Cameron Mackintosh’s new production of Lionel Bart’s iconic musical, Oliver!, which he has fully reconceived with director and choreographer Matthew Bourne, will open in London at the end of the year.
Oliver! will begin performances at Gielgud Theatre on Saturday 14 December 2024.
The cast includes Simon Lipkin (Guys and Dolls, Avenue Q) as Fagin, Shanay Holmes (Miss Saigon, The Bodyguard) as Nancy, Aaron Sidwell (Henry VI, Wicked) as Bill Sikes, Billy Jenkins (Les Misérables, BBC’s Dodger) as the Artful Dodger and Philip Franks (The Rocky Horror Show, Witness for the Prosecution) as Mr Brownlow.
With a sensational score, including Food Glorious Food, Consider Yourself, You’ve Got to Pick-a-Pocket or Two, I’d Do Anything, Oom Pah Pah, As Long As He Needs Me and many more, the Olivier, Tony and Oscar-winning masterpiece vividly brings to life Dickens’ ever-popular story of the boy who asked for more.
__Access performances__
Audio described: Sat 26 April 2025, 2:30pm
It’s been billed as a “reconceived” production of Lionel Bart’s 1960 musical but it’s certainly not as radical as some of Bourne’s other work. Rather, Bourne and producer Cameron Mackintosh walk a canny line between the upbeat Cockney carry-on in the musical and the darkness of Dickens’ novel, paying good heed to both as they unpack Oliver’s story with nimble dexterity. Raucous big numbers such as “Oom-Pah-Pah” and “Consider Yourself” come blazing across the footlights, Bourne’s witty, exuberant choreography filling the stage with music-hall zest.
Simon Lipkin has built up a solid body of work over the years, but his Fagin is surely a career-defining moment. Much younger, more vibrant and channelling something of Captain Jack Sparrow, Lipkin conveys the character with real knowingness. He is very comedic, with deliberate breaking of the fourth wall, but we also see an unsure and lonely man behind the mask.
| 1960 | West End |
Original London Production West End |
| 1963 | Broadway |
Broadway Production Broadway |
| 1965 | Broadway |
Return Engagement [Broadway] Broadway |
| 1976 | Milburn, NJ (Regional) |
Paper Mill Production Milburn, NJ (Regional) |
| 1979 | Regional (US) |
Regional Revival Regional (US) |
| 1984 | Broadway |
Broadway Revival Broadway |
| 1994 | Milburn, NJ (Regional) |
Paper Mill Production Milburn, NJ (Regional) |
| 1994 | West End |
London Revival West End |
| 2009 | West End |
London Revival West End |
| 2011 | UK Tour |
UK Tour UK Tour |
| 2018 | East Haddam, CT (Regional) |
Goodspeed Musicals Revival East Haddam, CT (Regional) |
| 2023 | Off-Broadway |
New York City Center Encores! Production Off-Broadway |
| West End |
West End |
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| 2025 | West End |
West End |
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