Theater Review - " Oliver! "

THEATER REVIEW “Oliver!”

Presented by: Northport – E. Northport Community Theater - Reviewed by: Jeb Ladouceur

Huge cast takes the stage in Northport for “Oliver!” thru May 19

Who knew?

The Northport area has always been a hotbed of artistic activity in general, and legitimate theater in particular, but until Saturday night I had never seen the Northport – East Northport Community Theater in action. It is now obvious that this big, talented assembly of players is the real deal.

With Bette Silver producing and Jim Redding directing a vast company (only half of whom, alas, are shown here) the Brosnan Center in Northport has become home to the most ambitious staging of Lionel Bart’s “Oliver!” in recent memory.

The now-legendary musical version of Charles Dickens’ classic “Oliver Twist” can only fulfill its great promise when populated by a vast array of actors, especially children, and that’s what happens when this massive company takes the substantial stage at Northport’s Laurel Avenue School. The result is an “Oliver!” of the first order that runs thru May 19.

I’ve found that one tends to single out and fawn over youngsters who show a high degree of stage presence and singing ability. In this production we can’t do that; there are nearly a hundred such deserving kids in the ensemble. Indeed, one wonders where all these gifted children came from!

Thus, director Jim Redding gets the plaudits of this reviewer, and we’ll leave it to him to distribute kudos among the young people whom he has molded into a convincing, endearing gang of London pickpockets and assorted ragamuffins.

Some of the familiar songs from the 1963 triple Tony award-winning show (including Best Original Score) are among the greatest toe-tappers and heartbreakers of our time. Many will say that only “I Ain’t Down Yet” from “The Unsinkable Molly Brown” and “If He Walked Into My Life” introduced in “Mame” are the equals of “Consider Yourself” and “As Long As He Needs Me” in their respective categories. Significantly, “Oliver!” supplies both those memorable numbers, leaving the audience emotionally whipsawed and breathless. Clearly, director Redding has cast his performers well.

Doug Carney as the conniving (but in this production oddly sympathetic) “Fagin” and Jessica Rae Schaefer as a somewhat bawdy (though humorously so) “Nancy” are the play’s standouts. Carney is an already accomplished actor and vocalist, and Schaefer’s singing skills seem on the way to matching her own considerable acting talents. Both players are superb—Carney, however, is supercalifragilisticexpialidocious!

As for that raft of energetic kids, they are at their best when singing. Here’s why: There is just no way, it appears, to make children deliver their lines at an appropriately modest pace. They always talk too fast. I’ve known it to be true in hundreds of elementary, junior high, and high school productions, and even the biggest budget Broadway extravaganzas fall victim to the phenomenon occasionally. Luckily that accelerated delivery seldom knocks the youngsters out of character.

It would have been a shame if the gusto with which the “Oliver!” company performs had been diluted with thin music supplied by two or three instruments (or Heaven forbid, just a single piano), but no such malfeasance was permitted by the guiding lights behind this production. The vocalists in the show are accompanied by no fewer than fourteen musicians on strings, woodwinds, brass, and percussion instruments. Try to find that on Broadway for twenty bucks!

One last note: The title role of “Oliver!” was convincingly played last Saturday by Nikki Rampanelli. My grandmother Olivine would have been proud of her.

Award-winning Smithtown author Jeb Ladouceur has published seven novels. His theater reviews appear in dozens of L. I. newspapers. In Ladouceur’s next thriller, “The Dealer” due this summer, Israeli extortionists threaten to destroy Hoover Dam demolishing the Las Vegas Strip - if casino operators don’t pay millions.

Eating In America - It's Sweet, Salty And Done Outside The Home

American Nutrition - The Foreign Perspective

By Kia Edwards

I took the opportunity to ask a couple of dashing young gentlemen and lovely ladies about the state of American nutrition.  Why would I care about their opinion you ask?  Because they’re all foreign- representing the UK, Belarus and Taiwan.  To me, there’s nothing like hearing from people who are going through a good culture shock to learn about the habits we could improve.  From unnecessary practices to weird indulgences, these people gave me a lot to think about.  Here are my favorite responses.  

Question: When you got here, what was your biggest culture shock with regard to food?

Alesia (Belarus):  There is a lack of (leafy) vegetables in the diet here.  Corn is not a vegetable, a potato is not considered a vegetable.

Evana (Taiwan):  My friends here put whipped cream on peaches when they’re already sweet.

Theo (UK):  The food is similar to Britain, but the portion sizes were a big shock for me.  

Nick (UK):  The kitchens are quite a notable thing in a flat.  People do not cook for themselves, which is just bizarre.  People must eat takeaway most of the time.  My housemates looked at me like a right weirdo for making myself a meal. 

Overall, these answers seem as though we’re in a sort of vicious cycle.  We don’t cook  often, (according to MSN money, restaurants such as The Cheesecake Factory saw an increase in profit despite the sluggish economy) and when we eat out, our portions are large and disproportionately focus on starchy carbs and protein.  Combine this with unnecessary, but all too regular indulgences such as whipped cream on fruits, or more often than not, cake and/or ice cream and we can see the issue here.  

Tip:  Cooking can be a daunting task if you’re constantly comparing yourself to Martha Stewart or Barefoot Contessa.  There are quick meals that can be made if you prepare ahead of time, and by that, I mean grocery shopping.  A chicken can be baked in the same amount of time it takes to get dressed, travel, wait and finally sit at a restaurant.  This allows you to control the ingredients you can put in your food and ultimately in your body.  As far as dessert, who doesn’t love a little sweet treat?  Most of us do, myself included, but too many indulgences can have a negative effect on your health.  You can try slightly healthier choices such as angel food cake (instead of the 1500 calorie slice of cake in the restaurant), which is lower in calories since ingredients such as butter are minimal if not completely avoided.  A fruit with a bit of whipped cream or Nutella isn’t terrible, but anything done in excess is going to have some undesirable effects on your figure.

Organic Food:

On a whole, all participants agreed that organic food is far more expensive here.  Alesia stated that the food is bigger here (for example, our massive strawberries) but there is no taste.  This could be one of the reasons for overeating- less taste means less satisfaction and more eating.  It could also explain the mysterious habit of putting whipped cream on fruits!  However, the organic food that comes from local farms in the UK or Belarus tend to be quite affordable.  This is not the case in the USA where the price of organic food can run anywhere from 33-50% more than regular food.  What can you do to combat this?  Well, there are farmer’s markets during the summer, which are tasty, affordable and support a good cause.  During the rest of the year, you can stick to this list of “dirty dozen” foods to buy organic as often as possible due to high instances of pesticide residue:  Apples, Cherries, Grapes (imported Chili), Nectarines, Peaches, Pears, Raspberries, Strawberries, Bell peppers, Celery, Potatoes, Spinach

Other observations:

Nick: The same food brands contain more salt here than back home.  I made soup with 2 cubes of bouillon.  Same brand, same measurement and my soup came out horrifically salty.   

Evana:  Americans fry everything!  They fry Oreos and pickles! 

Theo (in response):  They taste incredible though.  

Theo: If you go to the stores here, there are lots of things that look like water, but aren’t water.  They have some hint of fruit or juice, and I’m thinking that’s not water.  Another one is a weird nutrition water and that’s not water either.  They hide the real water in the back.  

Overall, we have a ways to go before we, as a country, become as healthy as we should be.  We definitely have an excellent variety of foods, but the downside is that they are designed to sell, not promote our health.  A fried Oreo or pickle can be fun…if it’s done every few months.  We also need to be aware of the differences in food quality.  “American food tends to be saltier and greasier,” is a statement all participants agreed upon.  Most also agreed that the food “tastes great”.  If we try simple tricks such as eating out a bit less and being more aware of the ingredients in our products, we could go from being one of the largest countries, to “still the best”. 

American Nutrition: The Foreign Perspective

Kia Edwards is a certified personal trainer and nutrition specialist who lives in New York City. She studied French and Economics at Colgate University, spent 15 years as a high-level competitive gymnast and 6 years as a gymnastics coach.  Her business, La Fortesse At Home Fitness Training, helps clients get healthy with simple at home exercises and nutrition counseling. www.LaFortesse.com 

A Day of Love for Caleb Smith Preserve

By Carole Paquette

A Day of Love for Caleb Smith Preserve

 Hurricane Sandy destroyed approximately 300 trees at Caleb Smith State Park Preserve in Smithtown last fall. Vanessa, Barbara and Alex Tutaj of Smithtown prepare to plant a maple tree at the Preserve.On Saturday, May 4, more than sixty families and students worked to help restore sections of the park to its natural beauty during the state-sponsored I Love My Parks Day. Members of local families planted fifty new sugar maple trees, New York’s official state tree. Twenty-six Hauppauge High School seniors, and  approximately fifteen Boy Scouts from Troop #349 under the direction of Dave Ryder, spent the day mulching the park’s hiking trails. 

Other activities included planting flowers around the preserve’s flagpole. MembersA young gardener plants sunflower seeds. of the Friends of Caleb Smith Preserve organized a custom walking-stick workshop for adults, a family nature walk, and a table where children planted sunflower seeds in peat pots to take home.

This was the Second Annual I Love My Parks Day to be held at the Preserve. The program was initiated by Parks and Trails of New York ( HYPERLINK “http://www.ptny.org” www.ptny.org). “This group has done a lot to revitalize our state parks,” said Joanne D’Agostino, secretary of the Friends of Caleb Smith Preserve.

NRSP Foundation Recognizes The Work Of 2013 Quilt Square Participants

(Photo - L-R,) Karin Vanderveer, Rachel Berkoff, Jacqueline Brandel, Maya Smith and NRSPF Chairperson John McQuaid. 

The Nissequogue River State Park Foundation received more than 65 squares to include in the “2013 What Inspires Me Quilt.”  Every square submitted to the foundation for consideration was added to the quilt and will be on display at the administration building at the park. Congratulations to all the participants for their hard work and for their willingness to share their creativity. Ribbons were awarded to the participants who recieved the most votes. 1st - Rachael Berkoff - 2nd - Jacqueline Brandel- 3rd - Maya Smith.  Special Commendation recipients: Thomas Bruetsch, Santiago Depascale, Olivia Schulman, Phoebe Swartz, Margaret Pickford, Joel Vegerano. 

I Love My Park Day At Nissequogue River State Park

The Nissequogue River State Park Foundation (NRSPF) sponsored activities at the Nissequogue River State Park on Saturday, May 4th. The activities were organized as part of New York State’s “I Love My Park Day”.  In addition to NRSPF members, over seventy volunteers armed with gloves, trash bags and grab tools participated in the clean up of the park. 

According to John McQuaid, chairperson of the NRSPF,  volunteers were an eclectic group.  “We were joined by Scouts from Cub Scout Pack 379 and Boy Scout Troop 539 both from Kings Park. Also providing help, Hauppauge HS students, Kings Park HS students, Kings Park Youth and a group called Meet Up.” Some members of Meet Up traveled from Queens to volunteer in the clean up.

In addition to picking up bottles, cans, caps and other debris volunteers spruced up the park’s playground by adding a fresh layer of wood chips. 

The NRSPF worked with members of the NYS Parks Deptartment to make the clean up at the park successful. McQuaid said, “NYS Parks Department was extremely helpful by providing support as well as trash bags.” 

Other events included a hike and the awarding of certificates to three participants in the 2013 Quilt Square project. Children of all ages used their imagination to create a square with a theme “What Inspires Me.” The individual squares were then tied together to create two quilts which will remain on display througout May. Ribbons were awarded to three participants: 1st - Rachael Berkoff - 2nd - Jacqueline Brandel- 3rd - Maya Smith.  Special Commendation recipients: Thomas Bruetsch, Santiago Depascale, Olivia Schulman, Phoebe Swartz, Margaret Pickford, Joel Vegerano. The quilt project is the brainchild of NRSPF member Karin Vanderveer.

To learn more about the Nissequogue River State Park Foundation click here.