Oliver!
Prior to the Latitude festival, I was at another cultural event this last week. My older nephew, G, was playing the title role in his school performance of Oliver!
I took the train up, met up with mum, and went to the school. My sister had been roped into taking on the role of stage manager, and was busy making things run as smoothly as possible.
We had front row seats reserved, and after an introduction by the drama teacher (dressed as a Eurovision song contest presenter in full evening wear) the show started.
It was great. the kids were really good in their parts, and G was outstanding both as a singer and in his acting. The girl playing Nancy took her acting inspiration from soap operas, and the Artful Dodger had the right cheekiness for the part. Mr Bumble was played with comic solemnity, there were good performances from the Sowerberry household. I liked the kid playing Fagin - he gave the part a swagger, playing him younger and more of a rogue. Bill Sykes was played by G's friend - a big lad but a gentle giant, who didn't quite have it in him to bring real menace to the part. Apparently, he and G used Call of Duty's ragdoll physics to study how he should fall when shot at the end. Talking of which, executive meddling and limited rehearsal time meant that the end of the show was like Reservoir Dogs, with Sykes randomly shot by a wounded member of Fagin's gang. Very odd.
G did a great job of Where Is Love, which was then followe dby a modern dance sequence to show off the dance talents of one of his classmates. Who Will buy was turned into an ensemble piece, which gave more kids a chance to perform, but I'd have liked to hear G sing it himself.
The inevitable first-night glitches (missing props, misssed cues) didn't detract from the show. The performers took a well-deserved bow and G threw the buttonhole from his coat to his grandma which pretty much made her night.
I took the train up, met up with mum, and went to the school. My sister had been roped into taking on the role of stage manager, and was busy making things run as smoothly as possible.
We had front row seats reserved, and after an introduction by the drama teacher (dressed as a Eurovision song contest presenter in full evening wear) the show started.
It was great. the kids were really good in their parts, and G was outstanding both as a singer and in his acting. The girl playing Nancy took her acting inspiration from soap operas, and the Artful Dodger had the right cheekiness for the part. Mr Bumble was played with comic solemnity, there were good performances from the Sowerberry household. I liked the kid playing Fagin - he gave the part a swagger, playing him younger and more of a rogue. Bill Sykes was played by G's friend - a big lad but a gentle giant, who didn't quite have it in him to bring real menace to the part. Apparently, he and G used Call of Duty's ragdoll physics to study how he should fall when shot at the end. Talking of which, executive meddling and limited rehearsal time meant that the end of the show was like Reservoir Dogs, with Sykes randomly shot by a wounded member of Fagin's gang. Very odd.
G did a great job of Where Is Love, which was then followe dby a modern dance sequence to show off the dance talents of one of his classmates. Who Will buy was turned into an ensemble piece, which gave more kids a chance to perform, but I'd have liked to hear G sing it himself.
The inevitable first-night glitches (missing props, misssed cues) didn't detract from the show. The performers took a well-deserved bow and G threw the buttonhole from his coat to his grandma which pretty much made her night.