OLIVER! - CONSIDER YOURSELF PART OF THE FAMILY
Oliver!, the iconic musical that is the second production of the Sharon Playhouse 2023 season, is based on Charles Dickens’ Oliver Twist, his classic Victorian novel of 1838. The show is often described as a coming-of-age musical about an orphan who eventually finds happiness. Lionel Bart, the triple-threat author, lyricist, and composer of Oliver!, managed to create a buoyant, delightful musical that became one of the biggest hits of the 1960s.
Oliver! was the first musical adaptation of a famous Charles Dickens work to become a stage hit. The plot of Dickens' original novel is simplified for the purposes of the musical: eleven-year-old orphan Oliver Twist falls in with a group of street-urchin pickpockets led by the Artful Dodger and masterminded by the criminal Fagin. In Bart’s telling of this tuneful musical, Fagin is represented more as a comic character than as a villain.
Oliver! premiered in London and enjoyed a record-breaking run. It opened on Broadway in 1962 and was immediately declared one of the major hits of that season. Following Oliver’s Award-winning London run, the Broadway production was a critical success and received ten Tony Award nominations, including Best Musical, Best Actor in a Musical, Best Actress in a Musical and Best Featured Actor in a Musical. It won the awards for Best Scenic Design, Best Original Score and Best Music Direction. The 1968 movie based on the stage show was nominated for 11 Academy Awards and won six, including for Best Picture.
Significantly, Bart’s score was heralded and even won the Tony Award in a season that saw Stephen Sondheim’s A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum win the hearts of critics.
And what a score it is! Who does not know several of the now-standard tunes that propel this enchanting musical: “Food, Glorious Food,” “Consider Yourself,” “As Long As He Needs Me,” “I’d Do Anything,” “You’ve Got to Pick a Pocket or Two,” and “Where Is Love.”
The Sharon Playhouse’s own Michael Kevin Baldwin, Associate Artistic Director and Director of Education, will direct the company, which will include an array of the Northwest Corner’s wonderful local community kids. Oliver! has a cast of 35 which includes 20 local youths. Several of these budding thespians will be coming off a July of Youth Theater productions, including “Peter and the Starcatcher,” “A Year With Frog and Toad, Kids” and Disney’s “Newsies.” (See the Sharon Playhouse schedule for more info on these Youth Theater productions (www.sharonplayhouse.org).
So, join us on a heart-rending and compelling journey through the historic haunted alleys of Charles Dickens' Victorian London, with an unforgettable cast of characters: villainous Fagin, wistful Nancy, brutal Bill Sykes, the irrepressible Artful Dodger, and, of course, the endearing Oliver Twist.
Come visit with the talented company of the Sharon Playhouse’s production of Oliver!, playing from August 4 – August 20. You’ll be met with joyous singing and dancing, a bevy of exuberant youth performers, and Oliver Twist’s holy grail: LOVE. Tickets are available at www.sharonplayhouse.org.
Consider yourself at home!
ALL ABOUT MICHAEL KEVIN BALDWIN,
ASSOCIATE ARTISTIC DIRECTOR/DIRECTOR OF EDUCATION OF SHARON
Q: Where are you from?
A: Here! I was born in Sharon Hospital and grew up in Salisbury, CT.
Q: What made you become interested in theater?
A: A number of things. First and foremost, my family. I am one of five children, and the only boy. From a young age I sort of became the family jester. I used to use the piano bench as a stage and put on shows in our living room. Then I had wonderful teachers who encouraged me. I took gymnastics with Jean Jacquier from an early age. I quickly realized that the mats were like a stage - an open canvas where I could express myself. And finally, the Sharon Playhouse was a huge influence for me. When I was 9, my parents took me to see Barnum in Pine Plains, presented by Tri-Arts, former name of The Sharon Playhouse. It was a magical experience that I will never forget. I got to ride an elephant! I was completely swept away by the performance.
Q: What aspect of theater intrigued you the most?
A: The DRAMA! Growing up in a small Connecticut town, where everyone is so kind and friendly, I was captivated by the fact that in plays and musicals you are given permission to wear all of your emotions on your sleeve. I was similarly captivated by Soap Operas. I desperately wanted to play a character who had multiple personalities who could scream, cry, and laugh, all in one scene.
Q: What was your first job in theater and where?
A: My first theater job was when I was 12 years old at the Salisbury Cannon Museum. The Salisbury Cannon Museum showcased information about the role local communities played in the production of artillery in the American Revolution. I worked one summer every Saturday and Sunday, from 10am-5pm. I would dress up as a British Soldier in a redcoat and hide at the top of a hill next to a flag. This was a mini-recreation of the Battle of Fort Ticonderoga. Visitors to the museum (usually kids) would get dressed up as colonial soldiers with toy muskets and come up the hill and capture the flag. They would shoot me (the enemy) and I would perform a dramatic death scene and then they would capture the flag and run down the hill in triumph. It was a blast! I got heat stroke a few times that summer, but it was worth it!
Q: Please give us some highlights of your career up to the Playhouse.
A: I graduated from Skidmore College with a degree in Theater and Sociology and moved to NYC to make it as an actor. I worked as an actor for about ten years, performing Off Broadway, at the Metropolitan Opera, in National Tours, at the Kennedy Center, and in Regional Theaters across the country. I also did some television, film, and commercial work. I then directed a production of The 39 Steps at a theater camp in Maine with teenagers. It rocked my world! I fell in love with educational theater, and so I got my Masters Degree in Education from The City College of New York. I worked as a teaching artist for TADA!, The New Victory Theater, and other places before getting full time teaching gigs at Hunter College High School and The Brealey School. Then, in 2020, I joined the team at the Sharon Playhouse.
Q: What was it that made you decide to join the team at the Sharon Playhouse?
A: The Sharon Playhouse has been my artistic home since I was 10 years old. So, in many ways, it was a no brainer for me to join the team. However, even putting aside my personal connection, the Sharon Playhouse has something special that not many theaters have: a unique intersection of artistry, education, and community. This magic recipe is the heart and soul of The Sharon Playhouse.
Q: How would you describe what you do?
A: I play. Literally, “playing” is a big part of what I do. I mean, after all, I do work at a PLAYhouse. But in all seriousness, in my role as Director of Education and Associate Artistic Director, a lot of my job consists of creating spaces where people feel empowered to play and be the truest versions of themselves.
Q: Now that you are here, what are you looking forward to?
A: I am incredibly excited about our upcoming season. I am directing our mainstage production of Oliver!, which thrills me. I cannot wait for Broadway professionals to join forces with talented local adults and children from our community to tell this harrowing and triumphant story. Don’t miss it!
ALL ABOUT SARAH CUOCO,
COMPANY & EDUCATION MANAGER OF SHARON PLAYHOUSE
Q: Where are you from?
A: I grew up locally in Lakeville, CT. I also spent nearly 10 years living in NYC, Brooklyn to be exact.
Q: What made you become interested in theater?
A: I was most interested in ballet to begin with. I was 3 years old when I asked to take ballet class, and soon after my mother took over ownership of the school, so I really grew up in a studio. Through my love of dance, I loved watching musicals as a child. Song and dance was what drew me in.
Q: What aspect of theater intrigued you the most?
A: In my teen years, I found a love of choreography. While other kids were playing outside, I could be found in the studio making up dances. Looking back, that was really my gateway to working in theater. I found a love of imagining a production number in my head and then seeing it come to life on stage.
Q: What was your first job in theater and where?
A: My first official “gig” was at Indian Mountain School. I choreographed Bye Bye Birdie. I was very young, only 16 years old, but the faculty working on the show knew I could do it, and gave me the confidence I needed to choreograph a full show on my own. I’ll never forget the butterflies I felt as the overture started.
Q: Please give us some highlights of your career up to the Playhouse.
A: I went to the school of “hard knocks” as some would say. I learned through taking many, many classes, observing lots of different teachers and engaging with theater artists of all walks of life. Some favorite shows I have worked on are Oklahoma, Damn Yankees, Ragtime, and Into the Woods. I have worked with schools local to our area as well as in Manhattan. Before moving back from the city, I had the opportunity to travel Europe through Hair the musical tour. I was the understudy for Chrissy and a swing performer, responsible for covering any number ensemble roles. I also co-choreographed the production. That tour was a journey I will never forget.
Q: What was it that made you decide to join the team at the Sharon Playhouse?
A: Growing up in the area, the Sharon Playhouse has always been my hometown theater. It was where I first performed with adult professionals when I was just starting out. It was a place where I met some lifelong friends. My main focus has been Youth Theater. I love being able to help young budding artists reach new heights in their performance both on and off stage. When I moved back home I knew I wanted to find a way to keep arts education alive in our community, and even expand it if possible. The Sharon Playhouse has an incredible education program that is growing day by day for theater artists both on and off the stage.
Q: How would you describe what you do?
A: I wear a couple of different hats; I am the Company Manager and Education Manager for the Sharon Playhouse. As Company Manager, one thing I love the most is being the point person to support and help our incoming artists to feel comfortable and taken care of. As Education Manager I get to work alongside one of my favorite people, Michael Baldwin, to continue to play and teach and open doors for theater students of all ages.
Q: Now that you are here, what are you looking forward to?
A: I am so excited for our upcoming season! We have an incredible line up packed with performers from Broadway professionals, to local adults, and of course our wonderful youth theater program. I can’t wait to see you all this summer!
SARAH COMBS, VICE PRESIDENT OF OUR BOARD OF DIRECTORS,
PLAYED A KEY ROLE IN OUR THEATER'S HISTORY
Sarah Combs found her passion early. She became interested in the theater when she was just 11 years old. She auditioned for Little Moon at The Civic Theater in Kalamazoo, MI and got the starring role in this folk tale. Sarah remembers thinking at the time, “I want to do this! Meaning: I want to be involved with live theater for my career.”
Sarah’s involvement in theater continued through high school and when she chose to attend The Cincinnati Conservatory of Music (part of the University of Cincinnati), it was one of just two universities in the country at the time that was offering musical theater programs (the other was Carnegie Mellon).
Moving to New York City after college, Sarah did lots of regional theater, summer stock, soap operas and extra work in movies. Along the way, she got married and spent a good amount of time in Pine Plains, NY, where her then husband, Ray Roderick, had a house and she was directing plays for Stissing Mountain Jr./Sr. High School in Pine Plains.
The Sharon Creative Arts Foundation (SCAF) produced The Music Man at The Sharon Playhouse in 1989. Ray directed the production and Sarah was a producer. Students and adults from Pine Plains, Sharon, Lakeville, and Western Massachusetts participated in the show. In 1990, Ray, Sarah and many others who were involved in The Music Man started their own theater company and called it, The Tri State Center for the Arts (NY, CT, MA). Sarah was president of the Board of Directors and Ray was Artistic Director.
The first Tri Arts production was Annie Get Your Gun, and it was nothing short of spectacular. The setting was a tent on a large field and before each production began a Buffalo Bill-style Wild West show was staged in the field with horses, trick riding, cowboys and Indians. The audience was primed to see the show, in which Sarah was the star and Michael Berkeley was musical director.
Another show in the tent, Barnum, was also a big success. Shortly after Barnum, the ice cream company Carvel made its warehouse available at a rental rate of $1 per year. Tri Arts rented it and turned the warehouse into a theater with a stage almost as big as Radio City Music Hall. With the success of Annie and Barnum, the theater company raised enough money to stay there for seven years, from 1992-1998.
After the end of her marriage Sarah went back to school to get her MA in theater education.
She taught drama and directed musicals at Stissing Mountain Jr./Sr. High School.
At the renamed “Sharon Playhouse,” while raising her son Jamie, she directed nine shows and several Community Cabarets. In 1999 Michael Berkeley took over as Artistic Director. By 2012, Sarah got a call from board members Emily Soell, Bill Suter, and Carol Kalikow. They wanted to know if she would be interested in coming back to join the Board.
“The level of enthusiasm at The Playhouse has gone way up over the past 10 years,” says Sarah. “This is directly connected with the high quality of our productions. Plus, the classes we've been offering for kids and adults under our Director of Education Michael Baldwin are exemplary.”
I was one of those kids who lacked confidence in myself until I discovered theater. It opened up the world to me and helped me make life-long friends. Also, we are the only theater around that still uses a live orchestra. This is incredible and adds considerably to the special magic of our shows.
One of my favorite things to do when we have a show opening is to stand on the patio and watch the parking lot fill up and the audience head into the theater in a festive mood. We need this mood more than ever now.”
ENCORE CORNER
Our season is well under way and we expect to see more and more staff heading to Sharon to be in our shows. We provide lodging as close to the theater as possible and can use your help with some donations to make our staff feel at home.
Aren't you pleased when you can recycle anything in your house or garage towards a good cause? We can currently use:
*Old dressers or chests approximately 36” wide.
*Office supplies such as packs of printing paper, pads, pens & pencils, pen and pencil holders, pencil sharpeners, paper clips of all kinds, manila folders, etc.
*Any used car that you would like to donate and benefit from tax wise.
Think of us when you want to get rid of home items and office supplies you no longer need and then call Wendy, our Business Manager at 860-364-7469 X100 or email her at Business@sharonplayhouse.org. You can make arrangements to drop off stuff at our offices or we can schedule a pick-up at your place.
Remember – The Sharon Playhouse is a non-profit 501(c)(3) arts organization. Your donation is tax deductible to the full extent of the law. We will provide you with an acknowledgement of your gift for tax purposes along with the statement that no goods or services were provided to you in exchange.
Thank you in advance!