UK Tour of OLIVER! in the Works?

According to Whatsonstage.com, Cameron Mackintosh's next big project might be a UK tour of his recent West End revival of OLIVER! The show closed at the Theatre Royal Drury Lane in January. Casting notices indictate that the tour will visit Cardiff, Manchester, Birmingham, Southampton, Edinburgh, Norwich, Plymouth, Newcastle, Leeds, Dublin and Bristol. An official anouncement is expected to be made by next week.

OLIVER! is based upon the novel Oliver Twist by Charles Dickens.It premiered in the West End in 1960, enjoying a long run, a successful Broadway production in 1963 and further tours and revivals. It was made into a musical film in 1968. A London revival played from December 2008 to January 2011. 

The plot of Dickens' 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.

A production heavily based upon the 1994 Palladium production opened in London's West End on 14 January 2009. Produced once again by Cameron Mackintosh, this revival was directed by Shakespeare expert Rupert Goold and choreographed/co-directed by Matthew Bourne. Anthony Ward repeated his acclaimed scenic and costume designs while William David Brohn joined the team as orchestrator, revising some of the musical arrangements. The new production opened to rave reviews at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane, receiving positive feedback from critics throughout London.

Photo Credit: Genevieve Rafter-Keddy

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