'Oliver!' is all about the kids

LYNN HAVEN, FL - Kaleidoscope Theatre is ending its season with an ambitious musical that's young at heart but timeless in theme.
   
"Oliver! The Musical" open its run at the Lynn Haven theater on Friday, May 14, and will continue on weekends through May 31. Shows are at 7:30 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays and 2 p.m. Sundays.
   
It's an adaptation by Lionel Bart of Charles Dickens' novel about an orphan who falls in with the wrong crowd - a gang of young pickpockets in Victorian London. In the end, Oliver Twist is redeemed.
   
Co-director Bunnie Hibbard had pitched "Oliver!" for years when Kaleidoscope's directors and actors voted on what they wanted to do. This year, it made the cut.
   
"The play means a lot to me; basically it was my first adult role in the theater," Hibbard said. "I just feel with today's society going through the (recession) like it is, we have a real, strong tie with what Charles Dickens wrote."
   
"Oliver!" calls for a large cast of kids with theatrical and music talent. But co-director Uncle Harley said there's no shortage here. "There are quite a lot of young people," he said, "who are ready, willing and able to go on stage."
   
In fact, they had to turn away young actors to keep the cast manageable. They ended up with a total of 52 people. "To our knowledge, cast-wise, this is the largest production that Kaleidoscope Theatre has ever done in 38 years," Harley said.

‘They're so into it'
   
"I think we didn't realize how big the cast actually was" until after auditions," Hibbard said. "There's no concept of reality until you actually throw them all in there."
   
But once the young actors "get on stage, you get goose bumps, you get chills," she said "because they're so into it ... you give them instructions and they follow through."
   
"Oliver!" is fast-paced, so it will depend on how cohesive the cast becomes, Harley said. "You've got one stage and so many different sets, so a lot of the scene changes are going to take place via lighting changes ... quick changes in some very rudimentary set pieces and stuff like that." So the emphasis will be on the actors.
   
The kids have singing as well as acting roles, he said, under terms of the production agreement for performing the musical. "None of this is recorded," he said, so there's no lip synching. "There's no Milli Vanilli going on."
   
Musical highlights include "Food, Glorious Food," sung by orphans as they dream of a decent dinner; "Consider Yourself," in which the Artful Dodger welcomes Oliver as part of the pickpocket "family"; and "You've Got to Pick a Pocket or Two" by ringleader Fagin, played by Kaleidoscope veteran Jason Blanks.
   
Grayson Campbell plays the title role. He's 11 years old and is a student at St. John Catholic School, and he said playing Oliver is "all really fun."
   
"I once did a school play,' he said, "but it was nothing like this ... everybody's not there to see their little kid play, and you have a whole lot of props and it's more real."
   
The reality includes crime and muted violence, Harley said, but the musical has no offensive material and is suitable for all ages. The cast also will be a cross-section of young and older. "We have 20 who are 12 and under."
   
"The real stars of this," he said, "are going to be the kids and the incredible costumes by Charlie and Sandy Wilson."
   
When someone asked, "isn't it tough to work with all these kids?" he told them, ‘"Nope. Not these kids.'
   
"Bunnie and I have both been so incredibly lucky, really, to get the cream of the crop."