Oliver! - Chichester Festival Theatre / Gielgud

If going to an evening performance the car park is free after 8pm, so only have to pay up to 8pm. However the car park is a nightmare to get out of after a Festival Theatre show.

On the bypass going into Chichester there’s a nice Lidls, you cannot beat their bakery. Didn’t know about the Co-op, I have to check it out. Usually use the Tesco Metro near the station, if going by train, with a visit to Caffè Nero thrown in.

The only theatre where I have been told off for joining in with a standing ovation as the person behind couldn't see.

I got “told off” for joining a standing ovation at Leeds Playhouse after a matinee of My Fair Lady. I apologised and afterwards had a nice chat with the couple behind me.

How creatives ignore the sides of the Festival theatre is onE of my bugbears

There are many things to like about this production of Oliver, namely the orchestrations which are stunning. Simon Lipkin's Fagin is superb, Oscar Conlon-Morrey's Bumble is a lesson in comic timing and Aaron Sidwell's Bill Sykes is concentrated explosive anger. Raphael Korniets played Oliver tonight beautifully. The set will work much better in London - good use of the dual revolve though possible over-reliance at times, especially rotating the central scenery repeatedly. I was waiting for barricades and "Do you Hear The People Sing"... It's much darker than recent west end versions, but there's more attention to detail in the actual characterisations. I loathe the panto-creep that is happening with shows - playing for cheap laughs, and the Thenardification of the Bumbles is just a cheap Mackintosh enhancement. All in all, the production values are faultless and it's 3.5 stars from me (rounded up to 4). This show will sit better in London but there's not enough in it to make me return and pay £150 for a decent stalls ticket.

You do get that in this production..

Neil Morrissey did it when it toured. Including inserting “Bob The Builder” references. I left at the interval. 

At the Sheffield Crucible once there was a production of Cherry Orchard which had (ancient comedian) Eric Sykes cast as the ancient servant Firs. It was a traditional Chekhov production. On his first entrance Sykes walked downstage and looked around and said "I've never played a snooker hall before". This anecdote is often offered up in support of the proposition that Sykes was a national treasure but I'm with the producers who fired off an immediate heavy-duty complaint to Sykes' agent - it's a form of egomania really, the thought that the character is secondary to the actor playing them. 

Yes, it's a fair point about the "who will change the scene for me" - all I can say is to go and see this production.  There's a huge amount to like about it and I think it will get good reviews.   The Bumbles in this production are excellent (Oscar Conlon-Morrey and Katy Secombe) - they work well together delivering some great comedy.  However in the second half particularly, this production borrows/steals from Les Mis (which I know Bart's Oliver inspired).   Tbh, I'm not sure Cameron Mackintosh's revisions were necessary - strikes me as somewhat egotistical to feel the need to tinker the way that he does, sacrificing threads pulled through from Dickens for expedience at the expense of depth of plot/storytelling.  In my view, the revolve is over-used, the projections don't suit CFT but will definitely work well at the Gielgud, and it is clear that this is definitely a show that will eventually tour.  The star of this show is the music and that, perhaps, is exactly what the creative team wanted, and the decent sized band of 12 playing 26 instruments definitely does the score justice.

With how expensive the Gielgud run is, I´d expect a much larger band than 12 players. It´s made me want to see it even less.

I saw this last night and really enjoyed it. I thought Simon Lipkin, was a really good Fagin and he did a great ad lib without really missing a beat. I was sat in Row B at the right of the stage as you look at it, right on the aisle (towards the front not the side wall) and I felt like I was missing stuff as things were out of view. It’s a shame as these are seat I always sit in and never had a problem before. I am returning to a more central seat in a few weeks.
Edit: for anyone who has seen this, just before Act 2 when they actors come on stage singing in the pub. Were they playing Fings Ain’t Wot They Used T’be on the piano. Or where my ears deceiving me? 

Following the sheet music which is updated orchestrations and contains some lovely surprises - hard to explain, but it's a fresh take without betraying the original score. The music was by far the best thing for me. Felt fresh, crisp, punchy, springy.