BWW Previews: OLIVER TAKES TO THE STAGE in MAS Theatre's production at Carrollwood Cultural Center

On July 20-29, the famous tale of young orphan Oliver Twist comes to life on stage at Carrollwood Cultural Center.

Featuring Miles King and Reagan Ricardo in the title role of Oliver in the MAS Theatre production, the musical is based on the Charles Dicken's novel, Oliver Twist, with music and lyrics from Lionel Bart.

Oliver, a malnourished orphan in a workhouse in Victorian, England, becomes the neglected apprentice of an undertaker. He runs away to London where he's befriended by a boy named the Artful Dodger and invited to join a gang of child pickpockets led by the elderly Fagin. When Oliver is captured for a theft he did not commit and is rescued by the theft's victim, Fagin hires a couple to kidnap Oliver back, potentially destroying Oliver's chances of finding a real family.

Oliver was the first musical director Tracy Stemm-Crews ever saw as a child and love of the show stuck with her for decades.

"I love this musical. My goal is to be true to the classic musical. It's not performed all that frequently. I have a real love of the classic musicals and think that they have a lot to offer," said Tracy. "My vision is to really focus in on the characters, particularly blossoming the secondary characters roles so you really feel involved and make them a little more than you'd expect.

Oliver is not a happy musical. It has contemporary drama factors like murder, thievery, slavery, children sold into bondage, and people working and not getting paid what they are supposed to be. It has a lot of today's hot topics subtly and sometimes overtly put into the story of the musical. Many of the social issues of Dicken's time have not gone away. Even though the book was written almost two hundred years ago, these issues are still here. They're still right in front of us. The message is still very relevant."

A cast of 38, ranging from ages 5 to 81, will bring these classic characters and score to life. A live 11-piece band will perform under the direction of Mary Jo Hahn.

"We have 20 amazingly talented kids in the cast. Some of the kids - this is the first musical they have ever been in - and you would, never in a million years know they've never been on stage before. This is a crazy talented cast and consider myself lucky to be working with all of them."

Tracy said that leads Artful Dodger and the Olivers take any direction given and instantly apply it on stage.

"They are beyond the years of what you'd expect," she said.

One of the Olivers, Miles King discovered theatre at the tender age of 4. Without even knowing how to read, Miles would work with mother to memorize a script. Eight busy years later he's been cast as Oliver.

"Most of the play is Oliver trying to stay out of trouble," said twelve-year-old seventh grader Miles. "There's small hints hidden in the storyline about social messages like child abuse. It's very subtle.

I was really excited to find out I was cast as one of the leads in Oliver. Even though it's a large cast, we all fit in really well and get the work done quickly. It's so fun just working with these people. (In theatre) You don't have be nervous about yourself or hold back. You don't have to worry about what other people think of you," Miles gave advice to any young person wanting to get on the stage. "Give it your all. Go for and you'll fit in."

Tracy hopes the audience finds a connection in the musical.

"I hope the audience will find a moment being surprised or being moved by it. Even though it's though of a musical for kids, it's definitely no Annie," said Tracy. "It's got a lot of social relevance. Despite the sad undertones, it's definitely still a family musical."

Oliver will be presented by MAS Theatre at Carrollwood Cultural Center on July 20-29. Performances are Friday and Saturday at 8 p.m. and Sunday at 2 p.m. Tickets may be purchased at the Center box office or online at http://www.carrollwoodcenter.org/events. Advanced tickets are $21 member / $25 general admission and day of show are $23 member / $27 general admission.

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