Oliver! is a British musical, with music and lyrics by Lionel Bart. It first appeared in the West End in 1960, enjoying a long run, and was made into a film directed by Carol Reed in 1968.
The musical is loosely based upon Oliver Twist by Charles Dickens. That it was the first musical adaptation of a Charles Dickens novel to become a stage hit was one of the reasons why it attracted such attention. There had been two previous Dickens musicals, both of them television adaptations of A Christmas Carol in the 1950s, but never a successful stage musical, and certainly never one of as dramatic a story as Oliver Twist. Another reason for its success was the revolving stage set, an innovation designed by Sean Kenny.
The show 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 singer Steve Marriott (Small Faces, Humble Pie) also featured in early line-ups, eventually graduating to the role of Dodger in the West End.
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), and Martin Horsey.
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.
The musical will be revived again in 2009 in the West End. The parts of Oliver and Nancy have been found by BBC1's I'd Do Anything. The part of Oliver will be played in turn by three different child actors - Gwion Jones, Harry Stott and Lawrence Jeffcoate. The part of Nancy will be played by Jodie Prenger.
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