Oliver!
By Lionel Bart
By arrangement with Tams-Whitmark Library
Season 3-18 May 1996
Venue Belconnen Theatre
TheStory
The tale begins as the boys file to the table singing Food Glorious Food. Widow Corney, who runs the workhouse, and Mr. Bumble, the parish beadle, enter and the boys are served their gruel. Oliver, alone and courageous, takes his bowl to Bumble and pleads 'Please Sir, I want some more.' Bumble is outraged. Oliver must go, so he hawks Oliver through the streets of London singing Boy For Sale.
Oliver is sold to Mr. Sowerberry, the undertaker. Alone, plaintive and surrounded by coffins, Oliver sings Where is Love? He runs away and meets Artful Dodger who sings Consider Yourself. Oliver is taken to the hideout to meet Fagin who welcomes him with the fantastic You Got to Pick a Pocket or Two. Nancy (Bill Sykes' girl) and Bet arrive and sing It's a Fine Life. The next day Oliver goes with the boys and is arrested by the police, not for picking pockets, but simply for looking guilty.
In Act two, the curtain rises on an underworld tavern where Nancy is being encouraged to sing a music hall number, Oom-Pah-Pah. Fagin's boys report that Oliver has been apprehended by the police, but that he was found innocent and is in the care of a wealthy gentleman. Fagin and Sykes dispatch Nancy to retrieve Oliver. Meanwhile, Oliver is quite happy in his new surroundings and sings Who Will Buy? from his window.
Unfortunately, the moment Oliver steps outside, he is snatched by Nancy and returned to Fagin's. Fagin sings Reviewing the Situation and considers going straight. Bumble and Mrs. Corney, newly married, discover that Oliver is the son of a rich family and try to get him back. A regretful Nancy plans to return Oliver to his benefactor. She is fearful of Sykes, yet sings As Long as He Needs Me. Sykes stalks and kills her. He grabs Oliver and after a chase, is shot dead. Oliver is restored to his benefactor who, it turns out, is his own grandfather. Fagin, now without the boys, home or money, reprises Reviewing the Situation.
ProductionTeam
| Director | Sue Belsham |
| Musical Director | Paul Belsham |
| Assistant Musical Director | Leisa Keen |
| Choroegrapher | Deborah Beck |
| Assistant Choreographer | Natalie Antoine |
| Production Manager | Roger Tindale |
| Stage Manager | Geoff Brown |
| Assistant Stage Manager | Peter Harding |
| Set Design | Nicole O'Rourke |
| Costume Design | Margaret Prideaux |
| Lighting Design | David Cannell |
Cast
| Oliver Twist | Kristian Risti |
| Mr Bumble | Robert Beaumont |
| Widow Corney | Pamela McManus |
| Mr Sowerberry | Robert Macauly |
| Mrs Sowerberry | Barbara Denham |
| Charlotte | Belinda Sewell |
| Noah Claypole | Conrad Farrell |
| The Artful Dodger | Taimus Werner-Gibbings |
| Fagin | Michael Burgess |
| Charlie Bates | Rhys Holden |
| Nancy | Sue Lake-Harris |
| Bet | Anna Battese |
| Mr Brownlow | Graham Bauerle |
| Bill Sykes | Peter Brady |
| Mrs Bedwin | Pamela Kelly |
| Old Sally | Kelda McManus |
| Old Annie | Barbara Sekuless |
| Workhouse Boys and Fagin's Gang | Stephen Bell, Stephen Carberry, Jayden Cooke, Clem Daw, Lincoln Daw, Rhys Holden, Finnian Lattimore, Ross Newton, Stuart Newton, David Ogilvie, Charlie Sanders, Rohan Sforcina, Andrew Symonds, Jonathon Symonds, David Tychsen-Smith, Cameron Woolcock |
| Female Chorus | Kirsten Burch, Sara Carvalho, Renee Denham, Sally Kite, Juliet Lautenbach, Kelda McManus, Cecily Oakley, Melanie Portelli, Alira Prideaux, Alissa Pugh, Barbara Sekuless, Libby Warren |
| Male Chorus | Mick Bower, Andrew Clucas, Rodwell Faulkner, Lincoln Kealy, Richard Mander, Kevin Playford, Will Sanders, Michael Thomas |
| Little Girls | Jessica Cooke, Shelly Sforcina, Tallay Wickham |
Awards
Canberra Area Theatre AwardsNominations |
|
| Best Supporting Actress in a Musical | Barbara Denham |