Admittedly, Oliver! is one of those musicals that instantly takes me back to my formative years, as I fondly remember watching the 1968 film version at school and at home. It would have taken a total disaster for the Spotlight Theatre to leave me disappointed. Luckily for everyone, though, director Sara Tubbs’s production is a sensory delight: it looked and sounded terrific. Sure, the “unwashed” youth of this production went a little extreme with the makeup's dirt smudges. But if given the chance, who wouldn’t overly grime up, right?

A sparse set is on the Village Theatre stage for the New Athens Players' debut of Spotlight on Susan Glaspell, and this minimalistic choice is to be lauded, as letting the words and stories take the forefront was an excellent decision; there’s a lot of meat that doesn’t require extensive visual splendor to make a point.

When I first got to the Mockingbird on Main on Friday, I immediately noticed that the theatre itself smelled wonderful … and Christmas-y. My sentiment was shared by a fellow patron, whom I overheard sharing her comment to associate director and producer Douglas Kutzli. I also overheard Kutzli say that most of his job working on the production involved saying “No, Tristan, that’s not funny” to the show's director Tristan Tapscott. But here’s the thing: I wish Kutzli had said that so much more. Because while there was nothing about this A Christmas Carol that was bad, gosh darn it, despute valiant efforts, it just wasn’t all that funny.

On Saturday night, I had the great pleasure of introducing a friend to The Producers. Her only prior knowledge of the show was me incessantly singing “Springtime for Hitler” at her and my assurances that the musical was funny. And director and Spotlight Theatre co-owner owner Brent Tubbs and his talented cast of 29 held up their end of the bargain, offering a virtual – and visual – smorgasbord of humor.