Due to begin on Friday 12 December, producers of Oliver! announced only the day before that the first two previews were to be cancelled to allow for further rehearsal time.
In an official statement, Cameron Mackintosh announced that the cancellations are due to the need to safely rehearse a huge number of children on a moving set. In what will be the largest ever production of Lionel Bart’s classic musical, producers are required by licensing regulations to circulate the children’s company, similar to the arrangement of three performers alternating the younger roles in the Victoria Palace’s Billy Elliot. However, with fifty children in each show, this has left the producers with 150 children to manage in total.
It has been seven months since Jodie Prenger was awarded the role of Nancy on the BBC’s I’d Do Anything, alongside Gwion Jones, Harry Stott and Laurence Jeffcoate who will alternate the title role, and the show had been conceived and sited several months prior to the programme being broadcast. However, it seems the scale of the task of rehearsing 150 children and 35 adults on a large and complicated set created more pressure than anticipated, and the time just hasn’t been enough.
Mackintosh has assured theatergoers that this extra time is helping the team work towards creating a fantastic show, but little comfort that will bring to the four thousand fans disappointed and disrupted by these last minute cancellations.
Oliver will preview throughout December before officially opening on January 14th. Demand for the show is high across the country, and for those traveling from further afield Oliver theatre breaks , packaging hotel and theatre tickets are now available.
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