In the press materials for “Oliver!” we’re told that the name “Artful Dodger” translates to “ha’chamkan” in Hebrew, meaning, roughly, “slippery roger.” That’s the production all over, in spades and in a nutshell. It’s a slippery roger, and it’s out to pick a pocket or two.
Whatever the appeal of the most recent Cameron Mackintosh-produced London revival, staged by Sam Mendes, the appeal has deserted this pallid non-union touring edition now at the Cadillac Palace.
On the plus side: The kids are cute and talented and this being Charles Dickens’ “Oliver Twist” by way of Lionel Bart’s musical, plentiful. It’s like an orphan convention up there, exhorting us to “Be Back Soon” and to “Consider Yourself” at home.
Like millions, I like a lot of the tunes in “Oliver!” Carol Reed’s 1968 film version, one of the rare instances of stage-to-screen musical theater improvement, made believers of many, even with (and probably because of) all the grim, masochistic dread built into the story. It’s one of the harshest wish-fulfillment novels Dickens ever wrote, which is saying something. Bart really didn’t get a very good musical out of it; it has no center, and Oliver himself keeps getting lost in the chapters, like a drab, saintly sack of potatoes. But it has those famously hummable ditties.
So let’s get to the slippery roger business. The program touts this “Oliver!” as “Cameron Mackintosh’s production” of a “magical musical.” William David Brohn is listed as orchestrator. The West End revival’s choreographic ace, Matthew Bourne, is credited with “original musical staging,” but Geoffrey Garratt gets an adaptation credit.
Folks, if this photocopy represents a true Cameron Mackintosh production, then I’m Charles Dickens. If these cheezoid, skim-milk, reverb-heavy orchestrations are Brohn’s, then there’s no such thing as a “Sinfonia” music system, otherwise known as a virtual orchestra, in full and grating use throughout. We’re blessed with a handful of actual musicians, to be sure, but by show’s end, it’s Cheese 7, Humans 0.
Adrian Vaux’s scenic design borrows so much from the texture, materials and mood of “Les Miserables,” you wonder if the “Les Miz” set could actually sue the “Oliver!” set for plagiarism.
The adult cast members aren’t uniformly mediocre, but they’re close enough for discomfort. Mark McCracken’s Fagin, who resembles a very tall version of Terry “Monty Python” Gilliam, barely registers; he doesn’t overact, but he does little to establish contact, or individual moments, with anyone. He’s diffidence personified. Renata Renee Wilson’s Nancy wallops the score’s big he’s-an-abusive-bastard-but-I’m-sticking ballad, “As Long as He Needs Me,” but she’s antsy and unfocused. As for Ken Clement’s Mr. Bumble, there’s only one thing to say: Please, sir, I want some less.
What’s a family to do, when a family-pitched musical comes to town, dangling its wares? Youthful non-union casts don’t automatically spell bad results; “Stomp” after “Stomp” makes money without union representation, and no one feels ripped off. But more traditional and labor-intensive properties such as “Oliver!” are harder. Cut corners without cutting admission prices, and suddenly you have a second-rate musical getting the third-rate treatment charging 72 bucks on the high end.
At one point, when young Oliver (played nicely by Justin S. Pereira) runs like the dickens — in place, of course; it’s one of those running-in-place bits — to elude his would-be captors, you feel like saying: “Hey! Wait for me! I think there’s a non-union `Annie’ tour we can hook up with somewhere!”
———-
“Oliver!”
When: Through Feb. 8
Where: Cadillac Palace Theatre, 151 N. Randolph St.
Running time: 2 hours, 30 minutes
Tickets: $22-$72 at 312-902-1400
