As announced in today’s Haniotika Nea, this weekend will see a production of the musical Oliver! at the Mikis Theodorakis Theatre in Chania:
Following last year’s performance of “Abba: the Musical”, the talented children of the Youth Choir of the Municipality of Chania are presenting “Oliver: the Musical”, based on Charles Dickens’ novel Oliver Twist, at the Mikis Theodorakis Theatre on Saturday 17/02 at 7.00 pm and on Sunday 18/02 at 6.00 pm.
The plot
We are in England around the year 1850, in a poorhouse where a young woman finds refuge. Years later, in the same place, orphan children are standing in line for a bowl of gruel. Among them is the young Oliver who dares to ask for some more gruel. The couple in charge of the poorhouse, the harsh Mr Bumble and the heartless Widow Corney, punish him by selling him to the funeral parlour of the Sowerberry family. There Oliver cannot bear the insults of an employee, Noah Claypole, and runs away, ending up on the dark streets of London …
Contributors to the production
Adaptation of the libretto: Astrinos Michelakis
Arrangement of songs and musical direction: Nikos Perakis
Direction: Maria Myroti
Choreography-Movement: Polymnia Asariotaki
Scenery: Lambrini Boriatsou
Piano/keyboards: Afroditi Mitsotaki
Poster-Programmes: Michalis Tsirakis
Technical assistance: Board of the Association of Parents and Friends of the Chidren’s-Youth Choir of the Municipality of Chania.
Free invitations with individually numbered seats will be issued from the KAM-Megalo Arsenali on Thursday 15/02 and Friday 16/02 from 10.00 am to 12.00 noon, and one hour before the start of each performance, outside the Mikis Theodorakis Theatre.
One of the most successful British musicals of all time, Oliver! was first produced in 1960 and ran for 2,618 performances in London’s West End, while the New York production ran on Broadway for nearly two years. A 1968 film adaptation, directed by Carol Reed, won six Academy Awards including Best Picture.
The book, music and lyrics were by Lionel Bart, the British songwriter who composed many popular hits during the 1960s and 70s. Brought up in London’s East End, Bart was the son of Polish/Ukrainian Jews whose family had escaped the pogroms of the Russian Civil War. The music for Oliver! was transcribed by English composer-arranger Eric Rogers, to whom Bart hummed the melodies as he could not read or write music.
The musical is perennially popular with both professional and amateur companies, and is a natural choice for youth theatre groups as many of the cast, including the hero, are children.