A Rockin’ Reboot (With a Punk Rock Twist)
A punk rock reboot of the musical Oliver!, a spin on the literary classic, hits all the right notes. Reboot Theatre Company’s production runs through 4/5 at Theatre Off Jackson.
The blurb writes itself: “It’s Oliver … with a twist.” And boy, is it. Reboot Theatre Company’s new production of Lionel Bart’s classic ’60s musical takes its inspiration from the punk movement of the ’70s, infusing the — let’s face it — slightly creaky piece with foot-stomping, head-banging new life.
Young Oliver Twist (Ankit Madhira) can’t seem to catch a break. Orphaned, confined to a workhouse where he and his fellow orphans are beaten and starved by the vicious Mr. Bumble (Sean Vale), the boy has the temerity to plead for more food. After this capital offense, Oliver’s then sold as an apprentice to an undertaker — who feeds him the scraps the dog won’t eat — before finally finding refuge (of a sort) with a band of criminal youths, led by the flamboyant Fagin (played by Reboot’s Artistic Director, Jasmine Joshua).
Out on his first pickpocketing job, Oliver still takes it on the chin (or rather the head), fumbling the job and getting chased down and knocked out by the police. But in his first stroke of luck, Oliver is rescued by the very man he’d tried to rob, the kindhearted Mr. Brownlow (Meagan Kirby), who takes Oliver in and nurses him back to help. But when Fagin’s crew finds out Oliver’s potentially going straight, they worry he might rat them out to the authorities. This prompts the murderous Bill Sikes (Steven Rigaux) to make it his mission to drag Oliver back to the streets, despite the protests of his “girlfriend” Nancy (Alegra Batara), a working girl with a soft spot for Oliver. Will Oliver find a new family and a future outside the slums of London, or will his past drag him back down again?
Directed by Scot Charles Anderson and choreographed by Annalisa Brinchmann, Reboot’s production is a treat from the get-go, turning the show’s opening number into a sort of thrashing, head-banging barbaric yawp in plaid and ripped jeans that sets the tone for everything that follows. The cast is uniformly great, from acting to vocals down to the dialect work. Madhira brings a winning pathos to Oliver, at times bringing to mind the silent movie actors of the ’20s; he doesn’t have much to say, but his face speaks volumes. Tommy Beale’s Artful Dodger is a delight, and he makes a meal (in the best possible sense) out of the showstopping “Consider Yourself,” leaving absolutely no crumbs behind. Batara, in the always challenging role of “sex worker with a heart of gold”, nails their vocals on the rousing “Oom-Pah-Pah,” reimagined with the appropriate punk flair, but also does their level best to sell “As Long as He Needs Me,” the musical’s unfortunate ode to standing by your man, even if it might kill you. And Rigaux as the man in question, the thuggish Bill Sikes, brings a Sid Vicious sneer to the role that nicely underscores his menace. As a sort of matched set (twice), Meagan Kirby and Jeanette LeGault are lovely as kindly Mr. Brownlow and his housekeeper, but absolutely killed as the drunken undertaker Mr. Sowerberry and his stern wife during the mordantly funny “That’s Your Funeral.” Finally, saving the best for last, Jasmine Joshua turns in a bravura performance as the seedy, pragmatic Fagin, oozing across the stage in a blue leather trench coat and a flaming orange dye job and absolutely stealing every scene, particularly in the klezmer-tinged, “Reviewing the Situation,” a cheeky ode to ethical dilemmas that had the audience roaring.
But at the end of the day, I’d have to say it’s the revamped score from Music Director Sam Peters (who also conducts and performs on keyboard) that steals the show. Oliver! has always coasted a bit on its catchiest tunes, but it’s always been more a collection of set pieces than a coherent whole, and a slightly too glossy one at that. Reboot’s production, by taking it punk, in some ways harkens back more truthfully to Charles Dickens’ original tale of class warfare, economic inequality, and the families you make for yourself. The show’s run ends on Saturday, so I’d make it a point to don your most safety-pinned ensemble and catch it before it’s gone.
See full cast and credits here.
Oliver! runs through 4/5 at Theatre Off Jackson in the International District. Tickets here. Accessibility notes: sliding-scale tickets offered for all shows; restrooms are all gender-neutral and multi-stall; theatre main entrance is down a flight of stairs, but is wheelchair accessible through an alley entrance — please contact theatre ahead of time to ensure smooth access.
Run time: 2 hours 30 minutes with intermission
Jill Farrington Sweeney is a Texas ex-pat getting to know the Seattle-area arts scene, and is perpetually on the hunt for good Mexican food. Her writing has appeared on TheaterJones, Onstage NTX, and NWTheatre.