Libera Dreams

I was reading the other day that they are reviving the musical 'Oliver!' in London. I believe it starts this December. From what I gather at the offficial site, Rowan Atkinson, better known as Mr. Bean, will be playing the role of Fagin. That would be interesting to see!
It's probably my favorite all time film musical but I have never seen a professional stage production of it (just a high school production). I hope that someday I'll be able to. It has such great music and is a great story. I've also read the book a couple of times and have several movie versions on DVD and VHS (including the silent Lon Chaney version). Some are good, some not so good, but a good story nonetheless.
Any other Oliver Twist fans out there?

Bill (William)

William wrote: ...Any other Oliver Twist fans out there?...

Here I am!
Oli is a great masterpiece & I would like to see the musical you said! Its good to start it in december, at Xmas time to open ppl's minds & hearts. Hope so!

Yes, it's a wonderful story and I'm so glad it's being revived. So much so that I just ordered my ticket for when I head over to London in March.

Rich

I am absolutely an Oliver Twist fan !
Infact I like the Charles Dickens story's , it's so emotional and a part of the reason why it is so emotional is offcourse the way the people are dressed (the old poor clothes) and that's why I like the video's of the 'Angel Voices' on 'Tora', that Dickens style.
I own a couple dvd's of Oliver (and other Dickens movie's). Here in Holland we have every christmas in the city called 'Deventer' a real Charles Dickens festival with more than 350 characters including Oliver offcourse and this time it includes a lot of stuff from the Dickens museum from London with the original script of 'The Christmas Carol' and Oliver Twist ! The management of the world famous museum itself looked for contact with the organization in Deventer.

"They wanted to be with the largest Dickens Fetival in the world, as they called it themselves,"

They've been having auditions for this for quite some time. Here's a sample...
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and there are many more video's. The little boy in this video did, in fact, get the part of Oliver. However, perhaps this is a different thing, I don't know. There is no mention of who is playing Fagin in any of the video's I've watched.

There is a site with some interesting information.

http://www.oliverthemusical.com" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

There it lists Rowan Atkinson as Fagin.

William wrote:There is a site with some interesting information.

http://www.oliverthemusical.com" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

There it lists Rowan Atkinson as Fagin.

Yes, this is the official site where I bought my tic from. Much like Billy Elliot, due to the demands of the show and child labor laws, there will be three boys rotating in the roles of Oliver and Dodger.

yep, it's the same as the video I posted.

I'm an Oliver Twist fan as well!
I loved the book, first of all.
Though I have never seen any productions of the musical, I would love to. I've heard the original cast recording on CD and it sounds great.

I love the music too. I fact I have several different versions of the musical score as well tapes and DVDs. Speaking of which, I just came across some interesting information regarding the film score this evening. I've known for a while that Mark Lester's singing voice was dubbed, but I just did some research and found it it was dubbed by a girl! I believe her name was Kathe Green and she was the child of one of the films music directors. Very interesting.

I'm am yet another Oliver! fan!! I played in the pit orchestra of a local production last spring and besides having a wonderful time playing, I loved the music And, as a violinist, I had a perfect view of the stage so that I could watch when I wasn't playing I also watched the videos of the TV show "I'll Do Anything" on YouTube.... Its a great idea and they unearthed some real talent!!

I still can't believe that Mark Lester didn't do the singing...

Oh yes, Oliver! is a great musical. I've only seen the movie. Too bad I dont live in the UK--I'm in Canada. I've seen the Oliver! audition videos on Youtube and really like the acting/singing talents of the young actors who were auditioning for the roles. I think the three boys chosen, especially Laurence Jeffcoate, will be amazing as Oliver.

Yeah, Laurence has a very sweet voice and an honest face... The two pretty deciding characteristics of Oliver! Here is a clip from Children in Need-

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Gwion Jones was Oliver for this show!

libera36 wrote:Yeah, Laurence has a very sweet voice and an honest face... The two pretty deciding characteristics of Oliver! Here is a clip from Children in Need-

" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; ... annel_page

Gwion Jones was Oliver for this show!

This is an excellent video! I haven't kept up-to-date with the I'd Do Anything show but i've been watching those clips on Youtube and seeing how the Olivers were selected. Wow--they must have had so much fun. I really liked seeing them dance and sing to some famous tunes. What an interesting show and selection process.

By the way, I've got one question. How did they choose their 3 Artful Dodgers?

I think they probably just auditioned them, the regular way! I would have liked to see a competition though, like with the Olivers!! And for those who watched the I'd Do Anything clips, in this video (the one I posted in my earlier post) I can see Oliver contestants Jordan, Alexander, Jonny and a boy who looks quite a bit like Kwayedza!! I also read that Arthur and Sam also got parts as urchins and Fagin's gang, but not from a reliable source...