"Oliver!" at the Spotlight Theatre -- April 14 through 23.
Friday, April 14, through Sunday, April 23
The Spotlight Theatre, 1800 Seventh Avenue, Moline IL
A timeless Broadway sensation whose film version won six Academy Awards including Best Picture, the Charles Dickens adaptation Oliver! enjoys an April 14 through 23 run at Moline's Spotlight Theatre, this Tony-winning family spectacle noted for playing in New York for more than two years and its original London run lasting a then-record-breaking 2,618 performances.
Bringing Dickens’ beloved novel Oliver Twist to life, composer Lionel Bart’s Oliver! takes audiences on a wild adventure through Victorian England. Family audiences are invited to join young, orphaned Oliver as he navigates the London’s underworld of theft and violence, searching for a home, a family, and, most importantly - love. When the youth is picked up on the street by a boy nicknamed the Artful Dodger, he is welcomed into a gang of child pickpockets led by the conniving but charismatic Fagin. But after Oliver is falsely accused of a theft he didn’t commit, he is rescued by a kind and wealthy gentleman, to the dismay of Fagin and the man's violent sidekick Bill Sikes. Caught in the middle is the warm-hearted Nancy, who is trapped under Bill’s thumb, but also desperate to help Oliver, with potentially tragic results. With its spirited, memorable songs such as “As Long as He Needs Me,” “Food, Glorious Food,” and “Where Is Love,” Bart's masterpiece is a musical classic, one that led New York Post reviewer Clive Barnes, during the show's first North American run, to proclaim, "Oliver! is glorious food for Broadway."
Directing the Spotlight's latest musical is venue co-founder and -owner Sara Tubbs, who also helmed the venue's productions of The Sound of Music and Matilda: The Musical, and has appeared in shows including A Christmas Story: The Musical, The Spitfire Grill, and Big: The Musical. Her fellow co-founder, co-owner, and spouse Brent Tubbs serves as Oliver!'s set, lighting, and sound designer, with fellow family talents Cooper Tubbs portraying Oliver and Taylor Tubbs playing Charlie Bates. Amy Trimble provides the show's music direction, with additional members of the creative team including choreographer Shana Kulhavy, stage manager Violeta Jensen, props designer Sarah Greim, costume designer Heather Blair, hair and makeup designer Sara Wegener, and fight choreographer Lily Blouin.
The villainous Fagin is portrayed by Joe Urbaitis, with fellow Spotlight veterans Kirsten Sindelar as Nancy, Mark Kulhavy as Bill Sikes, and Jack Carlslake as the Artful Dodger. And completing Oliver!''s cast are more than two doizen additional area performers: Betsy Bergthold, Cameron Beyer, Whitney Brown, Avie Birdsell, Ted Brown, Pam Cantrell, Matthew Downey, Alana Ford, Jennifer Cook Gregory, Robert Gregory, Brighton Greim, Adler Hampton, Cynthia Hampton, Mark Holmes, Chloe Knobloch, Regina Knobloch, Ari Kulhavy, Heather Lueder, Avenue Meumann, Kayley Mosley, Susan Perrin-Sallak, Steve Trainor, Keegan Walker, Meyer Wikoff, Adelle Wright, Dana Wright, and Sylvie Wright.
Oliver! will be presented in Moline from April 14 through 23, with performances Fridays and Saturdays at 7 p.m. and Sundays at 2 p.m. Admission is $20-25, and more information and tickets are available by calling (309)912-7647 and visiting TheSpotlightTheatreQC.com.
