"Oliver" review and a look at the CLTP season

Photo copyright Wyoming Tribune Eagle
Aaron Dreury, aka Sgt. Carlino, Brooks Reeves as Harry Roat and Dale Williams, playing Mike, left to right, will be starring in the Cheyenne Little Theatre Players production of "Wait Until Dark." Larry Brinlee/staff



"Wait Until Dark" By Frederick Knott,
When: Oct. 31 to Nov. 9; Fridays and Saturdays, 7:30 p.m.; Sundays, 2 p.m.
Where: Atlas Theater, 211 W. 17th St.
Tickets: $18; $16 for seniors; $10 for students
More info: 638-6543
Theater season info: http://www.cheyennelittletheatre.org/

By Karen Cotton
kcotton@wyomingnews.com

Hats off to those of you fortunate enough to see “Oliver”, the Cheyenne Little Theatre Players’ first musical of their 2008-2009 season.
“Oliver” featured a fully costumed 67 member cast and one well-behaved dog, Moo.
The cast members were backed by a live orchestra.
If “Oliver” is any indication of the theater’s potential, this season looks to be well worth the price of admission.
Sure, community theater makes some people roll their eyes – it isn’t Broadway, and isn’t supposed to be professional, or even close to it.
Besides who can afford to fly to New York City, right now, or drive down to Denver?
Well, the good news is you don’t have to, not when the Little Theatre Players have stepped up their game, like they did with “Oliver.”
Here’s a recap.

 Dave Hall and his nephew Zach Hall stole the show.

Dave played Fagin, and Zach was cast as the Artful Dodger.
They made “Consider Yourself,” “Pick a Pocket or Two,” “I’d Do Anything” and “Reviewing the Situation” the best musical numbers of the production.
Zach had the cockiness of the Artful Dodger’s character down to a T.
When Zach sang “Consider Yourself,” he was confident, in the zone and the live audience didn’t seem to faze him.
Zach and Dave drew upon their family ties, which helped in this case.
Their chemistry and comfort level were obvious, making their characters larger than life – large enough that they stood out from the 67-member cast.
In “Pick a Pocket or Two” Zach was oblivious to the audience as he paid close attention to Dave.
But then everybody’s eyes were on Dave at that point, audience included, as he explained pick pocketing to Oliver (Liam Guille) and the gang.
It was as if Fagin and the Artful Dodger had magically jumped directly from the pages of the Dickens novel onto the stage of the Mary Godfrey Playhouse.
Kudos to them for the many hours they must have put in to make their roles shine.

 Fagin’s gang wasn’t too bad, either.

“I’d Do Anything,” the song where the Artful Dodger pretends to court Nancy (portrayed by Cheryl Brown), is a perfect example of the strength of this show’s ensemble.
The Artful Dodger and Nancy ride in a pretend carriage made up of a team of horses (young people prancing) and the wheels (young actors hiding behind twirling umbrellas).
Their choreography was in sync, while all of the voices in Fagin’s gang were strong and the scene was beautifully executed.

 Some of the actors/singers in the cast were weaker than others, yet the “Oliver” cast delivered and exceeded the expectations of a community theater production.

Not a single line was forgotten and the audience got lost in the story. So, the directing, acting, singing and behind-the-scenes work was, for the most part, a job well done.
There isn’t anything better than live theater, but live theater has to be good to make spending money on tickets worthwhile, especially with Wall Street on a daily roller coaster.

With that said, get you’re trick-or-treating done early tonight, so you can watch the theater‘s thriller production “Wait Until Dark” at the Atlas Theatre.
The show begins at promptly 7:30 p.m.

The play is a psychological thriller, by Frederick Knott is directed by Rick Hammond.
It’s about a woman who’s been blind for a year, is a recent newlywed and lives with her husband in a Greenwich Village basement apartment in New York.
Unbeknownst to her, however, two con men had her husband smuggle a heroin-filled doll back into the country for her.
The show is rated PG, Hammond said, because it’s a psychological thriller, there is also some violence and there’s the mature content of the drugs in the doll.
You can watch the play through Nov. 9 with performances on Friday, Saturday and Sunday.
Catch the full “Wait Until Dark” story in the Halloween edition of ToDo.