‘Oliver!’ brings together Liberty theatre students, talented child actors to tell a well-known musical tale

For the closing show of the fall semester, Liberty University’s Department of Theatre Arts is inviting audiences of all ages to “consider yourself at home” in the Tower Theater with a production of the beloved musical classic “Oliver!” on Dec. 3-5, 7, and 10-12.

A musical adaptation of the 1838 Charles Dickens novel “Oliver Twist,” “Oliver!” follows a young orphan in Victorian England who finds acceptance amongst a group of petty thieves and pickpockets, led by the elderly Fagin, on his coming-of-age journey. Appearing first on London’s West End in 1960 and then opening on Broadway in 1963, the Tony-winning musical has been produced around the world.

This will mark the first time that Liberty has staged the musical. Director Chris Nelson, a theatre professor, said it will be a showcase of young talent from the Lynchburg community, with more child actors than most past shows. Out of a cast of roughly 45, 14 are children.

“One of the things that has maybe made us a little reticent to do “Oliver!” in the past was the amount of children that is necessary to pull it off,” Nelson said. “But because of our successful summer camp programs over the years, we thought that that would allow us to pull from a good pool of young talent in the community, and that’s been the case. We’ve been running kids camps for about the last 13 years, for kids of all ages, so we’ve built some really great roots in the community as it relates to building connections and relationships with families.”

Nelson added that throughout pre-production and rehearsals, he has seen the college students and their younger castmates thoroughly enjoy the opportunity to grow together as performers in the same way they do at the camps.

“One of the reasons our camps are successful is that the kids just absolutely love the (Liberty) students here, and it’s really great to be able to see the college students understand the impact of their artistic testimony to kids and others who are watching,” he said. “I think there’s a lot of fulfillment when people teach something, or when people mentor or guide someone, and I think our students don’t really get a grasp on that until they have an opportunity to do it.”

With so many moving parts and young actors, Nelson said the crew for “Oliver!” includes members who are designated to specific areas of the child actors’ work.

“Our Liberty students have done an incredible job with it, and we have an incredible crew,” he said. “We have a couple people who act as child wranglers and help to take their notes and the blocking and make sure they’re where they need to be, making sure they’re safe. We have a dance captain and a vocal captain just for the kids. So ultimately, there’s just a lot of service that’s going on to help the kids and make sure that they work alongside the college students in an excellent way.”

With a large cast comes the need for more costumes, and Liberty’s on-campus costume shop has assembled the largest collection of original pieces ever for the theatre department. Whereas in past productions of large-scale shows the school would rent items, “Oliver!” will feature costumes made mostly by Liberty students and staff.

“Most of the costuming has actually been made in house, which is quite a feat,” Nelson said. “Some has been pulled, but most of it has been built, so it’s a big show as it relates to costuming. It’s a big cast, it’s a big show, it’s a sweeping set, so I think people will really enjoy themselves.”

For showtimes and tickets, visit the box office homepage.