Locals on stage in Pittsfield

Members of the Oliver cast rehearse for their weekend of performances at the Colonial Theatre in Pittsfield.

PITTSFIELD – This weekend, 219 performers of all ages from The Berkshires will hit the stage at The Colonial Theatre.

The performers make up the cast of writer Lionel Bart’s acclaimed musical Oliver!, which is based on the Charles Dickens classic Oliver Twist.

More than 35 schools, from Undermountain Elementary to Berkshire Community College, are represented by student performers in the production.

Oliver is Berkshire Theatre Group’s 7th annual Children’s Theatre Company production. The auditions for Oliver were in April, and called for both children and adult performers.

Olivia Marchione stars as Oliver alongside Toby Keenan as the Artful Dodger, Ralph Petillo as Fagin, David Fisher as Mr. Brownlow, Rebecca Leigh as Nancy, Chris Vecchia as Bill Sikes and Tom Towne as Mr. Bumble.

Mr. Petillo, who is also the executive director of the Lenox Chamber of Commerce, is in his fifth year of participating in the children’s theatre production.

“I’m very happy to be a part of it,” he said. “The show is Broadway-caliber.”

The goal of BTG’s community production is to bring together children and adults who learn from each other in a collaborative, creative environment.

“I believe in it to further the education of our youth,” Mr. Petillo said.

“I think it gives kids an opportunity to showcase and find their voices,” added Travis G. Daly, who’s directing BTG’s production of Oliver.

Mr. Daly has been involved with BTG’s children’s productions since their inception, but this is his first time directing on his own.

“It’s a ton of preparation, but I enjoy that part of it,” he said.

The cast and crew have been rehearsing since late July at United Church of Christ in Pittsfield, and Mr. Daly said scheduling the practices has been the most difficult part of the process.

“We’ve been real careful about scheduling, especially when we hit the big choreographed numbers,” he said. “Having everyone at rehearsals when it calls for 50-60 people in a scene can be challenging, but we’ve made it work.”

Despite any scheduling issues, Mr. Daly has enjoyed working with the kids.

“It’s good to get kids excited about theater and tell a story as a group,” he said.

The performances run Friday and Saturday at 7:30 p.m. and Saturday and Sunday at 2 p.m. at the Colonial.

Tickets to Oliver are $25 for adults and $10 for children 16 and under. They can be purchased at the ticket office, by calling (413) 298-5576 or online at berkshiretheatregroup.org.

Ticket proceeds benefit “BTG PLAYS!,” the theatre group’s year-round education program.

Posted by Catherine M. Krummey on September 6, 2012. Filed under Arts and Entertainment,Community News,News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry