Cameron Mackintosh's Oliver!

Thanks, I don't need info on it. I just wanted opinions. All you chatters seem to be pretty well informed and was just curious if people had any thoughts about it. I mean it toured for over 18months and played every major clear channel market so I am sure there are people on here who saw it.

Ok.....well...no choice but to skip it. The show closed on March 20th in W. Palm Beach. Who's performances did you enjoy and in what city did you see it?

Renata is amazing! She will be joining "We Will Rock You" in Vegas.

She will definitely be in by July, she is currently in rehearsals.

Unfortunately Justin was before my time, so I know nothing of his goings on. Although, I imagine he is just enjoying being a kid.

I didn't catch it, but I heard he was great!

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Is this the one directed by Sam Mendes? I saw the production in 1999 when it was making its North American premiere in Toronto; at this time everyone thought it was going to go to Broadway. This was the same production that had played at the London Palladium a few years back (1996?). It was absolutely dazzling, with a few star names in the lead roles. The show had the polished spectacle and honed energy of a fresh new megaproduction, and the cast of children were spectacular. The production also had one of the most impressive set designs I had ever seen (I believe it was designed by Anthony Ward?); at one point, half the stage split and was raised up 20 feet to reveal Fagin's elaborate hideout below.

I believe the show never made it to Broadway because of Equity issues (they had to pay all those children the same rate as adult performers, and they were quite a few of them). The current tour, from what I've heard, is an extremely scaled-down and bastardized version of the glorious production that had opened in 1999.

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Updated On: 5/14/05 at 09:36 PM

This non-Equity production wasn't the first national tour, was it?

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This show was always in trouble. A friend of mine whi lives in NYC went to an open call for Fagin. They had another open call the next month. Then had another Fagin open call two months later.

You get the idea?

But they never replaced the guy! No wonder it closed.

I know a lot about this production, having seen it at least 5 times because the artful dodger (Andrew Blau) is my cousin. Justin Pareira lives in MD now, and did Christmas Carol at Ford's Theatre last year. In Oliver, Justin's acting was good but by the end of his run he looked totally miscast...he is definitely not a "mealy" boy. If i may say so, my cousin was the highlight of the show...Renata Renee Wilson was very talented but her performances often fell flat. She was/is dating Shane who played Bill Sykes, so supposedly both her and his performances varied depending on what personal issues they were having. Mark McCraken was obviously a comedic actor, and portrayed Fagin more as a witty old man, which worked for me but not a lot of other people. Ryan Tutton grew SO much in the role from when he first started, and by the end he was very good. The big scenes were beautiful, and i really enjoyed all the little kids performances because they had so much energy,

this isnt meant to be rude or anything, ASOOS, but why are you so interested in this particular production, and a little bit defensive? Are you like an undercover Oliver tour cast member or something?