About the Production

“This production was stunning! The set, the lighting, the costumes, and the acting!! This was the most beautiful show I have seen in a long time. Incredible!”

— Audience Member Review on Social Media

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At 10 years old, I did my first MainStage show with the Chippewa Valley Theatre Guild. It was the 2001 production of Oliver! That production changed my life in so many ways. The most important being the opportunity to work with that production’s director - Paul Calenberg. For that production, Paul served not only as the director / choreographer, he was also the set designer. As a director who designs the majority of the shows I do, I know I learned that idea from Paul. His set design was the coolest thing I had ever seen. I LOVED that set. I grew up with this vivid image in my head of that set and I held every production I worked on to that standard. Oliver! in 2001 was the benchmark for me I measured every show to. So, when the opportunity came up to direct the 2024 production, I knew it was a show that I needed to lead - no matter how much the idea terrified me.

The bar was set so high for this production. Not only did I have the image of that beloved production in my head from when I was a kid, but it was also the first time that the production would be done in our new thrust theatre space - the JAMF. Putting the show in that type of space put the show and its characters within arms reach. I knew that for this production to work, the world had to be real. I couldn’t hide behind the “cute” that often plagues productions of the show. The show had to feel like the audience stepped into dark, gritty, coal dust covered, scary world that was 1830’s Victorian London. That world is always a challenging one to bring to life and the attention to detail that I normally put into shows was going to have to be dialed up to a 12. That focus paid off and with the help of the incredible team that I had working on the costumes we created a world the likes of which we had not seen in the Chippewa Valley in a very long time. I am so very grateful for their hard work in making this show come to life. I am so proud of the cast and their willingness to tell this story in the way we needed to explore it with the audience being so close to the action. By taking Oliver! out of the proscenium box we had to work even harder to make everything feel real. This included the darker moments of the show - the violence, the manipulation, the abuse - it all had to be more nuanced and real. The cast took that challenge and worked so hard to make every moment as real as possible and introduced a level of vulnerability that is rare in community theatre. I am so proud of their work on this production and just like that 2001 production, this is one I will never ever forget.