are with him when he meets and is bullied by Noah Claypole. No wonder he cracks and runs away to seek his fortune in the big city of London. The place where runaways still believe their fortunes are waiting to be made, even if the streets are not exactly paved with gold.

The Artful Dodger and Fagin show us their fun side and we, like Oliver, are deceived into thinking these two are nice generous characters, who only want to help a poor little lost boy....the dark underbelly of the story is only hinted at briefly. We want to believe that Oliver is rescued from the workhouse, and the cruelty of the slavery there and at the funeral parlour, is a worse fate than that of Fagin's gang. So for the audience this is a fun, amusing and optimistic view of Dickens story.  Bill Sykes is the villain, the out-and-out baddie that heroic stories require, but Dodger and Fagin are ambivalent opportunists, rascals rather than mean and nasty criminals, caught up in the trap that poverty has set for them.

Bill Sykes doesn't appear in the stage musical until Act  2  when we are introduced to him with the spine-chilling song “ My Name” which does not feature in the film version. For me this song epitomised the character; as a chorus member in the pub singing along with gusto to “Oom-Pah-Pah” with Nancy, the change in atmosphere wrought by the music and Bill's appearance at the door to the pub always managed to make me shiver, regardless of the fact that the actor playing Bill Sykes was a friend off stage. This alone is enough to make us cheer his demise at the end of Act 2.

For a story about criminal gangs, poverty and brutality, this has become an extremely popular uplifting musical, enjoyed by many audiences, both young and old. When the innocent survive and the evil-doers get their just desserts, the fairytale of “happy ever after” is allowed to continue.

Oliver!

The first time I was involved with Oliver! I started out by making papier mache bowls to look like wooden ones to be used in the workhouse. They took a long time to do because they had to be robust enough to last through being banged and thrown about so needed to be many layers baked hard and then painted and varnished. My kitchen smelled of baking for weeks, although my oven was filled not with meals but with pyrex bowls covered in  glued newspaper. A feat not to be repeated until I had the joy of creating Tracy Island from old newspaper as per Blue Peter instructions.
I also learned all the children's parts and songs because I was chaperoning at rehearsals, and can still quote Dodger's lines at the drop of a battered top hat! We were fortunate to have quite a lot of boys interested in taking part, many of whom were part of family groups that belonged to our society, so there were lots of parents on hand to help.
One of the advantages of Oliver! for any company is that children on stage always make it easier to sell tickets, as extended families come along to see their prodigies acting their socks off, when at other times they wouldn't think of setting foot in a theatre. It can bring in young actors who will become the backbone of the society's future. It is also great fun for all the participants, with some rousing songs - Oom,Pah,Pah, and Consider Yourself; some heartrending ones ; Where is Love and As Long As He Needs Me; and some funny ones: I'd Do Anything and Gotta Pick A Pocket or Two; to name but a few, along with high drama and some really well drawn characters.
About whom..... more next week.