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2011 Summer Show - Oliver
The musical Oliver!, the story of half-starved orphans roaming the streets of Victorian London, will be presented in Random Lake this August by Lakeshore Productions, Inc.
This will be the 16th annual summer show in Random Lake.
Oliver! is an adaptation of the book "Oliver Twist" by Charles Dickens, who also wrote "A Christmas Carol," "David Copperfield," "A Tale of Two Cities" and "Great Expectations."
The 2011 musical will be co-directed by Nikki Andrews, music teacher at Random Lake Elementary School, and Joe Horstmeier, a stage veteran of LPI and many other community theater organizations.
"I think Oliver! is a great show for community theater because it allows everyone to get involved in some way," Andrews says. "We need kids, we need adults, and everyone in between!
"The show is definitely demanding and challenging for the actors, but it is such a fun show because you really get to dig in and develop a character. Plus, the music is absolutely outstanding. The group dynamics needed for a show like this will definitely make this a wonderful summer for everyone."
Horstmeier agrees that Oliver! should appeal to all ages.
"In this show you are completely removed from the here and now and taken to a different place and time," he notes. "It should be the exact kind of fun challenge that any thespian could ask for in a musical.
"Kids from ages 9-99 will have the chance to embody the demographics of a big city. All the way from the slums to the aristocratic side of the tracks, they will enjoy the camaraderie that defines friendship, not only on stage but off stage as well.
"This is sure to be a summer to remember for all involved," he adds.
The cast will include a host of "orphans" and people of all ages from London of the 1850's.
The story opens in a workhouse where the orphan boys are getting their meager lunch of gruel. Young Oliver has enough courage to ask for more, but he faces harsh discipline and is apprenticed to an undertaker.
So begins Oliver's adventure on the streets of London, where he is taught to be a pickpocket by the criminal Fagin and his most clever student, the Artful Dodger.
Fagin's lair includes many young urchins who are picking pockets all over the city. This musical will have many parts for young people, including Oliver's close friend, Charley Bates.
The two most well known songs from Oliver! are "Consider Yourself" and "I'd Do Anything," but other favorites include "Food, Glorious Food," "You've Got to Pick a Pocket or Two," "As Long as He Needs Me," "Reviewing the Situation" and "Where Is Love?"
Other major characters include Mr. Bumble and Widow Corney, the greedy workhouse caretakers; Mr. and Mrs. Sowerberry, the undertakers; the terrifying burglar Bill Sikes, his girlfriend, Nancy, and her sister, Bet; the wealthy Mr. Brownlow and his housekeeper, Ms. Bedwin.
Returning as the Lakeshore Productions choreographer for the fifth consecutive year will be Veronica Hilke of Kohler. Other assistant director positions have not yet been announced.