Oliver Reviews

Tracey from UK

OLIVER

Went to watch Oliver at the weekend and as a great fan of Oliver I must say the show was fantastic! Omid Diajili was excellent as Fagin and had great view from seats in the upper circle. only quibble was that it was exceptionally hot in the theatre, but appart from that all was excellent. Jodie was brilliant as Nancy as were all the cast especially the children. It was my sons first theatre show and at 11 he was dubious about it, but came away v happy and enjoyed it immensly.definately a must see show!!

Sarah Talbot from UK

DJALILI AND DODGER AND PAULE CONSTABLE

My six yr old daughter, my 13yr old godson and I loved the show on december 12th 2009 matinee. I am a professional classical singer and I was disappointed by the general trend for belting every song. Bill Sikes' power is surely enhanced by decent, focussed singing, despite the loutish character. See Richard van Allen's performance on cd. Jodie Prenger also shouted all the time and even Oliver's innocence was compromised by belting Where is Love? Omid Djalili was tremendous as was Dodger and the little chap who danced with Fagin. Paule Constable's lighting was triumphant.

Arianna from London

GREAT BUT IF I KNEW I WOULD NOT HAVE TAKEN MY CHILDREN

I went today to the matinee performance, with my parents, my husband and my three children, aged 4, 7 and 9. Overall we enjoyed the show but found very disturbing the continued mimicked depraved sex by various couples in the Three Cripples pub's scene. We all felt it did not add anything to the show and on the contrary it made it very vulgar and definitely something I never wished my children should see. I don't understand why an edited version could not be used for the matinee performances, where obviously lots of children are very likely to be in the audience. Also, I had to cover my 4-yr old daughter's eyes while Bill Sikes brutally (and repeatedly) clubs Nancy to death. That scene also took lots of commenting and explaining in the car back home. Overall, yes it is a fantastic show but it's not appropriate for children. I hope this review helps other parents as when I looked at reviews before booking, I didn't find anywhere that the show was not family-friendly.

Nancy Wrench and Ronald Dunbar from Northampton

NANCY AND RONALD

We went to see Oliver on 21st.January and we thought it excellent, the children really made the show. We were rather disappointed in Jodie's performance as she didnot portray Nancy in the true sense and she only appeared in the second half. The song "As long as he needs me" should have been a show stopper and, to us, was not professional enough.

David from Redcar UK.

MARRED BY SECOND ACT OPENING

I saw the OMID DJALILI version of "Oliver" in September 2009. Seats in row G centre stalls were excellent. I am please we bought top price. The first half was a joy as other patrons agreed. However the curtain went up after the interval and there was a scene of absolute debauchery being enacted on stage. It is true that it was a reflection of real life in Victorian London but did we have to endure this as part of a family Musical? It was definitely NOT suitable for young children's eyes and my sister was highly embarrassed as I was. Go alone; if you can put up with this tasteless scene for 15 minutes as the rest of the show is an absolute joy. A general comment on ticket availability for all shows is that the theatres put the worst seats on sale first to panic people into buying side seats, restricted views etc. because they think all the others are sold out. When the worst are sold the best seats are put online and they sell themselves.For best seat buy in person at box office.

Rose from London

MY FAVOURITE LINE

Really enjoyed the show. I was disappointed that my favourite line was not delivered with enough conviction on wednesday night. Please could we have a bit more conviction with "shut up and drink your gin"

W Hilton from Sydney Australia

OLIVER WAS FUN AND UPLIFTING

Came all the way from Oz in October 09 to experience a show at Drury Lane. The choreography, music and singing of the children was superbly synchronied. The set was spectacular and Fagan's ad libs were hilarious. Even from the balconies the solos were exhilarating and tragic. However beware of Germans translating every word to their non English speaking child as the staff will do nothing to improve the situation. We had to move, and they followed us!!!! Even so it was a wonderful night. I recommend the show for every age, but better if you are English speaking.

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