Arts Award Review: Sam Doughty
On the 28th of April, I went to see the St Albans
Operatic Society’s production of Lionel Bart’s “Oliver!” the musical with my
family.
What I experienced
as an audience member and what I liked best:
I believed it to be an entertaining musical starring some
very gifted singers such as the woman playing “Widow Corney”. My favourite song
would probably have been “Consider Yourself” sung primarily by “the Artful Dodger”.
This was a very uplifting song at a major turning point in the play
underprivileged boys where Oliver initially was living. This reflected the
remnants of enthusiasm still remained in the less fortunate boys, as if it was
reluctantly waiting to be unleashed. This is then, however, put to an all the
more spirit-dampening end with the next song “Oliver!” which could perhaps have
been relatable to certain members of the audience. It was also surprising to
see that boys approximately my age sang, sang well, in a semi-professional play
with a whole song to themselves. It therefore goes without saying that I was
very impressed with the actors playing Oliver and particularly the Artful
Dodger.
What could have
been done better?
One problem is that in scene two, act two (in which Oliver
is in the much more privileged west of London due to an accusation of theft),
the validity of this accusation is not especially mentioned, however it was
generally believed that the accusation was declared false. Oliver then was
taken care of by the man that accused him of this, yet it was not clearly
mentioned, nor dwelled upon, why this was being done. We were then left to
assume the reason, which was obvious to some extent. But despite this ease of
assumption to some, it is probable that just as many may have struggled to
understand this.
Would I recommend
it to others?
I would definitely recommend this to others as it was
thoroughly enjoyable and lifted my spirits for the remainder of the evening
after going to see it. It also fun for all of the family, as opposed to certain
other musicals, as it isn’t to childish nor is it inappropriate (mostly) or
unappealing to children. It additionally contained an excellent standard of
performing. The acting was great as was the singing fantastic (as mentioned
earlier). Overall, this was a great experience, I’d definitely see it again and
would recommend it to others.
