Omid Djalili takes over as Fagin at tomorrow night’s (July 20th 2009) performance of Oliver! There’s a super interview with him in The Sunday Independent. In it we learn that Omid is not Muslim, as many people assume, but a member of the Bah’ai faith. He talks about playing a Jewish character and says: “I think that if you’re playing a Jewish character, and if you can find the truth of something in that character, then that’s OK,” It sounds like his Fagin will be quite different to Rowan Atkinson’s interpretation. The interviewer says: it is a genuine shock when Fagin himself walks into the dressing-room. As Lionel Bart’s musical take on Dickens’s most ‘orrible villain, he is sullen, scowling and deeply scary. “I’m so pleased you like the look!” he says as I recoil from his handshake and the make-up lady begins to wipe away the bruised circles under his eyes. I wouldn’t say I “like” it: the look is chilling. It will frighten children. I think this bodes very well for the production. Fagin should slightly give you the chills, he’s not a cosy character and he should make us uneasy. So if you go to Oliver! and see Omid Djalili please leave us a comment and tell us what you think of the new Fagin.

a Oliver! Good Luck to the New Fagin

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Oliver! will have a new Fagin a little sooner than expected.

Russ Abbots as Fagin

Russ Abbot will take over as Fagin from April 13. Rowan Atkinson has been forced to pull out for three weeks to undergo surgery for a hernia. He’s hoped to be back on stage by April 27. A statement from a spokesperson for the show said: “Rowan has been nursing the problem for a few weeks but it flared up badly whilst on a break with his family this week. He has cut short his holiday to fly back to have surgery immediately to speed the recovery process…..The condition, whilst neither serious nor dangerous, is extremely painful and prevents normal movement, making performing impossible.” Russ Abbot played the role of Fagin in the 1997 production and also in a couple of touring productions.

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Oliver! is now booking through to February 2010 to meet the increasing demand for tickets. News that Omid Djalili will taking over the role of Fagin from Rowan Atkinson in July has not made any difference to booking levels. For many people the easiest way to get tickets for the dates you want will be to book them as part of an Oliver theatre break.

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Iranian comedian Omid Djalili will replace Rowan Atkinson in the role of Fagin in Oliver! from July 20th Mackintosh said in the Stage today “Oliver! has been a success beyond my wildest dreams and I’m thrilled that Rowan Atkinson has had such a tremendous triumph in a role I always thought he was born to play. The only way to follow such a unique performance is with a talent just as unique, yet entirely different. No one could fulfil this criteria better than Omid Djalili. “Omid started his career as an actor but was soon to become a major television star and one of the funniest comic actors and writers in Britain, who regularly plays unforgettable cameos in movies. It is his ability to inhabit his characters with such comic energy and wily cunning that will make his Fagin his own. Undoubtedly the first Iranian ever to portray Dicken’s legendary Jewish creation, we all look forward to him becoming part of the family in July.” This should be interesting! I think he’s a good comic actor but I didn’t know he could sing.

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Rowan Atkinson has recently had to miss two performances of Oliver the musical in which he plays Fagin, due to a strained voice, but he has fully recovered and is now back at work. Rowan Atkinson has performed in the musical since mid-December alongside Jodie Prenger as Nancy and Gwion Jones, Harry Stott and Laurence Jeffcoate as alternate Olivers.

Oliver the musical is set to run and run but Rowan Atkinson will continue in the role of Fagin until 18 July 2009 with one short holiday from 26th March to 5 April. Tickets for shows in March and April are running out fast but there are still good dates available  for theatre breaks to see Oliver

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Oliver Reviews Oliver! the musical has opened at last in London, the critics’ reviews are in and it seems like a good moment for Reviewing the Situation. The Daily Mail’s Review Quentin Letts seems to have really enjoyed Oliver! He lavishes praise on almost all the major performers. Drury Lane has known more tuneful musical stars in its long history, but the grand old temple of dreams can seldom have played host to one with such a God-given gift for comedy. Rowan Atkinson, playing that warped scoutmaster Fagin, was the eyebrow-wriggling, funnywalking, laugh-wringing supremo on Wednesday night when Lionel Bart’s wonderful musical opened at the Theatre Royal He also enjoyed Jodie Prenger’s Nancy saying she: stands up to the test like a sturdy galleon…… She swings her big hips and heaves her all into the role I’m sure he means well but poor Jodie! Ouch! He enjoyed Harry Stott’s performance as Oliver and Ross McCormac’s Artful Doger is also picked out : This child seems to have been born to dance and skip and wink and swagger at an audience. His final verdict: Anyone who needs cheering up - and after recent jobs news, heaven knows, that probably means most of us - should get along to Drury Lane sharpish and catch this humdinger of a night. Verdict: More please, Sir Cameron I think he liked it! The Times Oliver Review Benedict Nightingale is very positive as well. He describes Rowan Atikinson’s Fagin as: not an old Bean but an infinitely creepy criminal with lank hair, a yellow face and a sinister, silvery glint in his eyes. He wasn’t so sure about Jodie at first but she convinced him in the end: Initially she struck me as parading, posturing, performing rather than acting, but she went on to prove herself a tough, coarse, credible presence with a big, robust voice — and that’s all that is needed. He picks out Burn Gorman’s Sikes as: a particular success, a pale, quiet figure who threatens more with his stillness than with his cudgel. He also makes particular mention of “Anthony Ward’s splendidly atmospheric sets” The Guardian Oliver Review Michael Billington describes Rowan Atkinson’s Fagin as “a saturnine comic presence” saying: Rowan Atkinson turns in a sprightly, distinctive performance…….Atkinson’s Fagin may be essentially comic but he endows the character with a camply sinister edge. He seems to have enjoyed Jodie Prenger’s performance and in particular her interpretation of Nancy’s big numbers As long As He Needs Me and Oom-Pa-Pa Mr. Billington’s main issue seem to be with Bart’s interpretation of Dickens and the very musical itself. Dickens’ book Oliver Twist gives a grim view of Victorian London which Oliver! tends to glide over. He says: too many of the characters are ciphers, and the plot is largely a device for getting the numbers on That is something that could be said of many musicals, I’m afraid. Oliver Reviews: The Independent Michael Coveny reviewing Oliver for The Independent has fewer qualms about Bart’s musical but is less convinced by Jodie Prenger. The moment Prenger appears, I’m afraid, the heart sinks. She seems to be hiding from the audience. Her voice is okay, but she can’t act and she doesn’t have the depth of lung power to fill a plastic bag, let alone a West End theatre on a nightly basis. “As Long As He Needs Me,” one of the great theatre songs of our time, is a total embarrassment compounded by a naff downstage centre rush for applause. Ouch! He’s a little bit kinder to Rowan Atkinson but not much: Long-haired and slithery like a Semitic toad, he weighs his options with a Mr Bean-style blubberiness, tugging at his lower lip and casting malignant glances to the wings. He’s funniest when fingering his stolen gems, or kicking his legs above his head in a sideways exit. But he’s not a malevolent, gleeful, stage-hogging, dubiously paedophiliac monster that you long for and Lionel Bart wrote, even if Charles Dickens didn’t. There seems to have only been one lead performance that he really enjoyed: ….the Artful Dodger was played by Ross McCormack, and he was terrific. The absolute centre of the show is “Consider Yourself” in Clerkenwell, as the Dodger’s gang materialise from inside a statue of a top-hatted worthy and the whole city erupts in a series of knees-ups and key changes, beautifully lit by Paule Constable. Your Opinions So what do you think? Have you seen Oliver! yet? Are the critics’ Oliver reviews  right or are you baffled by them?

a Oliver! Reviews and Opinions

Oliver The Musical on the TV and Radio Next Tuesday, the 13th of January 2009 we will be able to take a peek behind the scenes at Oliver! The Musical on ITV1’s This Morning, and listen in to The Today Programme on BBC Radio 4 for interviews with Rowan Atkinson, Cameron Mackintosh, Rupert Goold and Matthew Bourne and also watch the BBC news for a special report on the official opening of the much awaited production.

a Behind The Scenes of Oliver! The Musical