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Schools

The Show 'Oliver!' Must Go On

New show times added as the cast and crew gear up for a weekend packed with five performances.

The cast of Oliver! should have opening-night jitters out of the way already. Instead, they continue rehearsing and gearing up for their performance one week later.

Due to the recent power outages across northern Illinois, the performances originally scheduled for last weekend were canceled. Now two new shows have been added for five shows from July 21 through 24.

was out of power until Thursday of last week, wreaking havoc on the final week of dress rehearsals.

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“You prepare and prepare, but there’s only a certain amount of work an actor can do without an audience,” says director and set designer Thomas Mitchell.

“We’ve been building up to the peak. Now we have to take a step back and build up to that peak again for this weekend,” Mitchell adds. “But we are ready.”

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Oliver! brings to life the characters from Charles Dickens’ novel Oliver Twist. After running away from an orphanage run by the heartless Mr. Bumble, young Oliver meets a friend and is recruited to pick pockets for a criminal. Among thieves, Oliver finds a friend in Nancy, but neither she nor Oliver are fit for a life of crime.

The cast of 60 will take the stage, including about a third who are younger than 16. Many are family groups of siblings, parents and children.

“It’s nice to have the families, especially in dealing with so many young kids. It helps to have the parents involved in the show,” says Mitchell of the need for young children to play the orphans.

It also helps to build the camaraderie among the cast. Grayslake North High School sophomore Evan Szewc, 15, says, “You really feel like it’s a family there. We all get along really well and we have fun, but we get to act as well.”

Grayslake North High School student Pauline Moll, 15, says she did not know what the show was about when she auditioned. “Once I learned the story I fell in love with it.” Moll will take a roll in the chorus/ensemble for Oliver!

The numbers in the show look great, Moll says, including I’d Do Anything, Where is Love? Consider Yourself, As Long as He Needs Me, Who Will Buy? Reviewing the Situation and Food, Glorious Food.

But, she adds, the emotional ending is what she really enjoys of the performance.

The summer musical is being presented by the departments of theatre, music and dance. About 40 students from CLC summer theatre classes are working on sets and costumes and in other behind-the-scenes roles.

Performances will be at the James Lumber Center of the Performing Arts on the CLC campus and are scheduled at:

  • 7:30 p.m. Thursday, July 21
  • 7:30 p.m. Friday, July 22
  • 2 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. Saturday, July 23
  • 2 p.m. Sunday, July 24

Ticketholders for shows that were canceled on July 15, 16 or 17 may exchange their tickets for another available show by contacting the Box Office at 847-543-2300.

Tickets are available at the CLC Box Office in the on the Grayslake Campus, by phone or at www.clcillinois.edu/tickets.

Tickets are $16 for the general public and $13 for CLC students/alumni/staff/seniors 65 and older.

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