Extract from The Star (28th March 2004)

An ambitious endeavour to produce the musical Oliver! paid off well at the Alice Smith School as the four performances held last week sold out every night. The performances, which was based on Lionel-Bart's award-winning musical, involved 120 students, aged 11-18 from the school's Equine Park campus in Seri Kembangan, Selangor.

Scenes were brought to life with notable, lively performances by Melanie Lochhead as the lovable Oliver Twist, Charlie Tomlinson as Fagin and Niall Walsh as the charismatic Artful Dodger while, choreographed dances and famous pieces like Consider Yourself At Home and Pick A Pocket or Two were supported throughout by an 11-piece orchestra, featuring both students from the school and other Malaysian talents.

Behind the scenes, more students and staff from the school were involved in making the full range of Voctorian-style costumes and set designs; managing the stage, sound and lighting; and organising publicity.

Director and Producer, Alan Crombie, who is also head of the Modern Foreign Languages Faculty, explained that they chose to do Oliver! this year because it is a musical that is written for both adults and children, in terms of its characters and parts. "It is an opportunity for children to play children; we wanted an appealing show that would be right for both students and audience."

As for the challenges of directing such a large-scale play, Crombie said the comparative inexperience of the cast was the biggest hurdle. "Not a lot of them have had proper theatre training; we had to train the students not only in acting, choreography, singing and stagecarft, but also in aspects like teamwork and responsibility."

"They have done extremely well. The musical is in line with the school's objective that arts should be for all, and not exclusively for the talented ones, " added musical director and Head of Performing Arts, Francesca Buttle.

The Alice Smith School produces a musical every two years - there was Greece in 2000 and a Midsummer Night's Dream in 2002.

On March 29th, the Malaysian Philharmonic Orchestra will perform at Alice Smith School. The school will also be hosting the International Schools Theatre Association Festival in November.