Tenino Young-at-Heart Back for Some More

Charles Dickens’ “Oliver Twist” is a dark tale of poverty, violence and crime.

The movie version most people remember is quite lighthearted in comparison.

Isaac McKenzie-Sullivan hopes Tenino Young-at-Heart Theatre’s version will fall somewhere between the two.

“Oliver,” the Broadway adaptation of the classic Dickens’ novel, opens July 26 at Tenino High School. It is the tale of an orphan named Oliver (portrayed by Messina Occhino) who is sold for being naughty and then runs away and meets Fagin (portrayed by Alan Newman) and his thieving band, including the Artful Dodger (portrayed by Carl Butterfield), Nancy (portrayed by Rhi Dover) and Bill Sikes (portrayed by Christian Bolduc). Tenino Young-at-Heart Theatre founder and music director Bob McKenzie-Sullivan said he has produced this show twice in the past, but it has been more than 15 years since the last time. He said he loves that the story is drawn from classic literature and also that it has universal themes audiences can relate to.

“I like the show,” he said. “It’s a solid Broadway standard, to say the least. It’s got murder, mystery, crime, love, passion, all of the things that make for a good story.”

Isaac McKenzie-Sullivan said one of the hardest parts about producing “Oliver” is dealing with the subject of domestic violence, particularly the relationship between Nancy and Sikes, which has a deadly ending.

“When you think of ‘Oliver,’ you think of dancing, singing orphans but then when you read through it there’s some dark stuff in there,” McKenzie-Sullivan said. “So, it was very concerning to ... at first ask ‘How were we going to deal with it?’ We can’t just put it on stage without saying something about it. We decided we’re not going to make it graphic, but we’re not going to shy away from it, either.”

Dover and Bolduc said they felt confident they could do the material justice, despite the difficult nature of it.

“Christian and I are really close friends. He’s one of my best friends, so I trust him and I know he would never hurt me,” Dover said.

“It’s rough because it’s hard to get into the mindset of a person who is willing to kill another person, but it’s a challenge I’m glad to be able to meet and add to my repertoire,” Bolduc added.

And despite the violence and poverty, “Oliver” is also a story with some bright spots, or at least a lesson to teach, cast members noted.

“It doesn’t really have a real moral to it,” Dover said. “You leave thinking about yourself and how you can do better in life.”

Added Newman, “Partially, it’s a redemptive story. Even Fagin gets redemption. His fate is still undetermined and he has at least the chance for redemption.”

Isaac McKenzie-Sullivan praised the collaborative nature of every member of his cast and crew for making “Oliver” such a great production. 

From the difficult to the heartwarming parts of the show, each scene has been made richer by many creative minds working together.

“As we’ve been in rehearsals, I’ve loved the process of discovering things in the text with the actors,” Isaac McKenzie-Sullivan said. 

This is the 29th season for Tenino Young-at-Heart Theatre. For the first time in many years, Tenino Young-at-Heart Theatre plans to produce a murder mystery show at Swede Hall in Rochester this October. Bob McKenzie-Sullivan noted that the effort is really spurred by the growth of the theater company over the past 29 years.

“What is really exciting to me is we really have turned into a real organization with a real board of directors that really gets things done instead of a small production crew that just goes show to show,” he said.