Oliver!
Oliver! is a stage musical, with book, music and lyrics by Lionel Bart. The musical is based upon the 1838 novel Oliver Twist by Charles Dickens.
This article is about the musical. For the 1968 film adaptation, see Oliver! (film).Oliver!
Lionel Bart
Lionel Bart
- 1960 West End
- 1962 Broadway
- 1968 Film Adaptation
- 1977 West End revival
- 1984 Broadway revival
- 1994 West End revival
- 2002 Australian tour
- 2003 Tallinn
- 2009 West End revival
- 2009 Chorzów
- 2011 UK Tour
- 2016 Arena Stage Washington, DC
- 2022 Blyth Hall, Newport-on-Tay, Scotland
- 2023 Encores!
- 2023 Leeds Playhouse
- 2024 Chichester Festival Theatre (Revised Production by Cameron Mackintosh and Matthew Bourne)
It premiered at the Wimbledon Theatre, southwest London in 1960 before opening in the West End, where it enjoyed a record-breaking long run. Oliver! ran on Broadway, after being brought to the U.S. by producer David Merrick in 1963. Major London revivals played from 1977 to 1980, 1994 to 1998, 2008 to 2011 and on tour in the UK from 2011 to 2013. Additionally, its 1968 film adaptation, directed by Carol Reed, won six Academy Awards including Best Picture.
Oliver! received thousands of performances in British schools, becoming one of the most popular school musicals.[1] In 1963 Lionel Bart received the Tony Award for Best Original Score. Many songs are well known to the public, such as "Food, Glorious Food", "Consider Yourself" and "I'd Do Anything".[2]
Background[edit]
Oliver! was the first musical adaptation of a famous Charles Dickens work to become a stage hit. There had been two previous Dickens musicals in the 1950s, both of them television adaptations of A Christmas Carol. The plot of Dickens's original novel is considerably simplified for the purposes of the musical, with Fagin being represented more as a comic character than as a villain, and large portions of the latter part of the story being completely left out. Although Dickens's novel has been called antisemitic in its portrayal of the Jewish Fagin as evil, the production by Bart (himself Jewish) was more sympathetic and featured many Jewish actors in leading roles: Ron Moody (Ronald Moodnick), Georgia Brown (Lilian Klot), and Martin Horsey.[3]
Synopsis[edit]
Act I[edit]
The musical opens in the workhouse, as the half-starved orphan boys are entering the enormous dining hall for supper. They are fed only gruel, but find some solace by imagining a richer menu ("Food Glorious Food"). Oliver gathers up the courage to ask for more, and is immediately apprehended by parish beadle Mr. Bumble and the Widow Corney, the heartless and greedy caretakers of the workhouse ("Oliver!"). Mr. Bumble and Widow Corney are left alone, and Mr. Bumble begins to make amorous advances ("I Shall Scream!"). Mrs. Corney pretends to resent his attentions, but ends up on Mr. Bumble's lap, as he eventually proposes to her. Mr. Bumble then takes Oliver and sells him as an apprentice to an undertaker, Mr. Sowerberry ("Boy for Sale"). Mr. Sowerberry and his wife taunt Oliver and Mr. Bumble ("That's Your Funeral"), causing Mr. Bumble to become angry and storm out. Oliver is sent to sleep in the basement with the coffins ("Where Is Love?").
The next morning, Noah Claypole, another employee of Mr. Sowerberry, insults Oliver's dead mother, whereupon Oliver begins pummeling him. Mrs. Sowerberry and her daughter, Charlotte, who is also Noah's girlfriend, run in. The three lock Oliver inside a coffin, and Mr. Bumble is sent for. The entrance of an intoxicated Mr. Sowerberry doesn't aid matters, and during all the commotion Oliver escapes. After a week on the run, he ends up in the city of London and meets a boy about 16 years old known as the Artful Dodger. Dodger seems a kindly boy, and welcomes Oliver to join him and his friends ("Consider Yourself"). Dodger is, unknown to Oliver, a pickpocket, and invites Oliver to come and live in Fagin's lair. Fagin is a veteran criminal "fence" who sends out young boys as pickpockets. Oliver is completely unaware of any criminality and believes that the boys make handkerchiefs rather than steal them. Oliver is introduced to Fagin and his boys and taught their ways ("You've Got to Pick a Pocket or Two").
The next day, Oliver meets Nancy, an older member of Fagin's gang and the girlfriend of Fagin's terrifying associate Bill Sikes, a brutal house-burglar whose abuse she endures because she loves him. Nancy, along with her good friend Bet and the boys sing about how they mostly like their unconventional if dangerous lifestyle ("It's a Fine Life"). Oliver bows deeply to Nancy and Bet, trying to be polite. All the boys laugh and mimic Oliver. Nancy singles out Dodger to demonstrate the way the rich people treat each other ("I'd Do Anything"). Nancy and Bet leave, and Oliver is sent out with the other boys on his first pickpocketing job ("Be Back Soon"). Fagin tells Oliver to go with Dodger and another boy named Charley Bates, but when Dodger and Charley steal a handkerchief from Mr. Brownlow, a wealthy old man, they run off, leaving the horrified Oliver to be arrested for the crime ("The Robbery").
Productions[edit]
Original London production[edit]
Oliver! premiered at the Wimbledon Theatre for a preliminary engagement before opening at the New Theatre (now the Noël Coward Theatre) on 30 June 1960 and ran for 2,618 performances, a record for a musical in London at the time.[4][5] Directed by Peter Coe, the choreographer was Malcolm Clare and costumes and scenery were by Sean Kenny. The original cast featured Ron Moody as Fagin, Georgia Brown as Nancy, and Barry Humphries in the supporting role of Mr. Sowerberry, the undertaker. Keith Hamshere (the original Oliver) is now a Hollywood still photographer; Martin Horsey (the original Artful Dodger) worked as an actor/director and authored the play L'Chaim. Other boys who alternated in the juvenile leads included Phil Collins, Leonard Whiting and Davy Jones as the Artful Dodger. The cast also included Tony Robinson as one of the Workhouse boys/Fagin's Gang, and John Bluthal as Fagin. Former professional boxer Danny Sewell was the original Bill Sikes and remained in the role (including the original Broadway and US touring productions) for almost six years. Steve Marriott played workhouse boys including The Artful Dodger, and he is featured on the original soundtrack LP. Michael Cashman played the role of Oliver during his time in the production.
Sid James turned down the part of Fagin as the timing of the production coincided with his own attempts to move away from the shady and roguish roles for which he was well known.[6]
Recordings[edit]
The score of Oliver! has been recorded numerous times. There are cast recordings (on compact disc) available for the original London and Broadway productions as well as for the 1968 film and the 1994 and 2009 London revivals. The 2009 London cast album was recorded live on opening night.
There are several studio cast recordings of the show. including with Stanley Holloway as Fagin and Alma Cogan as Nancy (Capitol Records ST 1784, 1962), with Jon Pertwee of Doctor Who fame as Fagin and Jim Dale as The Artful Dodger (Music for Pleasure MFP 1073, 1966), with Ian Carmichael as Fagin and Joyce Blair as Nancy (World Record Club S-7036, 1963) and with Josephine Barstow as Nancy, Sheila Hancock as Mrs. Corney and Julian Forsyth as Fagin (That's Entertainment Records/TER MUS C NO3, 1994; a new version was released in 2009 with Sally Ann Triplett replacing Barstow).
Sequel[edit]
Dodger!, a sequel to Lionel Bart's Oliver! was composed by Andrew Fletcher with the book and lyrics written by David Lambert. It is set seven years after the events in the novel Oliver Twist by Charles Dickens where the Artful Dodger has been sentenced to an Australian penal colony and has a romantic involvement with the character Bet.[34]
Ownership[edit]
When Lionel Bart faced severe financial difficulties several years later, he sold his past and future rights to Oliver! to the entertainer Max Bygraves for £350. Bygraves later sold them on for £250,000.[35]