Theater Review: 'Oliver! The Musical' by Golden Years Theatre Company

Review by Patch Contributor Nancy Sasso Janis

The Waterbury-based Golden Years Theatre Company has taken on the challenge of the musical version of “Oliver!” The group’s six performances begin on Friday and continue through next weekend at Crosby High School in Waterbury.

The mission of this unique theater group is to “bring to our senior community, 60+, the chance to perform on stage or behind the scenes in a live theatrical production and have fun, regardless of your abilities or inabilities.” Everyone is accepted into every production. The “Oliver!” cast members are 60 to 80 years of age.

The inaugural production of Golden Years was “Grease” in 2023, followed by last year’s six performances of “Peter Pan,” in which several of the senior performers flew above the stage.

“Oliver!” features a book, music and lyrics by Lionel Bart. The musical is based upon the 1838 novel “Oliver Twist” by Charles Dickens. The plot of the novel has been simplified for the musical, with the role of Fagin more comedic than villainous and large chunks of the end of the story left out.

At the final dress rehearsal which I attended, director Bob Tansley continued to make adjustments in real time as the performers worked on the stage at Crosby. Due to scheduling constraints, the senior citizens had extremely limited access to the stage at the high school, rehearsing in other spaces. While this type of rehearsal process can work for seasoned performers, it proved to be especially challenging for the seniors, many of whom have never performed on any stage.

It was therefore even more impressive that the dress rehearsal ran as well as it did on Wednesday evening, as the cast and crew prepared to open on Friday. Most of the song and dance numbers went off without a hitch and the lead actors delighted in bringing the classic characters to life.

Tansley and his wife Diane have assembled some wonderful scenic elements to set the various scenes, including a bridge for the final scene. There are loads of Victorian-era costumes for the characters, with the orphans (played by women) suitably garbed as young boys. Michele Marchetti returns to the group to keep everything running smoothly as the stage manager.

Lorraine Brandolini, who flew as Michael in “Peter Pan” and played Frenchy in “Grease,” takes on the role of the title character this year and is simply adorable. She is plucky and sings “Where Is Love?”

Al Reiff, who frightened children last year as the bombastic Captain Hook in “Peter Pan,” plays the ring leader Fagin. Reiff’s character is a veteran criminal fence who sends out young boys as pickpockets.

Patti Buchanan has lots to do in the role of the teenaged pickpocket, The Artful Dodger. David Peck is almost unrecognizable as the villain Bill Sikes, a brutal house burglar and an associate of Fagin (“My Name,”) who doesn’t appear until the second act.

Gloria Dunton-Ilievski does very well with the role of Nancy, an older member of Fagin's gang who is the abused girlfriend of Sikes.

Suzanne Daddona, who flew as John last year and played Rizzo in “Grease,” portrays Nancy’s good friend Bet ("It's a Fine Life.")

Community theater veteran James Woods, who recently returned to the state of Connecticut, is perfectly cast in the role of the parish beadle Mr. Bumble, and interacts well with Dawn Menta in the role of the matron of the workhouse, the Widow Corney ("I Shall Scream!") John Chenkus, who shared the role of Kenickie and Vince Fontaine in “Grease,” takes on the role of the kindly and wealthy older man Mr. Brownlow, which will be covered by Co-director Pat Hearn for a Friday performance.

Sal Mancini returns to the group for a third year to play the often intoxicated undertaker Mr. Sowerberry and Pat Lund plays the equally mean Mrs. Sowerberry. Sharyn Pliska portrays their daughter Charlotte.

Connie Nolan is lovely in the role of Mrs. Bedouin, Brownlow’s housekeeper, who sings to Oliver the reprise of "Where Is Love?” Terry Breen plays the befuddled Dr. Grimwig who comes to examine Oliver. Sandy Robillard steps up in the second act to cover the role of the dying Old Sally.

Trish Leonard, a new Golden Years member, and Fran McIntyre (Sandy in “Grease” and Mrs. Darling in “Peter Pan”) get to show off their beautiful singing voices as they enter through the aisles in their role as rose sellers, while Laurie Barrett and Deborah Fisher sing the role of strawberry sellers and Kathy Cordone and Olga Rodriguez appear as milk maids in the musically challenging “Who Will Buy?”

The inimitable Rick Dufresne takes on the role of Noah Claypole, an employee of the undertaker. Jack Serafin plays a knife grinder and the first runner. Barbara Murray returns to the group to play Dodger’s friend, Charley Bates. Golden Years veteran Kathleen Miller has a cameo sitting on a bench for one of the songs.

Because Tansley always uses live musicians for his shows, the group of talented young musicians, including Clio “CJ” Janis on keyboard one, are conducted by UConn grad Tigger Kluessendorf. Marc Sokolson worked with the cast as music director. Sound design is done by Foster Evans Reese.

The Tansleys promised that the printed program book will be stuffed with ads from supporters and that each performance will feature a raffle for eight gift baskets, as well as a fifty-fifty raffle. Before schools closed for the summer, the production team donated 40 free tickets to several Waterbury high schools for students to attend a performance.

The Crosby High School auditorium, located at 300 Pierpoint Road in Waterbury, is air-conditioned and offers comfortable seating. Because the production has not been double-cast this year, every performer will play their role at all performances.

Performances are scheduled for Friday and Saturday at 7 p.m. and Sunday at 2:00 p.m. and June 27 and 28 at 7 p.m. and June 29 at 2:00 p.m. Adult tickets are $18, with elementary school-aged children only $8. Tickets are available at gytc.booktix.com and at the door for cash only. Concessions will also be cash only.