Oliver! reviews

Well having being in a number of productions of Oliver including the original revival in 1977, on the original brilliant award winning Sean Kenny set with the fantastic Fagin, the late Roy Hudd. As soon as I walked into the theatre I could see it was far smaller than the theatre of previous productions with a far smaller stage. I realised that the set would suffer in it being smaller. Frankly I was disappointed with the first 20 minutes or so, especially the workhouse scene where I thought the set really lacked the feel as it was rather empty and void of detail. Things started to crank up from the funeral parlour scene and once the Artful Dodger appeared it really started to come together, he was brilliant. Matt Lucas was pretty good as Fagin, not as good as Roy Hudd or the legendary Ron Moody, he felt a bit low key and not full of life surrounded by his kids. Nancy was excellent together with widow Corney and the fantastic Mr. Bumble. Unfortunately I felt that the actor for Bill Sykes lacked the menace which the roll requires. The set dramatically improved at the point the production improved. The second half was brilliant. I have to say the choreography of this production is the best I've seen and the technicality of the set really grew on me with the 3 concentric revolves and various fly's dropping down really added to the ingenious set design which wins hands down on Sean Kenny's design regarding both Health & Safety and I would say even flexibility catering for more scene options. I would rate this production between 8-8.5 out of 10 and is definitely worth seeing

great show, amazing voices and performances. 2 little things though: the queue to enter the theater is right by the bins and it smell was horrible. and when I booked the seats, I dint realise we would be right at the top and the vue is partially blocked by the ceiling, it would have been nice to warn me when purchasing (I had the warning once I purchased the tickets).

What a fantastic evening! An amazing show; the story of Oliver Twist is performed so well by the entire cast, especially Hava Brennan and Matt Lucas. The welcome at the Gielgud Theatre was perfect! Alain and Anne Marie.

Oliver has been a favorite since I was a child. Visiting Kondon again and seeing it showing again was such a thrill. I had a great seat and thoroughly loved the production. It was a memorable evening. I could watch it all over again!