Full Transcript for Oliver!

house and told a young Charles that if he worked hard, he'd be able to afford that house one day. Now as a successful writer, he had finally been able to buy his dream home. Yeah, speaker-0: Thank you. speaker-1: that sentiment of like, if you work hard, you speaker-0: I won't tell speaker-1: That was so satisfying. In eighteen fifty-seven During production of his play with Wilkie Collins, The Frozen Deep, the forty five year old Charles would meet eighteen year old Ellen Nellie Ternan. He became smitten with her, but knew that divorcing his wife Catherine could be extremely damaging for his reputation because of his celebrity status. And of course because divorce was very taboo. Yeah, absolutely. Even in this time. speaker-0: So instead of just being normal and just being like, you know what, it's just an attraction. I'm I'm faithful to my wife, whatever. That's fine. I guess he didn't do that, did he? speaker-1: No. Charles and Ellen would start having an affair. Though it would be kept a great secret. Yeah. Of course. But rumours speaker-0: Right. speaker-1: of the affair started within the public and Charles would later separate from his wife in eighteen fifty eight. The separation was a huge scandal at the time. And Charles blamed it all on his wife, as you do. speaker-0: What a surprise, Charles Dickens is a horrible person. speaker-1: citing that Catherine was an inept mother and claimed that she was mentally ill, so he unsuccessfully tried to have her committed to a mental asylum. Yeah, because that was actually quite commonplace. at the time, you know, if men just wanted to marry a younger model, shall we say, they would just say, my wife's mad. My wife's put her in a put her in a mental asylum speaker-0: I treat my wife really badly and she cries every day. She's obviously insane. But throw her in the mental asylum. And I'm glad was unsuccessful. speaker-1: After the separation, Catherine would move out of the house, and Charles polished a notice in many newspapers, including the Times, denying any of the rumors around their separation, aka he wasn't having an affair speaker-0: Course we did that, yeah. speaker-1: and painted Catherine in a complete negative light to the public, which would skew how Catherine was viewed until long after her death in 1879. Charles' relationship with Ellen Continued, but would remain a complete secret from the public until long after his death. speaker-0: So he upended his life for a mistress who he never even went public with. speaker-1: Well I think well I think it's more because obviously Char Charles Dickens was a very big figure speaker-0: Yeah. speaker-1: at this time and he had built the relationship, built the reputation, shall we say, especially with Catherine, of having the perfect family, and that's why it was such a scandal at the time. and of course, if he came out and with another relationship. with a relationship who had already been rumored that he was having an affair with, yeah. It probably would have confirmed the affair was actually true. Yeah. Deh so yeah, she was just kept hidden away and kept a secret. speaker-0: That must have been really embarrassing for her. Good. speaker-1: During 1858, Charles Dickens would start doing tours around England, reading condensed versions of his own works. Dickens greatly enjoyed these tours. He had originally wanted to be an actor, but due to getting a bad cold before his audition with the well known Covent Garden Theatre Company, he had dropped the idea of becoming an actor and going into journalism instead. These tours would become hugely popular with the public. And eventually led to Dickens travelling to do reading tours over in America twice. During one of these reading tours in 1869, Charles had a stroke on the 18th of April. The reading tour was later cancelled after he collapsed four days later, and Charles used the time to start his last novel, A Murder Mystery, The Mystery of Edwin Drude, which was released as a serial publication, like he did with many of his books. But the book was never finished. When his health improved, Charles gave a few small readings in London, with the last being in May 1870. On the 9th of June 1870, Charles Dickens suffered another stroke while working on Edwin Drude at Gadshill Place and passed away at age 58. Though there has been some speculation that Charles actually died while staying at Ellen Turner's house, and that she and her maid transported Dickens to Gads Hill Place so that their relationship would not be disclosed. speaker-0: Goodness. speaker-1: In Victoria. Yes. There's always scandals. There's always scandals. Charles Dickens had wanted to be buried in private with a small funeral service at Rochester Cathedral. But due to his celebrity status and the outpouring of grief from the public following his death, he was buried in Poets Corner in Westminster Abbey, with the public allowed to walk past it open grave for two days following a private service. To pay their respect. Even Queen Victoria paid her respect to the author. speaker-0: Open crave as in his grave was actually open for the public to see his his speaker-1: So not it was more like his his it's like coffin. Yeah, it wasn't like an open it wasn't like an open open coffin viewing. It was like before they covered over his grave. Yes, right. speaker-0: Okay, that actually speaker-1: to be fair, I did think that at first and I was like, no, it makes no sense. I mean speaker-0: The Victorians were morbid as hell. come and speaker-1: yeah. speaker-0: see Charles Dickens' body before we put it away. speaker-1: Yeah, and considering he just wanted a really small private thing and they're like, No, no, Westminster Abbey Yeah Great. speaker-0: In front of everyone. Yeah. my god. So on to the book Oliver Twist. So as we said before, Oliver Twist was first published in monthly instalments in the Bentley's Miscellany from February of 1837 to April of 1839. This book had two names, Oliver

Twist or The Parish Boys Progress. Interesting second name. speaker-1: Well I think 'cause it was released in instalments, yeah, shall we say. speaker-0: Yeah. The book was the first Victorian novel that featured a child protagonist and was later released as a three-part volume in November of 1838, before the story was finished in Bentley's Miscellany. Oliver Twist focuses on the grim realities of poverty and hardships that faced the working class or the poor during the Victorian era, shining a light on the unfair poor laws that were in place and how people in poverty choices were either the workhouse. Or straight up crime. There really wasn't much in speaker-1: Which was the reality really. speaker-0: a couple of factories here and there, but mainly workhouse or crime. So let's have a quick overview of the novel for those of you who don't know and don't know anything about let's just have an overview. The novel follows the orphan boy Oliver Twist, from his birth in a workhouse, raised in a baby farm until nine. Wow. Her baby farm is crazy. And then the workhouse. Both places, children received very little food while people paid to care for them lived off of their riches. Oliver was chosen from the boys, drawing lots to ask for a second helping. So this is the police. speaker-1: Yeah, please sir, I want some more. speaker-0: Yes. This caused a great uproar, and Oliver is put in sor solitary confinement, flogged every day by the Beadle, Mr. Bumble, in front of the other children, and then sold to the undertaker, Mr. Sowbury. Though treated with disdain by Mrs. Sowbury, their apprentice Noah Claypole and maid Charlotte being given the scraps that the dog left. Oliver was given the role of apprentice, much to the jealousy of Noah. After being provoked by insulting Oliver's mother, an enraged Oliver attacks Noah and then runs away to London. In London, he meets a young man called Jack Dawkins, known as the artful dodger, who offers him food and lodging run by an infamous criminal, Fagan, who trains the children as pickpockets. A young, innocent Oliver begins Fagan's training, being sent out with Dodger and another boy, and upon realizing the truth when witnessing them pickpocketing an elderly gentleman, Mr. Brownlow, he runs away, but is arrested for his crimes while the other two boys escape. Exonerated for his crime, a sick Oliver is taken into the care of Mr. Brownlow to recover. Who notices the resemblance of Oliver to a portrait of the woman hanging in his home. Fagan, worried that Oliver might incriminate himself and the gang enlists a young woman, Nancy, a former member of the gang, and her abusive lover and robber Bill Sykes, to abduct Oliver and bring him back to Fagan. And after Oliver refuses to become a criminal, Fagan forces him to participate in a planned burglary with Bill Sykes. This is such a dark book. Mm. speaker-1: It does not shy away from the grim reality. speaker-0: really doesn't at all. Oliver tried to warn the people but was

wounded whilst Sykes escaped. Oliver is taken into care of the people of the house that they had meant to rob. Mrs. Maley and her adopted niece Rose, who grow attached to the boy. Fagan and a mysterious man known as Monks plan to recapture Oliver. Monks had paid Mr and Mrs. Bumble, who now run the workhouse for information about Oliver and the Locket and a Ring. That had been stolen from Oliver's mother upon her death. They wanted Fagan to corrupt Oliver into a life of crime. speaker-1: That was monks. He wanted Fagan to basically corrupt Oliver and turn him into a criminal. You'll find out later why. speaker-0: So after the Maileys reunite with Oliver and Mr Brownlow in London, Nancy, guilty of her part in Oliver's kidnapping and upon overhearing the information from monks, passes the information to Rose, Mailey, and Mr. Brownlow. But Noah, having fled to London and joined Fagan's gang, having been given orders to follow Nancy, passes the information of her meeting with Rose and Mr. Brownlow on to Fagin, fearing that Again, that Nancy has betrayed them. He tells Bill Sykes, who beats Nancy to death in a fit of rage, and then attempts to flee. Horrifying. Yeah. Harrowing, harrowing scenes, both in the book and every iteration that that's ever existed of Oliver Twist. Fagan is not good and funny in the books. He's actually portrayed in a really horrible, horrible way. Yeah. While Trying to escape the mob, trying to catch him over the rooftop. Sykes is terrorized by visions of Nancy's dead staring eyes, and he falls and accidentally hangs himself in a very Disney style death. All Disney villains go that way. Most yeah, speaker-1: By the sound of it. Yeah. Well, not all of them. speaker-0: no, you're right. Most of them just fall to their death. Mr. Brownlow has Monks arrested, where he confesses that he is Oliver's half. brother from his father, and wants to conceal Oliver's true identity and destroy his life by paying Fagan to lead him into a life of crime in hopes of stealing Oliver's share of his inheritance. Monks is forced to sign over Oliver's rightful inheritance and is emigrated to America, where he squanders his money and later dies in prison. So just throw away that character. Yeah. Having discovered their part in covering Oliver's identity, Mr. and Mrs. Bumble lose their jobs and are forced to become inmates in the workhouse. speaker-1: Yeah. Ooh. It's quite a satisfying ending. Very satisfying. speaker-0: Satisfying. Oliver and Mr. Brownlow visit Fagan, who has been arrested and sentenced to hang, to learn the location of documents from monks that proved Oliver's identity. It is discovered that Rose is Oliver's maternal aunt, and he ends up living happily ever after after being adopted by Mr. Brownlow. Yeah, bless him. He has to. speaker-1: believe a rod. He has That's like the end of a Disney film. No. speaker-0: This is this is no Disney film. So the book was hugely popular with the public and would help build Dickens' career as an author. They would spark conversations, especially in the upper classes, regarding the attitudes towards the poor and the working class during the Victorian era. The book gave a very grim reality of the poverty, and obviously It's mixed in with a bit of satire of child labour, life in Victorian London, and social commentary of the time. So it might have even been, shall we say, a little tiny bit funny sometimes in certain areas. speaker-1: yeah, I think that's Charles Yeah, I think that's like what Charles Dickens' writing is kind of known for is Satirical. He's kinda yeah, he's he he kind of gives a sort of grim reality what life is like in Victoria London, but also he has that kind of like wit and satire satire within his novels to not make it absolutely like black. Yeah. speaker-0: So through the Victorian lens, it was very, very enjoyable. The inspiration for the workhouse in the book came from Dickens' own experience as a child. While living in London, he briefly lived down the road from a workhouse and saw the children that lived there and the conditions that they faced. Inspiration also came from Robert Bilcoe, an author and former child labourer who accounts his experiences as an orphaned child. Labourer that had become well known during the 1830s. The conditions and treatments of the poor and the law that were in place to deal with them came from his experience during his father's imprisonment in a debtor's prison and having to work in the factory and take care of his family and sort of his household. So the book has been adapted many times across film and televisions, so many times. There's about seven silent films. Or something like that. It's ridiculous. There was a stage adaption, like the first stage adaptation ever was in eighteen thirty eight, with the adaptation by Charles Zachary Barnett at the Marlebone Theatre in London. Other notable productions the of course we will be talking about the nineteen sixties musical. There is actually another a pre production, but it's a it's actually a play, just a straight play, nineteen five. And I'll talk a little bit about that in a second. There are many differences between the book and the musical. The musical's tone is a lot lighter than the darker, bleaker tone of the book. And many characters were left out of the musicals, including the Mailers, Rose Mailer, her adoptive aunt, and her son, and Oliver's villainous half brother monks, because of course he's not in the musical. Because of these omissions, the storyline was reduced, taking out the backstory of Oliver's parentage. And the discovery of Oliver's identity. Nancy's death, still by the hands of Sykes in a fit of rage, changes from their home to London Bridge, as Nancy is trying to reunite Oliver with Mr. Brownlow, who has changed to Oliver's grandfather in the musical. Fagan was given a more comical, softer nature than his cunning, predatory nature in the book. He's still smart, but it's more like He feels more like a an uncle

father figure to the to the pickpockets. He's still fully a criminal and he's he's getting children to steal money for him, but it's more like a a family kind of way. You know speaker-1: Yeah. speaker-0: what I mean? We should mention that Fagan's portrayal in the book has been heavily criticized for his anti-Semitic stereotypes. He is first introduced and constantly referred to as the Jew during the first thirty-eight chapters of the book, when criticized at the time Dickens stated that Fagan was made Jewish, as from his knowledge and experience of London's street life, the majority of the criminal classes were Jewish. And, quote, he held no feelings towards the Jews but the friendly ones. End quote. Dickens would later redeem the image of the Jewish character in his later novel, Our Mutual Friend. Yeah, you probably should, actually. speaker-1: So apologies if you could hear a little bit of banging going. And popping. And popping. It was fireworks night or Guy Fawkes night like three days ago and they decided to let off the remaining fireworks at ten o'clock at night. speaker-0: Firewall, it's Guy Fawkes Weekend. So, with that being said, I just want to talk about the as I kind of mentioned earlier, there was a pre-musical version, the 1905 stage adaptations of the novel. This is written by Jay Comen's Carr and commissioned by Herbert Beardham Tree. It's a crazy name. but he also really wanted to play Fagan. So the result of this was a five act play which placed particular emphasis on Fagan's character. So it was like Oliver Twist with Fagan being a bit of a main character there. Fagan Support speaker-1: It was actually Fagan with all of us with Yeah. speaker-0: A supporting role of Oliver Turtle. So the play premiered at His Majesty's Theatre in London in July 1905 before officially opening in September. It starred Tree as Fagan, Lynn Harding as Bill Sykes, and Constance Collier as Nancy, running until December. So this was actually quite a decent deal. It also had a Broadway opening in November 1905, but it only ran for three weeks. And a more successful revival followed in nineteen twelve, starring Nat C. Goodwin, alongside Constance Collier and Lynn Harding. So this this actually was quite big for its time. But of course, we move on to the nineteen sixties. speaker-1: So I feel like we can't talk about Oliver the musical without talking about Lionel Bart. Indeed. Who obviously wrote and composed the music and lyrics. That's right. And the book for Oliver. So Lionel Bart was an English composer and writer. Yes. Obviously best known for writing Oliver the Musical. I think it's his only well, only successful speaker-0: Only major. speaker-1: I think, yeah. Born in Stepney. East London, he was the youngest of seven children in a Jewish family. Although recognized for his musical talent from an early age, initially pursued painting before developing his career in music and theatre. Working alongside theatre director Joan Littlewood, Bart helped

shape the development of British musical theatre during the 1960s, at the time when the American musicals were dominating the West End. His success with Oliver earned him a Tony Award for Best Original Score in 1963, and the 1968 film adaptation went on to win six Academy Awards, including Best Picture. Despite being unable to read or write music, Bart created memorable melodies by humming them, which were then translated by composer Eric Rogers. He was later described by Andrew Lloyd Webber. as the father of the modern British musical. speaker-0: Yes. The fact that he was unable to read or write music gives me a lot of hope. speaker-1: Sadly, Lionel Bart's life took a tragic turn. In his desperation to raid's funds for his Robin Hood musical Twang, which heavily flopped, he sold the rights to Oliver for £350. Wow. He sold them to entertainer Max Bygraves, who also sold it for much less than it was eventually worth. Sadly, Bart fell into severe depression and alcoholism. He was declared bankrupt with £73,000 worth of debt. He passed away on 3 April 1999 in Acton, London, of liver failure, completely penniless and destitute. speaker-0: Is so tragic. Of speaker-1: Yeah. speaker-0: all of that, I mean Oliver is a massive deal. speaker-1: Yeah. Yeah, considering how successful Oliver has been, it speaker-0: Yeah, and the film it's crazy to think that he was basically he was like he was homeless as well. Like he speaker-1: Right. Yeah, basically left with nothing in the end. Oliver premiered at the Wimbledon Theatre before opening at the new theatre, now the Nog Howard, on the 30th of June 1960. Directed by Peter Coe with choreography by Malcolm Clare and set and costume designed by Sean Kenny. The production ran for a record-breaking 2,618 performances, making it the longest-running musical in London at the time. Wow. The original cast included Ron Moody as Fagan, Georgia Brown, as Nancy, Danny Sewell as Bill Sykes, Barry Humphreys, of all people, as Mr. Sowerbury, and the roles of Oliver and the Artful Dodger were shared between several young actors, including Phil Collins. Yes. that nobody Phil Collins. Phil Collins. Leonard Whitting. Davy Jones, who later became a member of The Monkeys. Yes. The musical was so successful that it made its Broadway debut at the Imperial Theatre on the sixth of January nineteen sixty three. Produced by David Merrick. The production ran for Only seven hundred and seventy four performances, closing on the fourteenth of november nineteen sixty four. Yeah, so a lot less suc successful. Yeah. But maybe that's just American audiences. speaker-0: weren't vibing with the Victorian England of it all. Is a very British speaker-1: Yeah. Fair enough. So it is a very British musical. speaker-0: musical. How did they do the Cockney accents? I would like to know. I'd like speaker-1: Hehehe speaker-0: to know how they did that. Mm. speaker-1: The cast included Clive Revell as Fagan, Bruce Proshnick as Oliver, George Brown, Caddy Still, and Barry Humphreys reprising their original West End roles as Nancy Bill and Mr. Sowerberry. The Broadway production received ten Tony Award nominations, winning three for Best Scenic Design, Best Original Score, and Best Musical Directions. speaker-0: So it did okay. Yeah. Must have done okay, just didn't have that many performances maybe. speaker-1: Yeah, just didn't yeah, just didn't go down well with the public. Okay. A revival followed in nineteen sixty five at the Martin Beck Theatre, directed by Co. although it ran for only sixty-four performances. speaker-0: Americans can't tell whether they like it or dislike it. speaker-1: I think. Yeah, they wanted a revival but it only ran for sixty four before six. Yeah, they were like, we really speaker-0: They weren't into it. speaker-1: want a revival then once the revival happened they're like No we actually don't want it. speaker-0: We're not enjoying this. This isn't for us. Send it back to the UK. Yeah. speaker-1: It's too British. speaker-0: So now we move on to the film, the musical film that is Oliver. Directed by Carol Reed and obviously based on Lalel Bart's nineteen sixty stage musical. Film stars Mark Lester as Oliver, alongside Ron Moody, who reprises his role once again because he's so good in that film. He's fantastic. speaker-1: Yeah. I he yeah, he's so iconic. speaker-0: He really is. Yeah. And another really iconic actor, British actor, Oliver Reed, who plays Bill Sykes, and he was absolutely terrifying in that film. Shanny Wallace as Nancy and Jack Wilde as the artful dodger. It was filmed in Shepperton Studios in Surrey and it was produced by John Wolfe and distributed by Columbia Pictures. The film was a major commercial success, earning approximately 40 million worldwide. Yes. In the UK, it enjoyed an impressive 90-week run, attracting around 5 million viewers nationwide. Wow. Mega. Major film. It also received widespread critical acclaim as well as 11 Academy Award nominations in 1969 ceremony. Winning six, including Best Picture and Best Director for Carol Reed, also winning two Golden Globe Awards, including Best Motion Picture and Best Musical or Comedy, and Best Actor for Ron Moody. And I'm pretty sure Jack Wilde, who played the Artful Dodger, also won an Academy Award as well for Best Supporting Actor. And it also earned him a BAFTA and a Golden Globe nomination as well. So very, very cool. So I do think this film remains a staple in in musical theatres British musical theatre for young people. speaker-1: Yeah, it's definitely as I said, it's like the entry level musical, especially for children. speaker-0: Yes, that's right. We all know Where is Love. We've all sung Where is Love. We still do. Our singing teachers hated it. But yes, speaker-1: Yeah. speaker-0: and this film is is so great. Do you know the th the one of the most memorable things for this film in this film for me? Nancy's red dress. Mm. That colour with like the sort of sixties hue Yeah on the T V

is really stuck in my head. Yeah. I love it. speaker-1: even mentioned that Mark Lester, who played Oliver. His speaker-0: yeah. speaker-1: voice god, who who did the voice it was was it like the director's daughter or something? It speaker-0: So yes, yes it was. He speaker-1: was the voice of Oliver. speaker-0: Yeah, so when he's he's singing Where is love? When he's locked in the in that cellar, it's not him. Yes. my god. That's true. Yes. speaker-1: Yeah, or hoo who's actually speaker-0: my god, very true. So let's move on to revivals now with the West End and Broadway revival of the early eighties. In nineteen eighty-three, producer Cameron McIntosh revived Oliver for a four-week Christmas season in the Old Witch. Theatre directed by Peter Coe. And Ron Moody once again returned as Fagan. He can't get away from this role. No. He loves it. That's it. Fair speaker-1: Yeah, once you find your role you're good at, you're gonna play it for the rest of your life apparently. speaker-0: enough. Alongside Jackie Marks as Nancy and Lionel Haft as Bill Sykes. The production reused Sean Kenny's original set designs. I think this is quite cool. Seems like a a nice revival with, bringing back wrong moody, bringing back the design. That's right, yeah. speaker-1: And the and the same directors. Peter really just liked directing Oliver. speaker-0: Well, they come back to they also go to Broadway. So the production transferred to Broadway in nineteen eighty four at the Mark Hellinger Theatre, with Moody egg once again reprising his role as Fagan, because fair enough. And Patty Lapone playing Nancy. Of course she did. Of course she did. So again the original creative staff were used for this production, including Peter Coe. He loves it. They all love it. I mean, imagine going off on a bit of a tangent here, but imagine being part of this musical. You don't want to not be part of it. Mmm. It's Yeah, speaker-1: Yeah, especially in those those early days. speaker-0: it must have been magical. However, it was a short-lived closing after just 17 performances. speaker-1: What? speaker-0: That's crazy to me. I'm so upset by that. Lapone, in her memoirs, because of course she did, said that the production should have run longer, which is to be fair, I agree with. Noting that this production utilized the original set's costumes and blocking staging of and direction and commented, hmm, maybe that was the problem. But I don't think s I don't know. I think the problem is, sadly, that it just Broadway just wasn't into it. speaker-1: Yeah, Americans really just didn't speaker-0: They didn't like it at all. speaker-1: like Lapone had something to say. She always has something to say. speaker-0: She has a lot to say. And fair enough. Maybe. So Lapone, speaking of, had asked the show's musical director to change her keys because they were too low for her, but was told that she could not. She wrote that she had major battles with the musical director, one concerning the term Vamp. Quote, He never waited for me to finish my dialogue. But who knows. speaker-1: Patty Lipo. speaker-0: Who'd have thought? Despite mixed reviews, Moody received a Tony Award nomination for his performance as Fagin, because of course he did. He is Fagan. He's the best one. The next revival I want to talk about is the a major revival of of Oliver that opened at Theatre Royale in Jury Lane in January 2009. Produced by Cameron McIntosh and directed by Rupert Gould. With Matthew Bourne as choreographer and director, Matthew Bourne being the major ballet choreographer. So this I've obviously I didn't see it. Must have been spectacular to watch. The production was largely based on the successful nineteen ninety-four Palladium revival with updated set designs and arrangements. The cast included Rowan Atkinson as Fagan. Incredible work. Yes. Yeah. 'Cause if it's not Ron Moody, it should be Rowan Atkinson. Mm-hmm. speaker-1: He was grey in the role. speaker-0: I bet he was. He gives off a little bit of a Fagan vibe speaker-1: Yeah, he does. speaker-0: in some of his act in other acting. Burn Gorman as a Bill Sykes and Jodie Prenger and Tamzin Carroll sharing the role of Nancy. Several young performers share the role of Oliver and the artful dodger as well, as most young performers do, like child performers, there's always a few. The production received three Olivier Award nominations in 2010, including Best Revival of a Musical and Best Actor for Atkinson, of course. Other actors later took over the role as Fagan and Bill Sykes, including Ahmed Jalili and Griff Reese Jones. Original Fagan, Ron Moody, also made a special appearance in June 2010 to celebrate the 50th anniversary, and the production closed. On the 8th of January 2011. speaker-1: I speaker-0: Fair enough. Fair enough. What a legend. We should talk a little bit about Jody Pringer, who shared the role of Nancy, which leads onto my fun next little bit. I wanted to talk about the I'd do anything, which was the BBC One Talent Show broadcast. Now we've talked about a similar thing with Maria. speaker-1: Yeah, this yeah, this was a big thing at the time. They did all the major revivals had that sort of reality TV show accompanying them. speaker-0: Musical theatre reality TV should come back because actually that was quite worth watching. speaker-1: Yeah, the only reality TV show I actually like. speaker-0: Literally. I'd do anything was of course the BBC One talent show. this was created to find new unknown actress to play whatever the musical was being put on at the time. And for this one was to play Nancy and three young performers to share the role of Oliver. which would of course be in Cameron McIntosh's West End revival of Oliver in two thousand and nine that we've just spoken about. The series premiered in on the fifteenth of march two thousand and eight and was hosted by Graham Norton, with Andrew Lloyd Webber and Cameron McIntosh overseeing the competition. And the judging panel included John Barriman, Denise Van Alten, and Barry Humphreys. There you go. Who, if you remember from bep before, played the original Mr. Sowbury? Jodie Pringer was announced as the winner. on the thirty-first of May 2008, securing the role of Nancy, which she shared. However, I also want to mention the runners up because it's incredible. In second place, you have Jessie Buckley, who is now a big Hollywood actress. And she did she did quite well. And in third place, Samantha Bark. speaker-1: Yeah, you know what happened to Samantha Box. speaker-0: That's crazy to me. So yeah, really, really, really talented girls. There were so many more. There was l there were loads and loads of girls. And actually quite further down the line you had recognizable names, which was quite amazing. speaker-1: Yeah, these whole reality TV series, not only the I Do Anything, but the Maria one, the Dorothy one so many, especially current West End, really big actresses came from those shows. speaker-0: That's right. Lastly, I think we should talk about the most recent production of Oliver. speaker-1: Still haven't seen that. speaker-0: No, and we need to see it. we really should go and see it. And it's actually running until March twenty twenty seven, so we have a little bit of time. So this was another Cameron McIntosh production, which premiered at the Chichester Festival Theatre. In July 2024, before transferring to the West End's Gulligerd Theatre, where previews began on December 2024 and officially opened in the 14th of January 2025. This is a revised by Macintosh production and directed and choreographed once again by Matthew Bourne. The production features Simon Lipkin as Fagan speaker-1: Yeah. speaker-0: I've heard some incredible stuff. I've seen some some stuff as well, which and he's he's like absolutely fantastic. Sinee Holmes as Nancy. Hmm. I should we give it away? No, speaker-1: Yeah. speaker-0: we won't. But we well we have to now. speaker-1: I mean, maybe if you listen next week you might hear a familiar name. speaker-0: Yes. And maybe you should just listen next week anyway. maybe, maybe not. Shinee Holmes might be there. Who knows? Aaron Sidwell as Bill Sykes and Billy Jenkins as the artful dodger. So the revival received and continues to receive positive reviews and is scheduled to run until, as I said, March next year, twenty twenty seven, as you're listening to this episode. Notable cast replacements have included Ava Brennan as Nancy and Matt Lucas as Fagin. speaker-1: Yeah, yeah, he's taking over maternity leave for Simon Adam Lipkin. Yeah. speaker-0: So yes, we gave the game away. But next week we will be talking to the absolutely incredible Shinee Holmes about her experience as Nancy in the current Quest End production. speaker-1: Yes, so join us next week for that amazing interview. yes. Thank you for joining us for this episode of Unstaged and we'll speaker-0: See you soon.