Central Park Players set to give 'Oliver' a new twist - MLive.com

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By Bill Iddings | The Muskegon Chronicle

February 21, 2010, 5:32AM

Size makes a difference.

The Central Park Players community theater company usually stages its productions in the approximately 200-seat auditorium of the Grand Haven Community Center.

“Oliver!” has required a change of venue.
Contributed photoNathan Neihardt, a fourth grader at the West Michigan Academy of Arts and Academics, is playing the title role of Oliver.
Lionel Bart’s famous 1960 musical adaptation of Charles Dickens’ novel “Oliver Twist” carries sizable requirements, notably a large cast.

That and other considerations have resulted in CPP staging the show at Lakeshore Middle School, with its auditorium seating around 900. “Oliver!” producer Natalie Carmolli said CPP is selling 450 seats per performance.

“Shows like this are expensive to produce,” she said, “but well worth it when you see these kids and their families exposed to, and enjoying, classic musical theater.”

A larger theater goes with the “Oliver!” territory. CPP’s show, under the direction of Mike Vogas, numbers 15 principals, an equal number of children playing orphans, and a chorus of 12.

Cramming 42 people onto the Community Center’s tiny stage would transcend most notions of a tight fit. Throw in the nine instrumentalists of music director Karen Frederiksen’s orchestra at the Community Center, which does not have a pit, and the possibility arises of unintended farce bumping and shoving its way into mayhem.

CPP has gone outside its comfort zone before. Last season, the troupe staged the musical comedy “Once Upon a Mattress” at White Pines Middle School in Grand Haven.

“It was well received by our audience,” said Carmolli, who also produced “Once Upon a Mattress.” We have found Grand Haven Area Public Schools to be great to work with, and we're also finding that it's nice to have the flexibility to be able to mount larger productions in larger venues, allowing us to give the staging the ‘grand scale’ these types of musicals deserve.

“Our cast is 42 strong, and when we get them all out there singing and dancing, we really enjoy having a larger space to do it effectively.”

Whatever its surroundings, “Oliver!” comes with the expectations of a hit. The compelling story, although nowhere near as dark as Dickens’ original, is lifted by Bart’s songs, many of which have become immortalized in the musical-theater canon: the workhouse orphans singing “Food, Glorious Food,” “I'd Do Anything,” Oliver’s plaintive “Where is Love?,” The Artful Dodger’s catchy greeting “Consider Yourself,” the good-hearted Nancy’s love song “As Long As He Needs Me,” the ensemble parading through “Who Will Buy” and the comic villain Fagin’s ruminations on going legit, “Reviewing the Situation.”

The Gothic tale is about an orphan who escapes from the bleak environs (and meager servings of gruel) of a London workhouse, and falls in with a band of young pickpockets. The loose gang is lorded over by an old reprobate named Fagin. Oliver yearns to find his real family. He is given that chance, only to be snatched away by the brutal burglar Bill Sykes. In the end, all parties pretty much get what’s coming to them.

Leading the CPP cast in the title role is Nathan Neihardt, a fourth grader at the West Michigan Academy of Arts and Academics. The Artful Dodger is being played by Buster Bedrosian, a sixth grader at White Pines Middle School.

Also in principal roles are Alister Jackson, Margot VanOordt, Matthew D. Robertson, Hayden Smith, Cheryl Gallas, Van Merrill, Sherri Rogers, Ray Ziemelis, Zack Young, Katie McCarthy, Jacy Jonsek, Scott Kotrch and Marilyn Bedrosian.

Playing orphans are Caleb Sportell, Gabrielle Rabon, Carson Evans, Julia Elzinga, Owen Loughrin, Anna Carmolli, Eileen Carmolli, Raine Jackson, Cassandra Kotrch, Carter Thompson, Spencer Thompson, Noah VanOordt, Corinna Lunsford, Kaleigh Braginton and Caitlyn Shampine.

Rounding out the chorus are Courtney Bedrosian, Maisy Hoffman, Becca Kerkstra, Michaela Kerkstra, Bethany Volkers, Trudi Kerkstra, Cassidy Elzinga, Hugo Lawton, Lucas Roetter, Riley Kate Remington, Matt Franklyn and Cody Delis.

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