Youth Troupe Serves Up a Squalor-Free ‘Oliver!’

Do the literati consider Lionel Bart’s “Oliver!” to be Dickens Lite because of it the way it skims the darker passages of its source material, Charles Dickens’ “Oliver Twist”? If so, they might have yet another label for the Fullerton Children’s Repertory Theater’s staging of the show: Dickens Free.

Directed by theater co-founders Alberta Strey and Vicki Schindele, this all-youth “Oliver!” is well-paced, charmingly painted and punctuated with several top-notch vocal performances. But in an apparent bid to win young audiences, the 2 1/4-hour show is almost totally lacking any of even Bart’s grittier elements. Featuring 48 local fifth- through eighth-graders, it continues through Saturday at the Fullerton High School Little Theater.

The actors have been divided into two alternating casts. The Blue cast is reviewed here.

In “Oliver Twist,” which was released in sections between 1837 and 1839, London is a hellish, largely hard-hearted city where the poorest are crammed into rotting buildings--disease and early death are their constant neighbors--while the richest roll through the squalor in handsome carriages. Critics of the book decried Dickens’ portrayal of the city’s crime and its treatment of the poor, particularly the children.

Those critics might have preferred Bart’s “Oliver!” The workhouse, a depository for impoverished children, is still there, but audiences stay just long enough for a bouncy musical number or two. Fagin’s den of juvenile pickpockets could be a grim place, but with musical interludes such as “Pick a Pocket or Two” and “It’s a Fine Life,” it ends up feeling more like a rowdy fraternity house than part of London’s underbelly.

Schindele and Strey crank up the jolliness even more, and nowhere is it more evident than in the scenes in the Sowerberrys’ funeral parlor, where Oliver is marooned after being kicked out of the workhouse for daring to ask for more “Food, Glorious Food.” Bart’s lyrics in the scene’s “That’s Your Funeral” are shot through with black humor, but Schindele and Strey allow their actors and musicians (a three-piece ensemble) to play it way too up-tempo. Between that and the actors’ onstage buffoonery, the Sowerberry scenes make “The Munsters” seem bone-chilling.

Fagin’s den is equally cheery, enlivened by Brian Johnson’s portrayal of Fagin as a quirky, joking old cuss who lapses into growling crankiness only when his charges overstep their liberal bounds. Johnson, an eighth-grader, does yeoman’s work with this demanding role, but it would be nice to get at least a glimpse of his character’s pathetic side.

Luis Ruiz, another eighth-grader, lends more of a chill as Bill Sykes, the murderous ruffian whom Fagin holds up as a model for his young thieves. Katherine Futterer gives one of the show’s best performances as Nancy, the pretty thief who loves Sykes. Futterer’s voice is rich beyond her years, and her gutsy take on “As Long as He Needs Me” has an emotional edge that is otherwise lacking in this production.

*

As Oliver, Jon Lyons, a slightly built seventh-grader, brings an engaging vulnerability to the role. His delivery of the challenging “Who Will Buy?”--a tune that has left many young Olivers in the dust--is smooth and sweet.

Beverly Shirk’s attractive costumes add to the entertainment thanks to some comical padding on Mr. Bumble and Widow Corney. The set by Edward Huber Productions, with its pop-out book features, is an unexpected treat for a local youth production.

* “Oliver!,” Fullerton High School Little Theater, 201 E. Chapman Ave. (behind the Plummer Auditorium). Friday at 7:30 p.m, Saturday at 1:30 and 7:30 p.m. Ends Saturday. $6. (714) 671-1084. Running time: 2 hours, 15 minutes with one intermission.

Blue and Purple casts alternate performances:

Jon Lyons/Alisha Flecky: Oliver

Brian Johnson/Matt Terry: Fagin

Antonio Valla/Aaron Braunstein: Dodger

Melanie Rhoads/Julie Perkins: Jenny Bell

Katherine Futterer/Simone Lance: Nancy

Luis Ruiz/Devin Cochran: Bill Sykes

Chris Lee/Willy Keeler: Mr. Bumble

Katie Monken/Hillary Lansman: Widow Corney

Jeff Craddock/Chris Jones: Mr. Brownlow

Lana Balmforth/Lizzy Chapman: Mrs. Sowerberry

Michael Jablonski/Todd Schindele: Mr. Sowerberry

A Fullerton Children’s Repertory Theater production of a musical based on Charles Dickens’ “Oliver Twist.” Book, music and lyrics by Lionel Bart. Directed by Alberta Strey and Vicki Schindele. Vocal direction: Katherine Peters. Choreography: Emily Cedillo. Scenic design: Edward Huber Productions. Costumes: Beverly Shirk. Lighting: Ben Makino, Julie Grinfeld. Stage managers: Micah Markley, Jason Lythgoe.