Ivybridge students bring Oliver! to life

Coordinating the performance of more than 200 aspiring young performers may seem like an onerous task, but Ivybridge Community College’s run of Lionel Bart’s Oliver! proved that it is possible for such a large cast to produce one of the College’s most successful productions.

Featuring more than 200 cast members, including 25 children from the College’s partner primary schools, Oliver gained a standing ovation from the audience at all five performances over four days.

“Oliver has been an exceptional experience from start to finish,” said Heidi Ruskin, Director of the musical and Assistant Head of Performing Arts at Ivybridge Community College. “What has made this production so unique though is the sheer number of students that have been involved, displaying their exceptional singing, acting and dancing skills. This is also the first time that we have involved so many pupils from our partner primary schools. At first I thought that we were taking a gamble, particularly as our youngest performers were on the front row in many of the scenes, but there was no need to worry as everyone of them produced captivating confident performances.”

The British musical, based on the novel Oliver Twist by
Charles Dickens, continues Ivybridge Community College’s tradition of high-quality musicals and follows on from last year’s acclaimed performance of Les Misérables.

“One of the key criteria for choosing Oliver! was the opportunity it gave to get so many students involved from a wide age range,” added Heidi. “The big ensembles in the show made this possible, enabling us to include performers as young as eight years old. This has not only helped our aspiring young performers develop their stage skills, but also it has enabled them to build confidence, learn about commitment, work together and discover the rewards of achieving something as part of a team.”

Principle characters included Samuel Fogg as Oliver, Jacob Atkins as the Artful Dodger, Alex Dover as Fagin, Josh Bean as Bill Sikes, Emma Locke as Nancy, John Archer as Mr Bumble, George Berry as Dr Grimley, Adam Connolly as Dr Brownlow, Emily Brace as
Mrs Bedwin, Amy Gardiner as Widow Corney, Frazer Wearne as
Mr Sowerberry, and Tamar Ricardo as Mrs Sowerberry.

SAMUEL’S DREAM TO PERFORM PROFESSIONALLY
Year 7 student Samuel Fogg, who played Oliver, is already demonstrating huge potential having recently starred in Lord of the Flies at Plymouth Pavilions. Samuel said: “I was ecstatic when I found out I had the lead part. Being part of such a great cast has been an amazing experience and I’ve learnt new acting techniques during rehearsals. Playing Oliver has given me the chance to explore so many emotions that a character can go through. I hope this will help me achieve my dream of performing professionally when I leave College.” Despite his young age, Samuel is already clear that he plans to study GCSEs and ‘A’Levels in Drama and Performing Arts at the College.

FAGIN ROLE GIVES ALEX A FURTHER CONFIDENCE BOOST
18-year-old student Alex Dover played one of the musical’s most notorious characters, Fagin. Alex, who is studying BTEC Performing Arts said “The course has transformed me. Originally I had lost all of my confidence but now I love performing on stage, my singing has improved immensely, and I’ve learnt so much from performing with other talented people. I’m drawn to strong parts that require me to immerse myself in another character and my dream role is Inspector Javert in the West End version of Les Misérables. I plan to act for the rest of my life.”

PRIMARY SCHOOL CHILDREN ‘FEEL LIKE REAL ACTORS’
While the principal characters certainly took much of the limelight, it was also an exceptional experience for many of the other cast members, including 10 year old Joe Prince and Joel Cameron from Woodlands Primary School. “We’re definitely two of the most confident members of our class,” said Joel Cameron, “and this has been an amazing experience that we’ll never forget. We’ve learnt a lot from older students here and we’ve made new friends too. I can’t wait to come to Ivybridge Community College, because there are so many good opportunities to do new and exciting things.”

Joe Prince said: “My favourite scene was the pickpocket scene because it was so much fun. Doing the show has taught us how to be expressive and show our emotions – we feel like real actors now. When I’m older I want to be famous – either an actor or a musician – and coming to Ivybridge Community College will help me because there is so much talent here and the teachers are amazing. I was in the Fantasy Show at Christmas, and when I come here I want to join the Musicians Club and the Junk band.”

Oliver! ran from Wednesday, 16 July to Saturday 19 July in the College’s Performance Hall. There were four evening performances and one matinee performance. In addition to its cast the show benefitted from a formidable live band, a technical crew of students and former students, teaching assistants who helped make the costumes and many backstage helpers.

All photos provided courtesy of Tony Carney Photography.