The company of Cameron Mackintosh's London revival of Lionel Bart鈥檚 Oliver!, which opened at the West End's Gielgud Theatre January 14, recently made an appearance on the semi-finals of the reality TV series Britain's Got Talent.
Watch Simon Lipkin (Guys and Dolls, Avenue Q), who plays Fagin, lead the cast in "You've Got to Pick a Pocket or Two" in the video above. The company also performs a portion of "Consider Yourself."
The classic musical, which Mackintosh reconceived with director and
choreographer Matthew Bourne, is a co-production with Chichester
Festival Theatre.
The cast also features Shanay Holmes (Miss Saigon, The Bodyguard) as Nancy, Aaron Sidwell (Henry VI, Wicked) as Bill Sikes, Billy Jenkins (Les Mis茅rables, BBC鈥檚 Dodger) as the Artful Dodger, Philip Franks (The Rocky Horror Show, Witness for the Prosecution) as Mr. Brownlow, Oscar Conlon-Morrey (Mother Goose, Only Fools and Horses The Musical) as Mr. Bumble, Katy Secombe (The Music Man, Les Mis茅rables) as Widow Corney, Stephen Matthews (Strictly Ballroom, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang) as Mr. Sowerberry/Dr. Grimwig, and Jamie Birkett (Peter Pan Goes Wrong, Mamma Mia The Party) as Mrs. Sowerberry/Mrs. Bedwin plus Billy Byers as Alternate Artful Dodger.
The four young actors who share the title role are Cian Eagle-Service (The Witches, Les Mis茅rables), Raphael Korniets (The Snowman), Jack Philpott (The Witches, Matilda), and Odo Rowntree-Bailly.
Forming the young adult cast are Callum Hudson as Noah Claypole, Isabelle Methven as Bet, Lochlan White as Charley Bates, and Harry Cross as Dandy. The ensemble members/swings are Rachael Archer, Tegan Bannister, Adam Boardman, Lois Craig, Stephen John Davis, Bethany Huckle, Ebony Jonelle, Bethan Keens as Charlotte, Danny Lane, Peter Nash, Josh Patel-Foster, Sam Peggs, Jasmine Sakyiama, Wendy Somerville as Old Sally, Charlie Stripp, Leah Vassell, and Matthew Whennell-Clark.
The younger roles in Fagin鈥檚 gang are shared by Toba Agbelusi, Zoe Akinyosade,
Ben Birch, Preston Cropp, Kylan Michael Denis, Sebastian Elton, Liam
Findlay, Rudy Gibson, Stanley Guy, George Hamblin, Lily Hanna, Sammy
Jones, Grace King, Jonny Niland, Hugo Pechey, Alex Prior, Teddy Probets,
William Skinner, Ethan Sokontwe, Dylan Xavier, and Aaron Zhao.
Based on the Charles Dickens classic, the musical (with a book and
score by Bart) follows the story of orphan Oliver Twist, who escapes the
orphanage to the streets of Victorian London. Outside, he meets Fagin,
the Artful Dodger, and a band of child pickpockets. The show's hit songs
include 鈥淲here Is Love?,鈥� 鈥淔ood! Glorious Food!,鈥� and 鈥淎s Long As He
Needs Me.鈥� The original Broadway production, which played the Imperial
and subsequently transferred to the Shubert, officially opened January
6, 1963, playing 14 previews and 774 regular performances. The
production was nominated for 10 1963 Tony Awards, winning for Best
Composer and Lyricist (Bart), Best Scenic Design (Sean Kenny), and Best
Conductor and Musical Director (Donald Pippin).
Produced and revised by Mackintosh, Oliver! is directed and choreographed by Bourne and co-directed by Jean-Pierre van der Spuy with designs by Lez Brotherston, lighting design by Paule Constable and Ben Jacobs, sound design by Adam Fisher, video design by George Reeve, new orchestrations by Stephen Metcalfe based on the original by William David Brohn, and music supervision by Graham Hurman.
The cast recording is available from First Night Records.
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