Producer's Note  

As always, directing this show has been a challenge for me, however I do not believe that it is a coincidence that the more challenging the task the more satisfaction is gained in its achievement. This certainly has been the case this time. Without a doubt the biggest contribution to this has been the children. I certainly found that I had more than I bargained for, in fact a classroom full. That might not be so bad for a trained teacher, but my previous experience was limited to my three daughters. I have been lucky to have had a great bunch of kids, who have each shown a high level of commitment and a great deal of maturity.

The other challenge was that a large number of the cast had been in Oliver the last time Benfleet Operatic performed it, I was not one of them, and therefore when starting out many knew the show a great deal better than I did. Nobody has been cast in the same roles as before, but it has been confusing at points when Mr Sowerberry, is now Brownlow and Bumble is now Mr Sowerberry, Brownlow is now Bumble, Sikes in now Fagin…. Etc etc What I did find out very quickly was that the show had a comparatively small amount of chorus work, I therefore set out with an objective to maximise the chorus input, hence the full chorus being involved during the Dodger and Oliver meeting scene. This then determined which sets were used and therefore what scene changes were required when, and hence the flow and style of this production was set.

It has not only been the commitment of the children that has helped make Oliver happen, but as always there are a limited number of people who put in far more effort than the credits give them on the last night, often committee members who week in and week out for over a year have been planning the success of this show. I am genuinely grateful for their efforts.

Steve

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Musical Director's Note

I joined the society at the end of last year when I was M.D. For The Pirates of Penzance and was lucky enough to be asked back for Oliver! (Can’t have done too bad a job last time then!!).

I have previously M.D'ed for a number of shows with various different societies in the local area including ‘A Tale of Two Cities’, ’Honk’, and ‘West Side Story’ for Arts Factory; ‘Fiddler on the Roof’ and  ‘Oklahoma’ for TTMS; ‘A Slice of Saturday Night’ for 2 Faced Productions.

Having studied music for a large part of my life, it is only fairly recently that I have become involved with musically directing shows and each one seems to bring new challenges with it. When I’m not ‘waving my stick’ I split my time between working for HSBC bank and as an accompanist/singing teacher at Adagio School of Dance.

Rehearsals for Oliver! have always, been hard work, exhausting and occasionally frustrating but, above all, great fun and I would like to wish everyone involved the best of luck. I would also like to say a ‘big thank you’ to Rachael for all her support and help.

Claire