Oliver! Awaits

Jessica Travis, Staff writer

With the week off from school due to Hurricane Irma, the theater department’s production of “Oliver!” has been rescheduled for Oct. 27 – 29. Seventh grader Grant Newcombe is appearing as ‘Oliver,’ the orphan protagonist. He said he was excited to be the main character.

“I’m glad they changed the dates because of the loss of time we needed to have more rehearsals,” Newcombe said. “I already thought that if the time didn’t change [Director Maureen] Fallon must have had some plan, but I wasn’t worried.”

Senior Jerry Sola plays ‘Bill Sykes,’ a criminal in Fagin’s gang.

“There’s good and bad [to the postponement]. Part of me just wants to get it going already and now there’s just more time until the show,” Sola said. “But there’ll be enough time to make sure everything’s running smoothly as always, and that’s what’s needed.”

Despite the later date, Sola remains hopeful families and alumni will still come out and see the show.

“I don’t think it’s going to cause any problems,” Sola said. “We had the same situation last year with Hurricane Matthew for ‘Meet Me in Saint Louis.’ We’ll have more rehearsal time, so everything will be on track.”

Senior Taylor Donovan plays ‘Nancy’ a member of Fagin’s gang Bill Sykes’ lover.

“I feel like [the postponement] actually gives us an advantage and I feel if they kept it at the same time it would’ve given us less than half a month to get ready for the show, and it’s a big production,” Donovan said. “I actually think it’s possible that there are some people that are now able to do the show [because of the date change.]”

Alumna Eve Beard said the change of dates is helpful and allows her to see the show.

“Personally I’m really pleased with the change of date,” Beard said. “This is especially important to me because I was very involved with the theater program at West Shore so the thought of not being able to attend the show was rather upsetting.”