Oliver! is a stage musical, with book, music and lyrics by Lionel Bart. The musical is based upon the 1838 novel Oliver Twist by Charles Dickens.
It premiered at the Wimbledon Theatre, southwest London in 1960 before opening in the West End, where it enjoyed a record-breaking long run. Oliver! ran on Broadway, after being brought to the U.S. by producer David Merrick in 1963. Major London revivals played from 1977 to 1980, 1994 to 1998, 2008 to 2011 and on tour in the UK from 2011 to 2013. Additionally, its 1968 film adaptation, directed by Carol Reed, won six Academy Awards including Best Picture.
Oliver! received thousands of performances in British schools, becoming one of the most popular school musicals. In 1963 Lionel Bart received the Tony Award for Best Original Score. Many songs are well known to the public, such as "Food, Glorious Food", "Consider Yourself" and "I'd Do Anything".
Background Oliver! was the first musical adaptation of a famous Charles Dickens work to become a stage hit. There had been two previous Dickens musicals in the 1950s, both of them television adaptations of A Christmas Carol. The plot of 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. Although Dickens's novel has been called antisemitic in its portrayal of the Jewish Fagin as evil, the production by Bart (himself Jewish) was more sympathetic and featured many Jewish actors in leading roles: Ron Moody (Ronald Moodnick), Georgia Brown (Lilian Klot), and Martin Horsey.
Synopsis
Act I The musical opens in the workhouse, as the half-starved orphan boys are entering the enormous dining hall for supper. They are fed only gruel, but find some solace by imagining a richer menu ("Food Glorious Food"). Oliver gathers up the courage to ask for more, and is immediately apprehended by parish beadle Mr. Bumble and the Widow Corney, the heartless and greedy caretakers of the workhouse ("Oliver!"). Mr. Bumble and Widow Corney are left alone, and Mr. Bumble begins to make amorous advances ("I Shall Scream!"). Mrs. Corney pretends to resent his attentions, but ends up on Mr. Bumble's lap, as he eventually proposes to her. Mr. Bumble then takes Oliver and sells him as an apprentice to an undertaker, Mr. Sowerberry ("Boy for Sale"). Mr. Sowerberry and his wife taunt Oliver and Mr. Bumble ("That's Your Funeral"), causing Mr. Bumble to become angry and storm out. Oliver is sent to sleep in the basement with the coffins ("Where Is Love?").
The next morning, Noah Claypole, another employee of Mr. Sowerberry, insults Oliver's dead mother, whereupon Oliver begins pummeling him. Mrs. Sowerberry and her daughter, Charlotte, who is also Noah's girlfriend, run in. The three lock Oliver inside a coffin, and Mr. Bumble is sent for. The entrance of an intoxicated Mr. Sowerberry doesn't aid matters, and during all the commotion Oliver escapes. After a week on the run, he ends up in the city of London and meets a boy about 16 years old known as the Artful Dodger. Dodger seems a kindly boy, and welcomes Oliver to join him and his friends ("Consider Yourself"). Dodger is, unknown to Oliver, a pickpocket, and invites Oliver to come and live in Fagin's lair. Fagin is a veteran criminal "fence" who sends out young boys as pickpockets. Oliver is completely unaware of any criminality and believes that the boys make handkerchiefs rather than steal them. Oliver is introduced to Fagin and his boys and taught their ways ("You've Got to Pick a Pocket or Two").
The next day, Oliver meets Nancy, an older member of Fagin's gang and the girlfriend of Fagin's terrifying associate Bill Sikes, a brutal house-burglar whose abuse she endures because she loves him. Nancy, along with her good friend Bet and the boys sing about how they mostly like their unconventional if dangerous lifestyle ("It's a Fine Life"). Oliver bows deeply to Nancy and Bet, trying to be polite. All the boys laugh and mimic Oliver. Nancy singles out Dodger to demonstrate the way the rich people treat each other ("I'd Do Anything"). Nancy and Bet leave, and Oliver is sent out with the other boys on his first pickpocketing job ("Be Back Soon"). Fagin tells Oliver to go with Dodger and another boy named Charley Bates, but when Dodger and Charley steal a handkerchief from Mr. Brownlow, a wealthy old man, they run off, leaving the horrified Oliver to be arrested for the crime ("The Robbery").
Act II
In the Three Cripples pub, at the request of boisterous customers, Nancy strikes up an old tavern song with the low-life ruffians, ("Oom-Pah-Pah"). Bill Sikes makes his first appearance and disperses the crowd ("My Name"). Dodger runs in and tells Fagin about Oliver's capture and removal to the Brownlow household. Worried that Oliver will "blow upon them" (i.e. betray the gang to the authorities), Fagin and Bill decide to abduct Oliver and bring him back to the den, with Nancy's help. Nancy, who has come to care for Oliver, at first refuses to help, but Bill physically abuses her and forces her into obedience. In spite of this, Nancy still loves Bill and believes he loves her too ("As Long as He Needs Me").
The next morning, at Mr. Brownlow's house in Bloomsbury, Mrs. Bedwin, the housekeeper, sings to Oliver ("Where Is Love?" (reprise)), and Oliver wakes up as street-sellers begin their day's work outside ("Who Will Buy?"). Mr. Brownlow and Dr. Grimwig decide that Oliver is well enough to go outside, so Brownlow sends Oliver to return some books to the bookseller. Oliver sees a group of street vendors and joins them in song ("Who Will Buy?" (reprise)). As the vendors leave, Nancy and Bill appear and grab Oliver. They bring him back to Fagin's den, where Nancy saves Oliver from a beating from Sikes after the boy tries to flee. Nancy remorsefully reviews their dreadful life, but Bill maintains that any living is better than none while Fagin tries to smooth things over ("It's A Fine Life" (reprise)). Left alone, Fagin ponders his current existence and possible life changes ("Reviewing the Situation"); however, after thinking of various excuses, he elects to stay just as he is.
Back at the workhouse, Mr. Bumble and the Widow Corney, now unhappily married, are told by the dying pauper Old Sally that Oliver's mother, Agnes, left a gold locket when she died in childbirth. Old Sally had stolen the locket, which she gives to the Widow Corney before she dies. Mr. and Mrs. Bumble realize that Oliver may have wealthy relatives ("Oliver!" (reprise)) and visit Mr. Brownlow (who has advertised for news of Oliver), hoping to profit from any reward given for information. Mr. Brownlow realizes they are not interested in Oliver's welfare but only money and throws them out. Recognizing the picture inside the locket as a picture of his daughter, he realizes that Oliver is actually his grandson.
Nancy visits Mr. Brownlow, explains how she and Bill abducted Oliver, and remorsefully promises to deliver Oliver to him safely that night on London Bridge but refuses to give up her fellow gang members. She ponders again about Bill ("As Long as He Needs Me" (reprise)). Suspecting Nancy, Bill follows her as she sneaks Oliver out of Fagin's den. At London Bridge, he confronts them and viciously clubs Nancy to death. He then grabs Oliver and runs off. Mr. Brownlow arrives and discovers Nancy's body. A large crowd forms, among them the distraught Bet. Bullseye, Bill's terrier, turns on his master and returns to the scene of the crime, and the crowd prepares to follow him. After Sikes brings Oliver to Fagin's hideout looking for aid, Fagin and his boys flee in panic. The constables break in, and Dodger is arrested before he can escape. Not finding Bill at the hideout, the crowd returns to the Thames Embankment. Bill appears at the top of the bridge, holding Oliver as hostage and threatening to kill him. When a memory of the dead Nancy freezes Sikes, two policemen sneak up on him, and one of them shoots Bill while the other grabs Oliver. After Oliver is reunited with Mr. Brownlow, the mob disperses. Fagin appears and decides that the time has never looked better for him to straighten out his life ("Reviewing the Situation" (reprise)).
Musical numbers
Act I "Food, Glorious Food" – Workhouse Boys "Oliver!" – Mr Bumble, Widow Corney, Boys and Governors "I Shall Scream" – Mr Bumble and Widow Corney "Boy for Sale" – Mr Bumble "That's Your Funeral" – Mr Sowerberry, Mrs Sowerberry, and Mr Bumble "Where Is Love?" – Oliver "Consider Yourself" – The Artful Dodger, Oliver, and Chorus "You've Got to Pick a Pocket or Two" – Fagin and Fagin's Gang "It's a Fine Life" – Nancy, Bet, and Fagin's Gang "I'd Do Anything" – The Artful Dodger, Nancy, Oliver, Bet, Fagin, and Fagin's Gang "Be Back Soon" – Fagin, The Artful Dodger, Oliver and Fagin's Gang
Act II "Oom-Pah-Pah" – Nancy and Chorus "My Name" – Bill Sikes "As Long as He Needs Me" – Nancy "Where Is Love?" (reprise) #– Mrs Bedwin "Who Will Buy?" – Oliver, Vendors, and Chorus "It's a Fine Life" (reprise) #– Bill Sikes, Nancy, Fagin, and The Artful Dodger "Reviewing the Situation" – Fagin "Oliver!" (reprise) – Mr Bumble and Widow Corney "As Long as He Needs Me" (reprise) – Nancy "Reviewing the Situation" (reprise) – Fagin Finale ("Food, Glorious Food", "Consider Yourself" and "I'd Do Anything") – Company
(# indicates songs not on the original London recording. The Broadway recording drops "That's Your Funeral" and the Act II reprise of "Oliver!". The 1994 and 2009 London recordings include the Coffin Music, The Robbery, the reprises of "Where is Love" and "It's a Fine Life" and the London Bridge scene.)
Production history
Original London production Oliver! premiered at the Wimbledon Theatre for a preliminary engagement before opening at the New Theatre (now the Noël Coward Theatre, formerly the Albery) on 30 June 1960 and ran for 2,618 performances, a record for a musical in London at the time."'Oliver!' listing" guidetomusicaltheatre.com Directed by Peter Coe, the choreographer was Malcolm Clare and costumes and scenery were by Sean Kenny. The original cast featured Ron Moody as Fagin, Georgia Brown as Nancy, and Barry Humphries in the supporting role of Mr. Sowerberry, the undertaker. Keith Hamshere (the original Oliver) is now a Hollywood still photographer; Martin Horsey (the original Artful Dodger) worked as an actor/director and authored the play L'Chaim. Other boys who alternated in the juvenile leads included Phil Collins, Leonard Whiting and future Monkee Davy Jones as the Artful Dodger. The cast also included Tony Robinson as one of the Workhouse boys/Fagin's Gang, and John Bluthal as Fagin. Former professional boxer Danny Sewell was the original Bill Sikes and remained in the role (including the original Broadway and US touring productions) for almost six years. Steve Marriott played workhouse boys including The Artful Dodger, and he is featured on the original soundtrack LP. Michael Cashman played the role of Oliver during his time in the production.
Sid James turned down the part of Fagin as the timing of the production coincided with his own attempts to move away from the shady and roguish roles for which he was well known.
Original Broadway production