Oliver! was the first musical adaptation of a famous Charles Dickens work to become a stage hit. There had been two previous Dickens musicals in the 1950s, both of them television … 展开

• Oliver Twist, the main character of the story. He is a lonely orphan boy born in the workhouse who asks for more gruel.
• Fagin, a conniving career criminal, takes in homeless boys and teaches them to pick pockets for him. 展开

The score of Oliver! has been recorded numerous times. There are cast recordings (on compact disc) available for the original London and Broadway productions as well as for … 展开

Act I
The musical opens in the workhouse, as the half-starved orphan boys are entering the enormous dining hall for supper. They are fed only gruel, but find some solace by imagining a richer menu ("Food Glorious Food"). Oliver gathers up … 展开

Original London production
Oliver! premiered at the Wimbledon Theatre for a preliminary engagement before opening at the New Theatre (now the Noël Coward Theatre) on 30 June 1960 and ran for 2,618 performances, a record for a musical in … 展开

In 1968, the show was adapted for film, with a screenplay by Vernon Harris and direction by Carol Reed. It starred original Fagin Ron Moody with Jack Wild, Shani Wallis, 展开

The following table gives the principal casting information for the major productions (both original and revival) of Oliver!.
Notable replacements 展开