Somehow in 43 years I've managed never to see Oliver! on stage or on screen. I had heard most of the music before, but only excerpted. Well, my second "!" musical didn't live up to it's punctuation. I'm sorry Mr. Bart but your adaptation of Charles Dickens didn't make me kick up my heels. I blame the beautiful Chicago weather right now, making me wish to be outside rather than DVD-side.
The film adaptation of Oliver! won the Academy Award for Best Picture, and with strong production values, a cast of thousands, choruses of adorable tykes, lively choreography, and interesting and varied camera positions, there are plenty of reasons why. But the performances and songs don't really sing for me. "Where is Love" could be a pretty song if it were given to a more polished singer than Mark Lester as Oliver. Mostly I just wished for more sophisticated music--at least a contrasting B section. The one exception to my complaint may be "As Long as He Needs Me" which is lovely. I do have a problem getting past the very co-dependent nature of the song and the relationship between Nancy and Bill. As played by Oliver Reed, Bill looks like the Wolverine of his day, and manages quite a bit of sex-appeal, just like the Wolverine of my day, Hugh Jackman. Not in the film is Bill's song "My Name" which I need to find a recording of, because I don't know it.
Bart seems to have been a one-hit wonder. The Broadway database lists one other show he wrote, called La Strada, which closed after one night. Included in the cast were Bernadette Peters and Larry Kert. There are so many books on Broadway hits; is there a book on Broadway flops?
Oliver!
Music, Lyrics, and Book by Lionel Bart
Based on Oliver Twist by Charles Dickens
Film directed by Carol Reed
Released in 1968
Cast: Ron Moody, Shani Wallis, Jack Wild, Oliver Reed, Mark Lester, Harry Secombe
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1 comment:
There's a terrific book about Broadway flops called Not Since Carrie. It's by Ken Mandelbaum. It was published in 1992.
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