Breaking Free

We speak to the expert from last week's Oliver Mission.

Last week we saw the Olivers getting to grips with a dance routine from High School Musical, complete with basketballs! We caught up with the show's choreographer, Tara Wilkinson, to see how they got on.

Can you tell us about what you do?

I'm a choreographer and director and work mainly with musical theatre productions. At the moment I'm working on the High School Musical on Stage tour.

Can you tell us about the work you did with the Olivers?

I got the boys to learn a routine from the show that involved handling basketballs.

Why are these skills important for a West End actor?

The use of movement with props is widely used in the west end and even non trained dancers need to be able to entertain with these skills to an extent.

How did they get on?

I felt the boys did very well. It took a mixture of skill, timing and concentration to do this well and some of the boys were particularly good and only a few seemed to struggle. More importantly they seemed to really enjoy the task.

Did any of the Olivers stand out?

My personal choice would be Harry for his musicality and professionalism for this project.

What do you think makes a good Oliver?

For me it would be the boy who could display the most naivety and innocence to stand out from Dodger and the rest of the urchins.

What do you think makes a good Nancy?

Everything the panel has mentioned goes with my opinion, strength, charm, wit, as much of a lady as she could be with her lack of education, cockney but not common and maternal. I'd say Rachel shows these signs best for me and has an amazing voice too.

You can find out more about High School Musical on Stage on the website.