There are two aspects about "Oliver!" that stand out brighter than the yellow tulips outside - the production's unbelievable younger actors and the enormous, magical set.

The children, who obviously steal the spotlight, match par with the adults in the company.

The title character, Oliver, is played by Justin Pereira - a blond-haired, round-eyed, beautiful boy who seems perfect for the role.

Oliver is an orphan who has been forced to stay in a workhouse and plead for, "food, glorious food." But when he asks for seconds, he is banished from the sweatshop to a casket-making store. Eventually, he runs from the dreaded place and is brought in by a gang of thieving little boys who are lead by Fagin, a flamboyant, witty old man played by Mark McCracken.

Fagin teaches the boys to steal for him and in turn, they get a place to stay for free with all the food and, gin they want.

But when Oliver ends up in the hands of a rich man who wants to keep him in his company, he has to choose between the grueling, dishonest life of Fagin or the warm, homey feel of the man's mansion.

Throughout all of this intense moving, the set and choreography change just as smoothly as the actors sway across the stage.

At certain moments we see Fagin's colorful, hanky-littered, multi-platformed pad and then, at other times, Oliver is in the midst of a full-blown circus out in the center of a town square.

There are rarely less than 20 actors on stage - most of them being kids about 10 years old - and sometimes this cluster of voices clogs the singing with mumbles.

But, the children are cute.

Renata Wilson brings a large, gorgeous voice to her character Nancy, who is the motherly figure for the boys and Fagin's grown-up protégé. She also is evil Bill Sikes' girlfriend.

Sikes, played perfectly by Shane Tanner, is the greedy villain who will stop at no degree to get what he wants, when he wants it.

But it's Pereira, who plays Oliver, that the crowd loved.

Although his voice seemed to totter back and forth from moderate to surprising at the beginning of the show, by the end, Pereira loosened up and showed the range of his vocals, which to everyone's surprise, were far and wide.

This production of "Oliver!" brings out both the misery Charles Dickens wrote about and the themes he penned so passionately - poverty, child labor, love and abuse - with grace, beauty and excellent music. Check it out before it leaves town.

For more information on the musical, check out the Web site whartoncenter.com.