Oliver! To make West End return
Posted on
| By
Sian McBride
Following its premiere at Chichester Festival Theatre this summer, we will be getting even more of the cockney classic, as Lionel Bart’s iconic musical announces a West End run.
Oom-pah-pah, oom-pah-pah, this is how it goes: the glorious show will play at the Chichester Festival from 8 July to 7 September before it opens at the Gielgud Theatre on14 December 2024. Tickets for the West End run will be made available on Monday 29 April.
Under the direction and choreography of theatre royalty, Matthew Bourne, the cast includes Simon Lipkin (Guys and Dolls) as Fagin, Shanay Holmes (Miss Saigon) as Nancy, Aaron Sidwell (Wicked) as Bill Sikes, Billy Jenkins (Les Misérables) as the Artful Dodger and Philip Franks (Witness for the Prosecution) as Mr Brownlow.
Adapted from Charles Dickens' novel, Oliver! tells the story of the orphaned Oliver Twist, who escapes the harsh Victorian workhouse and takes refuge in London’s murky underworld with the wily gang leader Fagin and his team of resourceful pickpockets led by the Artful Dodger. He finds a friend in the kind-hearted Nancy and when he’ s wrongly arrested for stealing, Oliver meets an unexpected saviour; but is happiness truly within his grasp?
Featuring an award-winning score, this Olivier, Tony and Oscar-winning masterpiece includes theatres most-loved songs, including ‘Food Glorious Food’, ‘Consider Yourself’, ‘You’ve Got to Pick-a-Pocket or Two’, ‘I’d Do Anything’, ‘Oom Pah Pah’ and ‘As Long As He Needs Me’.
Cameron Mackintosh commented on today’s announcement, stating: ‘Having staged the largest production of Oliver! ever, we [Cameron Mackintosh and Matthew Bourne] want to return to the scale of the brilliant original with a more intimate production, thrillingly designed by Lez Brotherston, which in a sweepingly imaginative way conjures up Dickensian London.’
Matthew Bourne is just as delighted to return to the hit musical, commenting: ‘In 1994, I first worked, as a choreographer, with Cameron Mackintosh on Lionel Bart's legendary musical Oliver! - the spectacular Palladium revival, directed by Sam Mendes - it launched a collaboration and friendship that has become one of the most important of my career. Nearly 30 years on I’m delighted that Cameron has invited me to direct my first musical and my lifelong relationship with Oliver! continues!’
Produced and revised by Cameron Mackintosh, Oliver! is directed and choreographed by Matthew Bourne and co-directed by Jean-Pierre van der Spuy. Designed by Lez Brotherston, lighting design is by Paule Constable and Ben Jacobs, sound design by Adam Fisher, video design by George Reeve, original orchestrations by William David Brohn adapted by Stephen Metcalfe; music supervision is by Graham Hurman.
No need to pick-a-pocket or two, you can secure your tickets when they go on sale Monday, 29th April.