Please, Sir, may I have some more about ‘Oliver!’?
The history of the play
 

It all began with the novel, of course. Charles Dickens’ Oliver Twist was first published
serially in 1838 and became a classic of English literature.

The musical Oliver! – the creation of Lionel Bart, who wrote the book, music and lyrics — began its epoch-making run in London on June 30, 1960, and closed Sept. 9, 1966, after its 2,618th performance, making it the longest running British musical to that date. In the more than six years of its run in London, Oliver! gave employment to a dozen Artful Dodgers and Olivers. Surprisingly, after a six-month hiatus, the musical reopened in London on May 1, 1967, with an entirely new cast and production – again to sellout crowds.

Producer David Merrick, who liked to specialize in bringing London successes to New York, made an early bid for the U.S. rights to Oliver! and imported some members of the original London cast for an American run in 1962 (while replacements continued in London).

Merrick decided to give the show a prolonged out-of-town run before submitting the show to New York theatergoers, so he opened it in Los Angeles in August. It then toured to San Francisco and 10 other cities before its Broadway opening, scheduled for Dec. 27.
New York was at that time in the grip of a crippling newspaper strike. In hopes of a settlement – and the return of those all-important theater reviews — Merrick postponed the opening of the show (all the while running full-price “previews”) to Jan. 6, 1963. The strike continued into April, however.

During this press blackout, when theatergoers had to grope their way through radio and television announcements to know what shows were running and where, the newspaper critics continued to attend opening nights, and some even read their reviews over the radio or on TV (with such dismal delivery that there was joy in the hearts of all the actors those critics had been roasting). They even allowed their reviews to be reprinted in a special sheet sold on the otherwise empty newsstands.

This was the case with Oliver! But although this limited coverage of opening nights was a serious, and in some cases fatal, handicap for many shows during the 15-week-long strike, Oliver! was not hurt at all, but drew capacity houses immediately, and for 97 weeks in all. The show’s New York run covered 774 performances up to its closing on Nov. 14, 1964, after which it achieved long runs in Chicago, Washington, and other cities during the course of a major tour. It returned to New York for a second engagement in the fall of 1965 – all the while still another company had trouped the show across America to over a hundred smaller cities via bus-and-truck.

Tony Award nominations for Oliver! were plentiful and in the spring of 1963, Lionel Bart took honors for his music and lyrics.

The 1968 film version of Oliver!, adapted by Bart, garnered six Oscars including Best Picture, Best Director, Best Art Direction and Best Score. Choreographer Onna White was given a special award for her work on the film.

The show was given a major revival on Broadway in 1984. The production was a close reproduction of the original British version. Critical reaction was mixed, and the show enjoyed only a brief run. Ron Moody, who had originated the role of Fagin in London as well as on film, was nominated for a Tony for outstanding performance by an actor in a musical.

In December 1994, a very successful revival opened in London starring Jonathan Pryce as Fagin and produced by Cameron Mackintosh.