For those who hate to read the Victorian Era soap operas written by Charles Dickens but love musical comedy, the Utah Festival Opera & Musical Theatre's flawless production of "Oliver!" is the perfect summer treat.
Because the quality of productions of this Lionel Bart musical depend so heavily on the performances of youngsters, it takes inspired casting and direction to stage this show in an entertaining fashion. Luckily, director Jack Shouse has pulled off that miracle here in Logan.
Eleven-year-old Jace Salcido takes the role of the orphan Oliver Twist and makes it his own from the first moment that he opens his mouth to sing. He not only has an amazingly strong voice for his diminutive size, but also one that is so sweet that it sends chills through the audience. Moreover, despite being a newcomer to the stage, Salcido has nothing to apologize for as a novice actor.
Cameron Conrad is equally well-cast as Oliver's sidekick, the Artful Dodger, and 16 other boys sing and act with remarkable aplomb for their ages as members of the show's orphan/street urchin choruses.
With the youthful actors carrying their own weight, the adults in "Oliver!" are free to perform at the top of their game and they do just that. The cast is led by Jessica Medoff in the role of Nancy, a woman of the street who is torn between her love for outlaw Bill Sykes and her protective instincts toward Oliver. Aided by a booming lyric soprano voice, Medoff dominates the stage with breathtaking acting and dancing skills.
The contributions of the adult ensemble to the success of this production cannot be ignored. Those talented singers open Act II with a rollicking performance of the tavern song "Oom Pah Pah" that had the audience cheering during the premier of "Oliver!" on July 7. Minutes later, the same audience was thrilled by the sheer beauty of their rendition of the haunting "Who Will Buy?"
The highlight of this show is naturally the appearance of Logan impresario Michael Ballam in its cast. In recent years, the founding general director of UFOMT has resisted the temptation to hog the spotlight by limiting himself to age-appropriate minor roles in the festival's productions. In the pivotal role of Fagan, however, Ballam returns to center stage where he belongs. The veteran trouper makes even a nuanced characterization like that of Fagan look easy because - for him - it is easy. Ballam's standout performances of the songs "You've Got to Pick a Pocket or Two," "Be Back Soon" and "Reviewing the Situation" are simply unforgettable.
The orchestra for "Oliver!" is brilliantly directed by Karen Keltner, the resident conductor of the San Diego Opera. The set designs by Dennis Hassan are appropriately moody and atmospheric.
Repertory performances of Oliver! will continue at the Ellen Eccles Theatre through Aug. 6.
The paper had a photo of Sierra and Jace eating soup at the end of the South Pacific show with Emile and Nellie but when I went to import it, for some reason the internet version does not have that photo but a different one. I had to take a photo of the photo with my camera phone so it isn't as clear as the one in the paper but Sierra was happy to be featured in the newspaper too.
South Pacific
The Utah Festival Opera & Musical Theatre's ongoing production of "South Pacific" successfully breathes life into familiar dramatic material that is more than half-a-century old.
"South Pacific," a tale of clashing cultures and people cut adrift from their roots by World War II, was penned by Broadway giants Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II only four years after the conclusion of that conflict. While that made the musical unusually topical in 1949, sophisticated modern audiences tend to view "South Pacific" as hopelessly romantic and chock full of wartime clichés. Moreover, the racial prejudice subplot that emerges in the second act of the musical is so dated that it feels contrived.
A common solution to those problems nowadays might be to play for self-conscious laughs by turning "South Pacific" into a campy nostalgia fest. But here in Logan, director Maggie L. Harrer has chosen a riskier approach by playing the musical straight and trusting in the talents of her performers to make the original material seem still relevant.
Harrer's gamble pays off richly in the person of Molly Mustonen, a Minnesota native making her UFOMT debut as U.S. Navy Ensign Nellie Forbush. Mustonen plays that role with such wide-eyed innocence that she not only makes the improbable reactions of the self-proclaimed "hick from Little Rock" to her first romance believable, but also infects her fellow cast members and the audience with her enthusiasm. From its opening curtain, this UFOMT production is Mustonen's show; it is her spirited singing and dancing that makes some of the musical's well-known production numbers work.
Mustonen is supported by an outstanding cast. Branch Fields provides her love interest as French planter Emile de Becque and his powerful bass voice makes the musical's trademark songs "Some Enchanted Evening" and "This Nearly Was Mine" memorable. Jeanette Blakeney is delightfully exuberant as the Tonkinese businesswoman Bloody Mary. UFOMT veteran Mark Womack turns in a solid performance as Marine Lieutenant Joe Cable as does crowd pleaser Stephanous Tsirakoglou as the seagoing con man Luther Billis.
After a nearly letter-perfect debut performance, some gaffs that would be considered wardrobe errors in the movie business emerged toward the end of "South Pacific." While an enlisted combat engineer who has "gone native" like Billis could easily get away with missing a few shaves, a full beard and shaggy haircut would never have been tolerated on a naval officer flying a PBY seaplane. It's even more jarring when Billis converses with a couple of what he calls "Marines" who are conspicuously dressed as sailors. UFOMT's audiences include too many military veterans for errors of that kind to escape notice.
Repertory performances of "South Pacific" will continue at the Ellen Eccles Theatre through Aug. 5.
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