"Please, ENCORES!, I Want Some More!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

                       More indeed was what I wanted and expected from this revival of "Oliver!"  Either director Lear Debessonet did not know how to approach the material she was dealing with, or she was hampered from tampering with a book that needs to be tampered with, by Cameron Mackintosh controlling the rights.

                           There are any number of wonderful moments, but the piece does not flow.  Especially in the second act.  I mean, breaking "Who Will Buy?" at the height of its lyricism for a dramatic scene, and then going back to it?  The whole impact of the number is blunted.  

                              And "Oom-Pah-Pah" as an En'tre Acte?  It was used better in the 1968 film, where Nancy causes a commotion and tries to get Oliver out of the tavern to deliver him to Mr. Brownlow on London Bridge, at midnight. Such suspense and tension, even as every "Oliver!" viewers know, as much as we root for Nancy, we know what has to happen, as Dickens wrote it.

                              Speaking of Nancy, while no one can surpass Shani Wallis, Lili Cooper is one of three showstoppers this revival has.  Her "As Long As He Needs Me" is thrilling.  Benjamin Pajak, in the title role, stops the show with his plaintive and theatrically arresting rendition of "Where Is Love?"  And he and Julian Lerner (The Artful Dodger) bring the show to life, with the entire company, in "Consider Yourself!"  If only the rest of "Oliver!" had this momentum, it would have been the classic it deserves to be.  Not since 'Merrily' have I seen a book that badly needs tampering with.   I wish I could have been in on this production, as I would have campaigned for many needed changes.  Thankfully, that does not involve the cast although---

                                  Raul Esparza as Fagin?  I questioned that initially, but when I saw the result, I was shocked.  Esparza camps it up to where he is playing it like some flaming queen!  That is NOT who Fagin is. That he was allowed to do this can only be blamed on Debessonet, who made many bad staging decisions with this production.

                                    But when it works, it works.  There is no passion lacking in any of the performers, so I would say, despite its flaws, see this "Oliver!" while you can, before another forty years pass.

                                     And let's have a revival of the film on a big screen!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!