PEACH WEEKENDER | THEATER

Ottawa Hills boy has title role in ‘‍Oliver!’ at Croswell

George Mancy, 12, of Ottawa Hills plays Oliver in the Croswell production of ‘‍Oliver!’

At the young age of 12, George Mancy is already pretty familiar with the spotlight.

As a member of the singing group the Forte Trio Boys, he sang the national anthem and God Bless America at the Detroit Tigers game at Comerica Park on Easter Sunday. The trio has also sung at Mud Hens and Walleye games.

And now, George has the title role in the musical Oliver! at the Croswell in Adrian, part of the theater’‍s Broadway season.

“It’‍s a lot of work at night, you stay up late practicing, but it pays off,” said George, who is the son of Nick and Monica Mancy of Ottawa Hills.

Being onstage is exciting, and Oliver is a fun role, he added.

The musical, based on the Charles Dickens classic Oliver Twist, tells the story of Oliver, an orphan who has to survive on the streets of London in the Victorian era. He joins a group of boys trained to be pickpockets by an adult mentor, Fagin.

The cast includes Robert Yoman as Fagin, Paul Mallory as the Artful Dodger, Deveny Rosebrock as Nancy, Bryan Dryer as Bill Sykes, and Steve Antalek as Mr. Brownlow.

Oliver! is directed by Betsy Lackey, with music direction by Wynne Marsh and choreography by Allison Steele.

Performances are at 8 p.m. Friday, 2:30 and 8 p.m. Saturday, and at 2:30 p.m. Sunday at the Croswell, 129 E. Maumee St., Adrian.

Tickets range from $15 to $35 for adults and are $15 for students age 15 and under, from 517-264-7469, croswell.org, or at the box office from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday-Friday.

1970s Shakespeare

The Sandusky State Theatre Repertory Company is giving Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night a fresh twist — these performances are set in the 1970s.

Director Grechen Lynne Wingerter chose to set the classic comedy, which includes practical jokes and mistaken identities, fights, and duels, in the 1970s because it is a “fun period where lots of crazy things happen,” she said in press materials.

The recently formed Repertory Theatre Company, which operates in collaboration with the Bowling Green State University Firelands College theater department and Terra State Community College’s music and production departments, is a year-round program that offers musicals and plays.

Shows this year will include the Broadway hit Legally Blonde Aug. 1-2 and for the holidays, the musical White Christmas.

Performances of Twelfth Night will be at 8 p.m. Friday and Saturday and at 2 p.m. Sunday in the theater, 107 Columbus Ave. in Sandusky. Tickets, from $14-$24, and $10 for students, can be purchased from sanduskystate.com, 419-626-1950 or 1-877-626-1950, or at the box office from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday-Friday.

Tickets for a preshow dinner and the show are $34 to $44.

At the Stranahan

Fifth Harmony, a group of five young women who got together through performing on TV’s The X Factor, a musical competition that had been developed by Simon Cowell, will perform at 7:30 p.m. June 26 at the Stranahan Theater, 4645 Heatherdowns Blvd. Jackson Harris opens the show.

Tickets, $25.50 in advance, $30.50 the day of the show, are available from stranahantheater.org or 419-381-8851.

Send theater items two weeks in advance to Sue Brickey at sbrickey@theblade.com.