Talent galore in Oliver! Jr musical

Talent galore in Oliver! Jr musical

14 June 2023

TALENTED pupils from St Colmcille’s High School, Crossagar, took to the stage recently to bring to life the characters from Charles Dickens’ novel Oliver Twist, in Lionel Bart’s musical adaptation Oliver! Jr.

The cast was comprised of pupils from Years 8-11 who were invited to audition in January and were cast in the vast array of roles — from the cheeky Artful Dodger to the lovey Nancy.

The story follows the life of the orphan Oliver, who stumbles through a range of crises from working in an undertakers to being adopted by a gang of pickpockets before finding his true home. 

Oliver Jr is full of classic songs like ‘Consider Yourself’, ‘Food Glorious Food’ and ‘Oom-Pah-Pah’, and perfectly showcased the talents of the wonderful students.  

As part of their research, the cast visited the Lyric Theatre to watch a live performance and the school also hosted a workshop facilitated by Lyric staff.  

This was all made possible as the school was selected, as one of a small number of schools, to become a Lyric Theatre affiliate school.

The school production, which took just over an hour to perform, represented hundreds of hours of preparation. 

Over the course of several months of extremely hard work and dedication, many evenings and weekends were 

sacrificed to ensure a spectacular show for the audience. Pupils learned lines, perfected dance routines, and worked together to bring the story to life. 

The production was a true team effort with staff from all around the school volunteering to support the pupils.

Art staff painted the spectacular back, TD staff built the stage set, teachers and classroom assistants became lighting crew, stage managers and front-of-house co-ordinators; and office staff manned the box office for three sell-out performances. 

Mr Seamus Hanna, principal, said: “The enthusiasm which everyone involved has displayed, from the conception of performing a school show right up to production, has been infectious and has given so much life to our school.”

Mr Hanna said the school was grateful for the enthusiastic support of the local community.

“Local businesses have jumped at the opportunity to support the school financially, by donating prizes for the raffle and displaying posters. They also attended the performances in their droves and pupils performed to a packed hall during each of the three productions,” he said. 

“As principal, I am always so proud of all my pupils and despite our size we stretch to bring new experiences and opportunities to all our pupils. 

“Our moto of ‘Caring, Learning, Believing, Achieving’ has been witnessed through this exciting drama Initiative as our school and community came together to display the talents of our pupils.”