Cast Complete for Cameron Mackintosh's New Production of Oliver! | Playbill

London News Cast Complete for Cameron Mackintosh's New Production of Oliver!

Directed and choreographed by Matthew Bourne, the production will play the Chichester Festival Theatre before arriving in the West End.

Casting is now complete for Cameron Mackintosh and Chichester Festival Theatre's co-production of a new staging of Lionel Bart’s Tony-nominated musical Oliver!, which will play the Festival prior to the West End's Gielgud Theatre.

Reconceived by Mackintosh with director and choreographer Matthew Bourne, the musical will be seen at the Chichester venue July 8–September 7 before arriving at London's Gielgud December 14.

The cast will be led by the previously reported Simon Lipkin (Guys and Dolls) as Fagin, Shanay Holmes (Miss Saigon) as Nancy, Aaron Sidwell (Henry VI) as Bill Sikes, Billy Jenkins (Les Misérables) as the Artful Dodger, and Philip Franks (The Rocky Horror Show) as Mr. Brownlow.

Newly announced for the production are Oscar Conlon-Morrey (Mother Goose) as Mr. Bumble, Katy Secombe (The Music Man) as Widow Corney, Stephen Matthews (Strictly Ballroom) as Mr. Sowerberry/Dr. Grimwig, and Jamie Birkett (Peter Pan Goes Wrong) as Mrs. Sowerberry/Mrs. Bedwin.

Sharing the role of Oliver Twist will be Cian Eagle-Service (The Witches), Raphael Korniets (The Snowman), and Jack Philpott (The Witches).

Forming the young adult cast are Callum Hudson as Noah Claypole, Isabelle Methven as Bet, Lochlan White as Charley Bates, and Harry Cross in Fagin’s Gang. The ensemble members/swings are Rachael Archer, Tegan Bannister, Adam Boardman, Bethany Huckle, Ebony Jonelle, Bethan Keens as Charlotte, Danny Lane, Peter Nash, Josh Patel-Foster, Sam Peggs, Jasmine Sakyiama, Wendy Somerville as Old Sally, Leah Vassell, and Matthew Whennell-Clark.

The younger roles in Fagin’s gang will be shared by Toba Agbelusi, Zoe Akinyosade, Ben Birch, Finley Burrows, Preston Cropp, Benjamin Dalton, Kylan Michael Denis, Sebastian Elton, Liam Findlay, Rudy Gibson, Stanley Guy, George Hamblin, Lily Hanna, Charlie Hodson-Prior, Grace King, Cooper McCrae, Jonny Niland, Hugo Pechey, William Skinner, Dylan Xavier, and Aaron Zhao. Rudy Gibson, Charlie Hodson-Prior, and William Skinner will also perform as Alternate Artful Dodger.

Final children's casting for the London engagement will be announced at a later date.

Mackintosh said in an earlier statement, “Oliver! has been part of my life as actor, stage manager, and producer since I first saw it as a schoolboy in 1960…Matthew Bourne and I, alongside Sam Mendes, first reinvented Lionel Bart's masterpiece in 1994 with a huge production at the London Palladium which we restaged in an even grander way in 2009 at the Theatre Royal Drury Lane. Now 15 years later, having staged the largest production of Oliver! ever, we want to return to the scale of the brilliant original with a more intimate production, thrillingly designed by Lez Brotherston, which in a sweepingly imaginative way conjures up Dickensian London."

Bourne added, “In 1994, I first worked, as a choreographer, with Cameron Mackintosh on Lionel Bart's legendary musical Oliver!—the spectacular Palladium revival, directed by Sam Mendes—it launched a collaboration and friendship that has become one of the most important of my career. Nearly 30 years on, I’m delighted that Cameron has invited me to direct my first musical, and my lifelong relationship with Oliver! continues! Along with my regular collaborators Lez Brotherston and Paule Constable, we are taking it back to its roots, inspired by the groundbreaking 'poor theatre' designs of Sean Kenny—who revolutionized the modern musical along with Lionel and his Joan Littlewood Theatre Workshop influences. "

Based on the Charles Dickens classic, the musical (with a book and score by Bart) follows the story of orphan Oliver Twist, who escapes the orphanage to the streets of Victorian London. Outside, he meets Fagin, the Artful Dodger, and a band of child pickpockets. The show's hit songs include “Where Is Love?,” “Food! Glorious Food!,” and “As Long As He Needs Me.” The original Broadway production, which played the Imperial and subsequently transferred to the Shubert, officially opened January 6, 1963, playing 14 previews and 774 regular performances. The production was nominated for 10 1963 Tony Awards, winning for Best Composer and Lyricist (Bart), Best Scenic Design (Sean Kenny), and Best Conductor and Musical Director (Donald Pippin).

Produced and revised by Mackintosh, Oliver! is directed and choreographed by Bourne and co-directed by Jean-Pierre van der Spuy with designs by Lez Brotherston, musical supervision and conducting by Graham Hurman, lighting design by Paule Constable and Ben Jacobs, sound design by Adam Fisher, projection design by George Reeve, and original orchestrations by William David Brohn adapted by Stephen Metcalfe. Choreographic associates are Etta Murfitt and Sam Archer with casting by Felicity French and Paul Wooller and children's casting by Verity Naughton.

Visit OlivertheMusical.com.

 
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