Note : I have received another review from an anonymous reader ( regular it seems ) to my blog -- it is more detailed than mine -- check it out at the bottom of this post.

I saw the stage musical “Oliver “. It was an extraordinary experience – and I can hardy wait to see it again. When it started I was a bit surprised – the boys appeared on the stage to perform Food Glorious Food – which seems to be the theme song of the musicale. It is when the workhouse boys from are dreaming and fantasizing about food while going to collect their gruel from the staff of the workhouse. The actors were students from the national school for choreography and it was no surprise that they danced extremely well. One of them noticed a friend of his or a family member in the public and waved but all of the sudden he realized that this was not the appropriate thing to do while on stage – still it was all so cool and they all were really enthusiastic – especially one of them who was giving his soul on the stage, but let me show you the song itself:

As you saw the video is from the original musical, but I am using it just for illustration. While listening to the performers I felt really weird – this was the very first musical I saw on live stage – so in a way I was getting used to the format. I remember that at first the stage seemed very tiny – and I was wondering how they are going to perform on it. It turned out that the scene was quite big and the decoration in it was done in a very professional matter. Then a bit later there was a great performance of the song “Where is the love? “ The boy who was in the role of Oliver is son of one of the greatest baritones in the country – and no wonder then that his performance was heartbreaking. I am going to show you a performance of Joseph McManners from the BBC special Celebration Oliver:

The next song Pick a Pocket or Two definitely made it as my second favorite from the musicale. Watching it always make me smile – actually I could not wipe the smile off my face – and at the same time felt sad at times – but that is what a good play does to me – ( like in the movies ) . Here is the Pick a pocket or Two from the original musicale Then I will skip a bit and will go to the Who will Buy – a song performed extremely well on stage – the actors were singing from different places and their voices combined so nicely. You really have to experience that magic to believe it – through watching a video is not the same as being there – the video below is probably the best representation of the magic than can be done at screen as Joseph McManners, The choir boys and Aled Jones are starring:

It’s been centuries since Charles Dickens published the story about Oliver Twist, undoubtedly the most famous orphan boy of our times. The story has been translated into many languages.

It’s been played on stages all over the world. The films based on the novel are numerous and yet after all this time, Dickens’s masterpiece keeps touching readers’ hearts because the story’s magic is undying.Objectionably, the most successful adaptation until today remains Lionel Bart‘s theatrical musical. It achieved massive impact when it was introduced for first time back in 1960. Having become legend long time ago, this play has been shown 2668 times.

What I saw few weeks ago was another brilliant adaptaion of it. There are few groups of actors who are taking turns playing the key characters. The part of Oliver is being presented by two extremely talented young actors, one of the son of famous opera singer. My personal observation was that one of them shows better acting qualities as the other one is better at singing. Yet both of them are magnificent actors portrayed the character of the little Oliver simply amazing. Their solo performances of the song Where Is Love were exceptionally beautiful and heart-breaking.

They certainly brought tears in my eyes and not only I felt the same way. The rest of the young charaters did great job as well. Most of them are students of the local art and choreographical schools. They woderfully played the boys from the orphanage as well as the gang around Fagin. The last one was played by one of the greatest comedian talents around who gives brilliant performance.

The directing of the musical itself was very good as well. Everyone involved in the play did a good job. Proper lightning, good design of the sets are one of the main ways of manipulating the viewer’s attention in the theatre, thus get the right emotional response from the last one.

Tags: oliver, musical, art, twist