Presque Isle Community Players to present ‘Oliver’
ABBY SHAW, left, in the title role of Oliver, rehearses a scene with Charlie Smith (Mr. Bumble), as the Presque Isle Community Players will premiere “Oliver” this Friday and Saturday night at the Presque Isle Middle School auditorium.
“Oliver” is the musical adaptation of the famous Charles Dickens work, “Oliver Twist.” There are more than 65 people in the cast with over 30 of them being local children. The Players will also perform “Oliver” March 4-5.
By Scott Mitchell Johnson
Staff Writer
PRESQUE ISLE — With more than 65 people in the cast — over 30 of them local children — the Presque Isle Community Players will premiere “Oliver” this Friday and Saturday night at the Presque Isle Middle School auditorium.
A CAST FEATURING more than 30 local children will bring the Tony Award-winning musical, “Oliver,” to the stage at the Presque Isle Middle School auditorium Feb. 25-26 and March 4-5. Rehearsing a scene are the Workhouse Kids, from left: Taylor Stephenson, Adia Greer, Everett Zuras, Abby Shaw (Oliver) and Deklan Curtis. Shown in the background, at left, is Todd Stephenson (Workhouse Assistant).
“Oliver” is the musical adaptation of the famous Charles Dickens’ work, “Oliver Twist.”
Serving as the artistic director (handling both the stage and music direction) will be Jay D. Nelson, who is no stranger to local musicals. He has been the music director of the Presque Isle High School Shipmates’ Playhouse for several years, and even directed the Shipmates’ production of “Bye Bye Birdie” in 2001.
“I’ve also been directing musicals at a summer music camp at the University of Maine at Orono since 1993 which are usually a bit shorter versions because it’s only a two-week camp,” he said. “Counting ‘Birdie,’ this is the second big production I’ve directed, and certainly the first with the Community Players.”
Nelson was involved with the Players back in the late-1980s when he first moved to Aroostook County, but family, school and church commitments led him to step away from the local theater group.
“A few years ago when they were doing ‘Annie’ I thought, ‘If there’s a small bit part and they don’t need me at every rehearsal, I’ll go ahead and do it,’” said Nelson. “Dan Ladner was very gracious in giving me a small part that turned into being a little more as the show got closer, and last year I was involved as Benny Southstreet in the ‘Guys and Dolls’ production.
“At the cast party after the show was done, Jim Derosier came to me and asked if I had ever directed before. I told him about my background and he asked if I would consider doing it next year,” he said. “They were trying to get another show with kids involved, and as I was looking for shows at the high school last year and looking for shows at the music camp last summer, I looked at ‘Oliver’ as a potential show that might work with the Community Players. Jim invited me to their summer planning meeting and I ended up throwing my hat in the ring and they voted me in.”
Set in London, the musical features several songs that many will be familiar with.
“‘Consider Yourself’ is probably the big production number that everybody would recognize,” said Nelson. “The boys in the workhouse at the very beginning sing ‘Food, Glorious Food’ which has been used in commercials and different things, ‘Where Is Love?’ is the big sentimental song from the show and ‘As Long as He Needs Me’ are two songs that talk about longing for love, and ‘Oom-Pah-Pah’ is based on the old German and Austrian drinking songs and that’s a big group number that people would recognize.
“In my opinion, the coolest number is ‘Reviewing the Situation,’ which the character Fagin sings as he’s contemplating whether to stay in this life of crime or try to pick himself up and do something a little bit more respectable,” he said. “There’s lots and lots of wonderful songs in this production and I’m sure people will enjoy all of them.”
Nelson warns that while “Oliver” does have its “dark moments,” the Players are doing their best to make it a family-friendly production.
“It’s dealing with the underworld of the London slums in the early 1800s, so there are some darker moments in the show, but by far, the majority is very light-hearted, upbeat and comedic in nature,” he said. “The musical is based on the Dickens story, which involves a couple of killings, so you can’t take that away. However, we do it in such a way that it will still be family-friendly.”
Nelson said it’s been fun working with the kids in the musical.
“We have kids as young as 7 or 8 years old, two or three in high school, and several from the middle school,” he said. “I knew that the kids would be involved in several different activities, some of which include being involved with plays at the middle school and the competition play at the high school, plus basketball, cheerleading, etc., so when we had the auditions back in December, I asked them to list conflicts that they knew they had on the days that we would rehearse.
“What I’ve tried to do was adapt a rehearsal schedule in such a way that I avoid as many of the conflicts as possible. I also set up rehearsals where I only needed certain groups of people each night till we got closer to the actual performances,” said Nelson. “I broke it down into four categories — the principal characters, the pick pockets, the workhouse kids, and the company, which is all the supporting cast. At certain rehearsals I would have just the principals and the company, whereas at other rehearsals I’d have the workhouse kids and the principals that work in those scenes. That made it easier; and as we got through all the different scenes, I’d start combining scenes together. We didn’t really start to see the flow of the show until last week when we started rehearsing at the middle school.”
Having been involved in productions at PIHS, Nelson said the middle school stage offers much more.
“The middle school stage is set up so you have a lot more space; you have a lot more wing space for people to wait to enter the stage, and even the depth of the stage toward the back is greater,” he said. “Acoustic-wise, the auditorium at the high school is very, very difficult to project, and the equipment is not the best for group performing. At the middle school, acoustically it’s easier to project in, they have a better light and sound system, we can use hanging mics in the auditorium, we usually have a monitor set up for the performers so they can hear themselves a bit better, and even the chairs for the audience are a little bigger and more comfortable.
“Another plus is that the band room is right across the hall from the stage, so we use that as the holding place for people when they’re not on stage,” said Nelson. “They set up a live feed via television into that room so people can keep up with the production and know when to head to the stage and wait for their cues. The middle school is a great facility and I’m happy we’re using it.”
Due to scheduling, several members of the Community Players are involved with the hometown premiere of John Cariani’s “Almost, Maine,” which is scheduled for March 18-19 at the University of Maine at Presque Isle Wieden Auditorium. Nelson said while unfortunate that some of the Players had to choose between the two productions, it allowed for some new folks to take on larger roles.
“There are several people in lead roles in our show that may not have gotten the chance to do this if these other people were involved in it, and some of these people are absolutely shining in these roles,” he said. “I’m so pleased for these people that they’re having their chance to shine.”
“Oliver” will be performed Feb. 25-26 and March 4-5 at the PIMS auditorium. Doors open at 6:30 p.m. and the show begins at 7 p.m. Tickets, which are $12 for adults and $10 for students and seniors, are on sale at Goin’ Postal, the Aroostook Centre Mall information booth, Caribou Food Trend and at the door starting at 6 p.m. before each night’s performance.
The cast of “Oliver” includes Abby Shaw (Oliver Twist), Charlie Smith (Mr. Bumble), Elaine Moody (Widow Corney), Ron McArdle (Mr. Sowerberry), Eva Shay (Mrs. Sowerberry), Abby Clark (Charlotte), Dusty Graham (Noah Claypole), Dylan Shaw (Artful Dodger), Jim Derosier (Fagin), Tyler Ayotte (Charley Bates), Jordyn Shaw (Nancy), Marigan Doody (Bet), Reed Moody (Bill Sykes), Sandy Gauvin (Mrs. Bedwin), Adam Stoutamyer (Mr. Brownlow), Bob Jordan (Dr. Grimwig), Laura Thomas (Old Annie), Randi Nissenbaum (Old Sally), Jordan Buckley (Rose Seller), Deanna Jordan (Milkmaid), Chloe Rossignol (Strawberry Seller), Bob Sawyer (Knife Grinder) and Lindsey Blackstone (Long Song Seller).
The Workhouse Kids include Grace Bemis, Jaidyn Blake, Deklan Curtis, Julia Dahlgren, Miranda Drost, Adia Greer, Michael Kashian, Mayce Kinney, Sadie Kinney, Brandon McKnight, Jacob Sjoberg, Taylor Stephenson and Everett Zuras.
Fagin’s Gang consists of Austin Albert, Isaac Clark, Jonah Hudson, Camara Johnson, Tifini Lee, Tyler Levesque, Alana Luong, Isaac Michaud, Bailey Roderick, Molly Shay, Holden Stoutamyer, Kayla Thibodeau and Isabella Weiland.
Members of the Company (Workhouse Assistants, Three Cripples Crowd, Bow Street Runners, etc.) are Lindsey Blackstone, Jordan Buckley, Abby Clark, Cheryl Curtis, Twink Derosier, Sandy Gauvin, Dusty Graham, Lori Hudson, Bob Jordan, Deanna Jordan, Kelly Kashian, Leo Kashian, Mayce Kinney, Ron McArdle, Carolyn Michaud, Gene Michaud, Elaine Moody, Randi Nissenbaum, Chloe Rossignol, Lisa Rossignol, Bob Sawyer, Eva Shay, Todd Stephenson, Hannah Stoutamyer, Kristi Stoutamyer and Laura Thomas.
Directors and play production staff: Jay D. Nelson (artistic director), Sarah Diette (rehearsal accompanist), Ann Kashian (stage manager), Joe Zubrick (set director), Hannah Nelson (choreographer), Debbie Lamont (costumes), Cheryl Palm (props) and Brian Lamont (lights).
Pit orchestra: Sarah Diette (piano), Sean Diette (woodwinds), Robert King (trumpet), Jon Simonoff (bass) and Patrick Bragdon (drums).
