Oliver!
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- This article is about the musical. For the 1968 film, see Oliver! (film).
Oliver! is a British musical, with music and lyrics by Lionel Bart. It was made into a film directed by Carol Reed.
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[edit] The musical
It first appeared in the West End in 1960, and enjoyed a long run that launched the careers of several child actors, including Davy Jones, later of The Monkees, Phil Collins, later of Genesis, and Tony Robinson, later playing the role of Baldrick in the television series Black Adder. The rock star Steve Marriott (The Small Faces) also featured in early line-ups, eventually graduating to the role of Dodger in the West End. The musical is based upon Oliver Twist by Charles Dickens. That it was the first such adaptation of a Dickens novel was one of the reasons why it attracted such attention. Another was the revolving stage set, an innovation designed by Sean Kenny. Sean Kenny described how he designed the set for the original stage production in an article ( "Designing Oliver" ) published in "The Strand Archive", 18, ii, 7, September 1960, pp 6 - 12 (http://www.strandarchive.co.uk/tabs/a_to_z.htm ): the article contains rare photographs of the set taken from Stalls right & Dress Circle/ left positions. The edition also contains interesting articles by the lighting engineer, John Wyckham ( pp 12 - 16 ), and by an audience member, K.R. Ackerman ( pp 17 - 18 ). Copies may be obtainable from The Theatre Museum, Covent Garden, London, WC2E 7PR ( http://www.theatremuseum.org.uk ).
The original London production of Oliver! opened in the New Theatre on June 30 1960. Among the original cast were Ron Moody as Fagin, Georgia Brown as Nancy, and Barry Humphries in a small role as a humorous undertaker. Keith Hamshere (the original Oliver) is now a Hollywood still photographer (Star Wars etc); Martin Horsey (the original Dodger) works as an actor/ director and is the author of the play "L'Chaim".
In view of criticisms from some quarters about racial/ ethnic stereotyping, it is interesting to note that as well as being authored/ composed by a Jew, the first stage production of "Oliver!" featured many Jewish actors in leading roles: Ron Moody (Ronald Moodnik), Georgia Brown (Lilian Klot), & Martin Horsey.
The musical first appeared in the U.S. in a 1962 national tour. The first Broadway production opened in the Imperial Theatre on January 6 1963.
The story of the book 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.
[edit] Songs
- Food Glorious Food
- Oliver!
- I Shall Scream
- Boy for Sale
- That's Your Funeral
- Where is Love?
- Consider Yourself
- You've Got to Pick a Pocket or Two
- It's a Fine Life
- I'd do Anything
- Be Back Soon
- Oom-Pah-Pah
- My Name
- As Long As He Needs Me
- Where is love? (reprise)
- Who Will Buy?
- Its a Fine Life (reprise)
- Reviewing the Situation
- Oliver! (reprise)
- As Long As He Needs Me (reprise)
- Reviewing the Situatuion (reprise)
- Finale
[edit] Plot
The musical opens in the workhouse, as the half-starved orphan boys are entering the enormous lunchroom for dinner.Food Glorious Food.They are fed only gruel. Nine year old Oliver Twist gathers up the courage to ask for more. He is immediately apprehended and is told to gather his belongings by Mr Bumble and the Widow Corney, the heartless and greedy caretakers of the workhouse.Oliver!. Mr Bumble and Widow Corney start flirting during conversation. Mr Bumble goes too far in I Shall Scream! At the end Widow Corney ends up on Mr Bumble's knee kissing him. Oliver comes back and is promptly sold Boy for Sale and apprenticed to an undertaker, Mr. Sowerberry. Him and his wife taunt Oliver with the song Thats your funeral. He is sent to sleep in the basement with the coffins.Where is love?. The next morning bully Noah Claypole, who oversees Oliver's work, badmouths Oliver's dead mother, whereupon Oliver begins pummeling him. Mr. Bumble is sent for, and he and the Sowerberrys lock Oliver in a coffin, but during all the commotion Oliver escapes and runs away to London. On his first day there, he meets the Artful Dodger, a boy wearing an oversize coat and a top hat.He and the company then welcome him with Consider Yourself. Dodger is, unknown to Oliver, a boy pickpocket, and he invites Oliver to come and live in Fagin's lair. Fagin is a criminal, and he is in the business of teaching young boys to pick pockets. Oliver, however, is completely unaware of any criminality, and believes that the boys make handkerchiefs rather than steal them. Oliver is introduced to Fagin and all the other pickpocket boys and is taught their ways in You've got to Pick a Pocket or Two.The next day, Oliver meets Nancy, the live-in girlfriend of the evil, terrifying Bill Sikes, a burglar whose abuse she endures because she loves him. Nancy and Oliver take an instant liking to each other, and Nancy shows motherly affection toward him. Bet, Nancy's younger sister is also with her. Nancy, along with Bet and the boys, sing about how they dont mind a bit of danger in It's a fine life. Dodger, jealous of Oliver getting all of Nancy's atention, starts off I'd Do Anything along with Fagin, Oliver, Nancy, Bet, and the boys mocking high society. Nancy and Bet leave and Oliver is sent out with the other boys on his firt pick-pocket job and leaves with Fagins message Be Back Soon. Dodger and Oliver decide to stick together and when Dodger pickes a wealthy mans pocket, Mr. Brownlow, he immedietly runs off with Oliver left to be blamed for looking guilty. Brownlow thinks that Oliver is the thief, but Oliver is cleared in court. To make up for his error, the wealthy Brownlow takes Oliver to live with him, noticing something vaguely familiar about him.
In the evening the bar is full of people having a good time and Nancy is called upon to sing the old tavern song Oom Pah Pah Bill Sikes enters My Name,ruins everyones fun, and gets the crowd to leave. Dodger runs in and tells Fagin about Oliver getting taken away. Fagin and Bill decide that they have to kidnap Oliver to keep them from revealing their whereabouts and secrets. Nancy is asked to participate, but feeling sorry for the boy and wishing him to have a better life if he has the chance - refuses, until Bill slaps her around. Reluctantly, she helps in kidnapping him, but saves him from a beating by Sikes. She tries to convince herself that he really loves her and expresses her feeling for him in As long as he needs me Meanwhile the next morning. an Mr. Brownlow's house Ms. Bedwin, the household attendent sings Oliver a lullaby Where is love? (reprise)and as he wakes up they take notice to the street vendors outside in Who Will Buy?Mr. Brownlow and Dr. Grimwig converse on Oliver's condition. They come to a conclusion that he is fine and that he can go bring back some books to the store for Mr. Brownlow. The Vendors continue to sing Who Will Buy and at the vey end Nancy and Bet show up and grab Oliver. They bring him back to Fagin and the reveiw what their "Fine Life" has come to in Its A Fine Life (reprise). When everyone is gone Fagin ponders hs future in Reviewing the SituationMeanwhile, Mr. Bumble and the Widow Corney, now unhappily married, meet up with dying Old Sally and another old lady who tell them of how Oliver's mother came to the workhouse to have her baby and gave her a gold locket, infering she came from a rich family, for her baby. She died of birth. Mr Bumble and Widow Corney finding out Oiver was from a rich family want to get him back Oliver! (reprise) They meet up with Mr. Brownlow and give hm the locket but Brownlow throws them out, knowing that they have suppressed evidence until they could get a reward for it. They confirm that Oliver is Mr. Brownlows grandson by looking at the picture inside the locket, a picture of Mr. Brownlows daughter.Brownlow's unmarried daughter disappeared after having been left pregnant by her lover, who jilted her. Nancy, terrified for Oliver and feeling guilty, visits Brownlow and promises to deliver Oliver to him safely that night at midnight on London Bridge - if Brownlow does not bring the police or ask any questions. She then ponders again about Bill in As Long As He Needs Me (reprise).Bill suspects that Nancy is up to something. That night, he follows her as she sneaks Oliver out. At London Bridge, he grabs Oliver, pushes him aside, grabs Nancy, holds a gun to her cheast while starangling her and shoots her. She dies. Mr. Brownlow arrieves and yells out 'murder' Bill and Oliver run up to the bridge and hide, vaugly being seen by Brownlow. A crowd soon forms. Saying brief details about Bill immeadietly the crowd know its him. Bill is spotted and shot and is dead. Oliver runs down and is greeted by brownlow and Ms. Bedwin. They go off with the line. "Lets go home oliver" Fagin emerges from under the bridge Reviewing the Situatuin (reprise)Dodger Shows up, he and Dodger link arm and walk off.During cuirtain call the Finale is sung which is a medley includind Food Glorious Food, Consider Yourself, and Id Do Anything.
[edit] The film
Main article: Oliver! (film)
In 1968, the musical was made into a film, using a mixture of young unknowns and 'big names': Ron Moody (Fagin), Oliver Reed (Bill Sikes), Harry Secombe (Mr Bumble), Mark Lester (Oliver), Jack Wild (The Artful Dodger), Shani Wallis (Nancy) and Joseph O'Conor as Mr Brownlow. There was a minor outcry when Shani Wallis was given the role of Nancy in preference to Georgia Brown.
The motion picture was universally acclaimed[citation needed] as being one of the few film versions of a stage musical that was superior to the original show. Despite the fact that there were many happy singing and dancing sequences, the gloomy flavor of Dickens' "Oliver Twist" was maintained by making the second half of the film intensely dramatic, with fewer songs in the second half than in the first. The film featured elaborate choreography by Onna White, which was not one of the features of the original show.
It won Academy Awards for Best Art Direction-Set Decoration, Best Director, Best Music, Score of a Musical Picture (Original or Adaptation), Best Picture and Best Sound. It was nominated for Best Actor in a Leading Role (Ron Moody), Best Actor in a Supporting Role (Jack Wild), Best Cinematography, Best Costume Design, Best Film Editing and Best Writing, Screenplay Based on Material from Another Medium.
[edit] 1994 revival
In 1994, Oliver! was revived for the London stage with some additional music and lyrics by Lionel Bart. It was directed by Sam Mendes, and featured Jonathan Pryce as Fagin, Sally Dexter as Nancy, James Villiers (Mr Brownlow) and Miles Anderson as Bill Sikes. Later on in the run of this production future pop stars Jon Lee (who would later rise to fame as a member of the successful pop group, "S Club 7") and Tom Fletcher (who would later become a member of "McFly") played the title role.
[edit] Australian Tour
The Australian tour was a successful trip through Sydney, Melbourne, and Singapore from 2002 - 2004. John Waters playing fagin, Tamsin Carroll as Nancy, Stuart Wagstaff and Steve Bastoni also notable characters. Although the musical was a success it was the child cast who made the show, Keegan Joyce was the new and upcoming star who played Oliver who with a 'suitably demure voice' stole the hearts of the audience. The role of Oliver was also rotated with Maddison Orr whose equally magnificent performance in the role was amazing considering that he was much younger than Joyce. The Role of the Artful Dodger was shared between Matthew Waters (Round the Twist), Ben Nicholas (Neighbours) and Tim Matthews, who was the youngest Actor to ever play the Artful Dodger at just 10 years old. Both of the childrens casts were fantastic in what were very demanding roles.
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| Characters: | Fagin | Bill Sikes | The Artful Dodger | Nancy Sikes | Rose Maylie |
| Film adaptions: | Oliver Twist (1948) | Oliver! | Oliver & Company | Oliver Twist (1997) | Twist | Boy called Twist | Oliver Twist (2005) |
| Other adaptions: | Oliver! | Fagin the Jew | Oliver Twist (TV miniseries) |
