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Opera prepares for return of Oliver!
Mr. Bumble confronts Oliver Twist for asking for 'more' in the Selkirk Operatic Society's 1996 production.
THE songs are imprinted in the minds of people across the country.
But for Selkirk Opera, it has been 17 years since they tread the boards to perform the famous signature tunes of Oliver!
Final rehearsals have been in full flow ahead of their first full performance on Tuesday, according to the society’s president Alistair Pattullo.
Alistair said: “For the first time we have been using online booking through Border Events for people who can’t get in to town and tickets have been selling well.”
The famous story of Oliver! revolves around a workhouse boy who has the audacity to ask for more gruel from Mr Bumble, the Parish Beadle.
He is soon sold off to a London undertaker before escaping and joining a group of street children headed by the Artful Dodger and petty crime master Fagin.
And here the drama really begins, with characters such as Nancy, her brutal boyfriend Bill Sykes and kind-hearted gentleman Mr Brownlow all playing parts in the adaption of Charles Dicken’s Oliver Twist novel.
Alistair admits that the fame of the play means the Selkirk cast are under pressure to do it justice.
He told us: “For many people this will have been their first experience of performing on stage, and the piece is so well known that the audience comes into the theatre singing the songs.
“So we have set ourselves quite a task this year and I hope that we have risen to the challenge and produced a memorable version of Oliver!
“Our company is in good health, with some new faces joining us, and some ‘weel-kent’ faces back with us again.
“We have benefitted from the talents and performing experience of Karen McKenna in her second go at producing Selkirk Opera. She has been ably abetted by Nancy Muir in her fourth year as musical director and we are joined for the first time by choreographer Katie Robinson.
“Then there’s the youngsters. It’s been great to have the enthusiasm and energy that youth brings with it, even if it has been a bit noisy at times!”
Oliver! runs from Tuesday until Saturday, March 2, at 7.30pm each night, as well as a matinee performance on Saturday at 2pm. Tickets are available at Scott’s Selkirk shop and www.borderevents.com
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Sunday 26 May 2013
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