by Linda Chin
‘Oliver!’ – Book, Music and Lyrics by Lionel Bart. Michael J. Bobbitt, Director; Sariva Goetz, Music Director; Luciana Stecconi, Scenic Designer; Rachel Padula-Shufelt, Costume Designer; Frank Meissner, Lighting Designer; Kevin Alexander, Sound Designer. Presented by New Repertory Theatre at Mosesian Center for the Arts, 321 Arsenal Street, Watertown through December 29
Oliver! at the Mosesian Center for the Arts powerfully demonstrates that the arts can build community and that live theater can bring people – of different ages, backgrounds, classes and cultures, denominations, educational levels and generations – together in a shared human experience. Michael J, Bobbitt does triple duty as not only the New Rep’s new artistic director, but the production’s director and choreographer, and leads a diverse and talented cast. Broadway, film and TV veteran Austin Pendleton plays Fagin and 11-year old Ben Choi-Harris (whose resume includes a national tour, a string of regional professional credits and two IRNE Award nominations) plays the title role. The cast of 11 adult and five child actors is first-rate, with Pendleton’s “Reviewing the Situation”, Choi-Harris’ “Where is Love”, and Daisy Layman’s (Nancy) “As Long As He Needs Me”, wonderful renditions of classics and beautiful examples of storytelling through song. The production numbers were nicely staged and energetically executed, with special shout outs to Jackson Jirard (Noah Claypole), Sydney Johnston (Artful Dodger), and Youth Ensemble members Ian Freedson Falck, Jane Jakubowski, and Mark Johnson.
In the winter slot of New Rep’s 35th season, Oliver! is a story with a holiday message, one that speaks to the importance of family and friendship, of having people who can show they care about you and a community where you feel like you belong. The Oliver! cast is also diverse in terms of experience; the eleven adult actors (including seven members of Actors’ Equity) and seven child actors share the stage and support each other. As noted in their bios, Pendleton has worked at New Rep five times, while many of the adult and all the child actors are making their New Rep debuts. The creative team added their own brand of magic; with veteran designer Frank Meissner’s lighting advancing the storytelling and adding lush color and evocative mood to Luciana Stecconi’s mostly monochromatic set, Rachel Padula-Shufelt and Zoe Sundra’s costume designs were inventive “twists” on the dress of the Dickens era. And in my opinion, having musicians on stage (music director Sariva Goetz) makes musicals more magical.
On opening night, the audience too was an intergenerational, diverse, supportive theater community of actors, artists, and critics, including many audience members who were seeing a show at New Rep (including my theater date, a performer who’s lived in the area for 30 years) for the first time. Another friend, veteran actor Gary Ng, shared a story with me at the end of the evening: the dad of one of the members of the youth ensemble stopped him and asked “Were you Snail?” (from Wheelock’s A Year with Frog and Toad), and then shared that his son Ian first became interested in acting/theater after seeing him perform that role. Having attended multiple New Rep and Watertown Children’s Theater productions at the Mosesian Main Stage in the last two decades, as the former producing artistic director at Wheelock Family Theater (and having seen nearly 100 productions in the past year-and-a-half as a reviewer with Theater Mirror and Sampan NE), stories like that, and being part of an intergenerational and diverse theater community of actors, artists and audience is one of those holiday gifts that keeps on giving. For tickets and information, go to: http://www.newrep.org/
