By Neil Durham

WORTH A LOOK?: ****

WHEN?: Saturday 2 August 2025 (matinee), runs through March 29 2026

It’s the songs that are the stars of this musical which won 6 Oscars in its 1968 film version and it’s hard not to raise a smile at a tune like Consider Yourself which rhymes ‘uppity’ and ‘cup’o’tea’.

• Read on for reasons including how this musical’s dazzling future is well-placed in the hands of a cast featuring Billy Jenkins

Consider Yourself is also the Act 1 song where titular orphan Oliver Twist, the title of the original 1838 Charles Dickens novel on which this musical is based, meets the Artful Dodger, Billy Jenkins arguably giving this production’s stand-out performance, who introduces him to the gang of pickpockets blighting Victorian London run by ‘fence’ Fagin.

We last saw Oliver! in 2009 at Theatre Royal Drury Lane where Graham Norton-hosted casting show I’d Do Anything saw the production’s Nancy triumph as Jodie Prenger with Jessie Buckley (Cabaret, Kit Kat Club, Playhouse Theatre) as runner up.

Nancy, performed with real sass and in fine voice by Shanay Holmes here, takes pity on the young Oliver to the annoyance of her violent boyfriend Bill Sikes and it’s this element of the story that we find ourselves most drawn to with her numbers including the joyously saucy Oom-Pah-Pah and tragic As Long As He Needs Me.

Simon Lipkin (The Lorax, Old Vic) gives a memorable performance as Fagin and it’s about time this musical made his character the star of the show but, while You’ve Got To Pick A Pocket Or Two is choreographed more brightly than the handkerchiefs that feature overwhelmingly there, the focus given to Reviewing The Situation isn’t justified by the song’s merits.

Katy Secombe won our Best Theatre Supporting Actress monsta in 2023 and it’s a nice symmetry that her father Harry played Mr Bumble in that 1968 Oscar-winning film.

It’s hard to describe quite how difficult to miss that film was in our youth and we couldn’t help but identify with innocent Oliver who breaks workhouse convention by asking: ‘Please sir may I have some more sir?’ after a spoonful of gruel didn’t quite match the promise of opening number Food, Glorious Food.

The joy with which he sings Who Will Buy? (This Wonderful Morning) was also captivating after the orphan appears somehow to have fallen back into the life that was intended for him.

Director Matthew Bourne (Stephen Sondheim’s Old Friends) gives us a revolve and a staging that makes the most of the height offered by the Gielgud Theatre especially during the dramatic show climax where the London Bridge features prominently.

This production isn’t quite the juggernaut it was in 2009 but it does provide a thoughtful stage for its enviable songbook.

The cast is top-notch without being overloaded by stars and the inclusion of Secombe, 1 of our favourite character actresses, is a generous nod to this show’s glittering past.

Its dazzling future is also well-placed in the hands of a cast featuring Billy Jenkins even if we didn’t quite appreciate the focus given to Fagin.

• Main pictures by Johan Perrson via Facebook courtesy DMT Tickets
• Have you seen Oliver! before and what did you think of this production? Let us know what you thought in the comments below
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