Pegasus Post: February 03, 2022

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6 Thursday February 3 2022 Mother-son duo takes on Bugsy Malone Teenager Oliver Bol is making a name for himself in theatre, but he is aiming for the bright lights of Hollywood. Emily Moorhouse reports OLIVER WAS introduced to performance at the age of three, and started off playing small parts and extras in children’s plays. Since then, he has performed in a variety of roles. Now, at 18, he recently took on the lead role of Bugsy in Elmwood Players sold-out musical Bugsy Malone – with the help of his mother Franc Bol, who directed the show. Oliver’s first real memory of being on stage was at seven, playing an extra in Rumpelstiltskin and quickly falling in love with the rush of performing. Having a mum that worked for Imagine Youth Theatre saw Oliver’s interest in theatre and performance grow. He was always auditioning for school plays and enrolling in drama classes. Last year he landed a spot in the Court Theatre Youth Company, something he described as an incredible and very fulfilling experience. “There’s something about the rush at the end [of a show] when the whole audience is clapping and cheering and it just feels good,” he said. “Like you’ve just entertained all of these people and you’ve made so many people smile or cry depending on what show you’re in, I guess.” Oliver, of Southshore, had landed big roles before, such as Mickey from Blood Brothers, but admitted he was “kind of in shock” upon finding out he would play the lead role Bugsy Malone. “At first I didn’t fully believe it and then it properly hit me and I was like, oh wait, the show is called Bugsy Malone and that’s me,” he said. “It’s about me, that’s cool.” Although the role of Bugsy has been stressful and has meant Oliver hasn’t had a big holiday break, he said he wouldn’t have had it any other way. “There’s something I weirdly enjoy about the stress of needing to know all your lines and needing to be in the right spot for going on stage and getting into costume fast and all that,” he said. “There’s just something about the rush and the energy.” Oliver said working alongside his mum Franc, who directed the show, has been easy as she understands the struggles and stresses show biz can present. “I think because she’s in the same boat career-wise as me I guess she just understands it better,” he said. “I’ve always found it easy to work with her.” As for the cast, Oliver said he thinks they’ve done an amazing job and the acting, signing and dancing was “really good.” “I’ve made friends who I love to bits,” he said. “They’re all great people.” Franc said while directing the show has been a lot of fun and rewarding, the planning did present some challenges early on. Being set in the 1920s, she described the show as having some “outdated” aspects and was particularly wary of the public shootings, in spite of being with marshmallow guns. “Even if it’s with cream pies and marshmallow guns it still felt kind of wrong,” she said. After some thinking, Franc tweaked the script and designed the show to be kids playing the game of Bugsy Malone so when characters got shot they were ‘out’ rather than being killed. “It still goes into the 1920s gangster but it’s now got this underlying story of kids playing a game, which has lent us to having so much fun with it.” Franc was pleased to see how involved the kids’ parents got with the show, from helping design the set to participating in weekend workshops leading up to opening night. “The support of everyone involved just makes it so achievable,” she said. “Because the community got on board I don’t think it was as stressful as it could’ve been.” While Franc said she was proud of Oliver for getting the lead role, she admitted it was “slightly awkward” in the auditions process. She was thankful that the casting panel had other directors and managers, and said she even left the room during the discussion about casting Oliver as Bugsy. “I’m so very proud as both a ACTOR: Oliver Bol has been involved in theatre since he was three-years-old. mum and a director,” she said. “It’s a joy to work with him, he’s very invested in the show and has been a great help in many other respects as well.” The show faced a rocky start with Covid and lockdowns postponing opening night from October to January, resulting in losing some cast members along the way. “It’s the kind of show that you can’t really rehearse through Skype,” she said. “That was pretty nerve-racking.” However, Franc was relieved to be able to go ahead with the show under the red traffic light system. LEAD ROLE: Oliver Bol played Bugsy Malone in the soldout show of the same name, put on by Elmwood Players. He said it took a while to sink in that the show was about his character. Aashma Goldfarb (above right) played Tallulah. In the end, all the stress and hard work paid off when Franc watched the kids take their place on stage, describing the show as seeing pieces of the puzzle come together. “The look at the reaction of their audience just made it all worthwhile,” she said. “Hearing them laugh and clap and cheer and even cry . . . Seeing all of that come together was an absolute highlight.” Franc said while she loved hearing audience feedback, her favourite was from dads who had been “dragged along” to watch a kids show. “They’ve come up afterwards going ‘oh I was expecting a kids show, I didn’t realise it was going to so be professional and so much fun to watch’. In some ways it’s better feedback than official reviews,” Franc said. While the cast was made up entirely of children and young people, Franc was impressed with how well each member handled rehearsals and the energy they brought to the stage, even when performing twice a day. “They were exhausted behind the scenes but the moment they were on stage [they] 100 per cent gave it their all,” she said. “I take my hat off to them, they were more than professional.” The sold-out show had its last performance over the weekend, leaving the cast with time to relax after months of hard work. Looking ahead, Oliver plans to continue to pursuing performance and even talked about wanting to act in films, but said THAT’S A WRAP: Oliver’s mum, director Franc Bol, said she had a lot of fun working with the young cast. it was important to stay true to yourself. “Even though acting is usually about trying to be someone else if you’re trying to audition, or meeting people if you’re in some sort of new course or class, I think it’s better to be yourself,” he said. “There will always be someone who has done less or someone who has done more than you, and there will always be someone out there who will absolutely love you and the way that you work and the way that you talk and speak and move, or they’ll see a way to help you grow your abilities more.”
Thursday February 3 2022 7 ‘We’re the keeper of the history in the area’ • From page 1 A few years ago the group inherited $40,000 from Kay Jackson’s Pegasus Trust, who before she died was involved with the museum and was passionate about preserving it. Last year the group started asking for community donations and raised $50,000. Now they plan to go to the Lotto Environment and Heritage Fund to get the final $85,000 to purchase the building. “The local community has been very generous but we feel we probably have rung enough out of them,” Butterfield said. “So that’s why we’re going to go to a proper funding outfit.” Butterfield said she was “semi confident” they could get the rest of the money but was also wary BEGINNINGS: The group that started the New Brighton Museum 20 years ago. (Back row, from left) – Don that fundraising could have its Rowlands, Peter Dunbar, Pat Goosey, Margaret Coghill, difficulties. Penny Beardsley, Diana Cameron, Jim Inglis and Lynne Butterfield said they have hired Hillier. (Front row) – Pat Jeffrey, Beryl Witherspoon, Carole a professional fundraiser to help Evans, Ron Beardsley, John and Frances Judge. them with the process, which involves applications, papers with “Everything seems to be pretty history of New Brighton through supporting information, and good,” she said – except for a few displays. waiting for around two-to-three dead cats found. Butterfield said while visitor months before hearing back. Once the group raises the numbers have dwindled, they still The museum volunteers would money required to purchase have people coming in to do their like to start improvements on the the building they will start genealogy and research, as well as building once bought and have fundraising again to improve the checking old school photos. already invested $12,000 into having an engineer do an inspection Planned improvements include New Brighton, we got all their space. “When the schools closed in to see what repairs needed to be repainting the roof and altering records and cups and trophies made. the design inside to make more and photos,” she said. They 263 even sent what Butterfield space for displays. x 180 “We’re the keeper of the history described as a funny machine Twenty-five people volunteer at in the area. That’s why we need to called a critter to go underneath the museum, with different roles buy it and be sure of our future the building, looking for any from historians to archivists, all that we’re secure.” damage that needs fixing. of whom work to preserve the The museum usually sees 2500 visitors a year, with regulars coming on Monday afternoons for their weekly screening of ‘golden oldies’ films, attracting 25-40 people. “They’re regulars and we know most of their names,” Butterfield said. “It’s like a movie club really.” Butterfield said the museum sees a lot of groups from local rest homes who are surprised by the different things they remember just by looking through the displays. “We do bring back an awful lot of memories for people,” she said. There’s no cost to visit the museum, although a $2 donation is encouraged and in turn visitors are welcomed in with a cuppa and a biscuit. The museum was started by a group of locals in 2002 in a room above the old Woolworths, which is now a Subway, before moving into the current building in 2005 HISTORIC: The museum is New Brighton’s oldest building and was formerly the St Enoch’s Presbyterian Church. PHOTO: GEOFF SLOAN (formerly the St Enoch’s Presbyterian Church). One of the founders, Margaret Coghill, is still involved with the museum today as their patron and will be celebrating her 100th birthday in May. Butterfield said New Brighton is a “very special” place, unlike any other suburb. While the future of the building isn’t certain, the volunteers are hopeful it will be preserved. “It’s been through a lot,” Butterfield said. “We want to keep it because it’s the oldest building in New Brighton. We’re well on the way to the $175,000.” •If you would like to donate to the purchase of the museum go to the Give A Little page at https:// givealittle.co.nz/cause/ purchase-of-museumbuilding-at-8-hardy-street Need To Get Fit Fast? Tone Up or Body Build, Get A Total Body Workout One Machine... That Does it All Easy Storage Easily Folds Away Effective Workout Fun, low impact workouts. For All Ages Personalised Settings For Beginners and Advanced Includes Pilates Kit & DVDs Up to 50 % Off Off * *Call for Terms & Conditions Call Now! 0800 665 665
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Pegasus Post: February 03, 2022

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