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BRETT ANNINGSON TIMES & TRANSCRIPT
“What goes around, comes around,”says Marshall Button in French with a laugh while discussing the politics and social commentary involved with the upcoming production of Oliver! in Moncton, presented by Tutta Musica.
“It truly is a great story,” said Button, who is directing the performance.“It explores the whole idea of the privileged few who are contrasted with the people who are not so high on the economic spectrum. As much as our society has gotten so much better, especially in Canada, the things we find abhorrent when things go wrong have not changed all that much. We see the same thing in this story about Victorian England.”
The play, written in 1960 by Lionel Bart, is based on the novel Oliver Twist by Charles Dickens, originally released in 1837. It is the story of the orphan Oliver Twist, who starts his life in a workhouse and is then sold into apprenticeship with an undertaker. Twist escapes and travels to London, where he meets the Artful Dodger, a member of a gang of juvenile pickpockets led by the older criminal, Fagin.
Dickens lived out the realities of poverty and class he wrote about, Button said. The divisions of Victorian England were mostly economic and Dickens was writing to make enough money to keep himself out of prison for not paying his debts. Button said that adds a realness and a harshness to his stories.
“The really good thing about this story is that despite it all it is very positive,” Button said.“ There is an element of redemption, and it all happens with some of the best music you will hear anywhere.”
In his prime, Bart wrote songs for British invasion musicians like The Rolling Stones and Cliff Richards before travelling to the United States and seeing some Broadway musicals, Button said. He came back to England inspired and ended up writing Oliver!
“The amazing thing is that through all of this he could not read music,” Button said. “He was just making up the tunes in his head.”
There are a number of great songs in the play, including hits like “Consider Yourself,” “You’ve Got to Pick a Pocket or Two” and “Oom-Pah-Pah.”
There are about 80 to 90 people working on the Moncton production, including cast members. Button noted that’s a lot of people and things can happen, accidents, problems, crisis and challenges. The cast also ranges from professional actors to children who have never been on a stage before. Knowing all this, Button said it’s amazing how everything has come together.
“You see a camaraderie that has built up so that professionals are volunteering to help amateurs – or when someone gets hurt there is such grace and professionalism in the way they are working with the cast and understudy to make sure the show goes on no matter whether they can play their part or not,” he said. “You see the actual connection between different people that is written about in the musical taking place right on the stage between the actors.”
Button said fans of all types of art forms will enjoy this play, either from the performance, the music or the set designs.
“Oliver! provides a great escape and a great journey into a world that not only entertains but makes us think,”he said.
SHOW FACTS
WHAT: Tutta Musica presents Oliver!
WHEN: Feb. 25, 28, March 1-4 at 7 p.m.; Feb. 26, March 2, 4, 5 at 2 p.m.
WHERE: The Capitol Theatre, 811 Main St., Moncton
Tickets range from $39 to $69. Available at the box office, by calling 506-856-4379 or online at capitol.nb.ca
