Oliver! – 2024 London Cast Recording (First Night Records).
Star rating: five stars ★ ★ ★ ★ ★
Despite enduring multiple revivals and tour versions since its initial premiere on the London stage in 1960, the 2024 production and associated cast recording of Oliver! is every bit as strong as those that have gone before.
Even those who haven’t seen a stage production will be familiar with the well-known numbers in this score, particularly ‘Food, Glorious Food’, ‘Consider Yourself’ and ‘As Long As He Needs Me’, to name but a few.
Stephen Metcalfe’s new orchestrations for this latest version of the musical (based on William David Brohn’s originals) work wonders for breathing new life into the score, preserving the sentiment of each song while somehow also adding a little something extra in terms of presence and dynamic. The big company numbers seem bigger and more joyful, and even when listening without sitting in the auditorium of the theatre, one can easily imagine the performances coming to life on stage.
The 2024 cast is impressive, particularly Cian Eagle-Service as Oliver and Shanay Holmes as Nancy. Both deliver outstanding vocals, portraying the East End accents with a natural ease. Eagle-Service creates a touchingly innocent Oliver with just the right level of reticence in his performance, while Holmes shines in a beautifully authentic version of ‘As Long As He Needs Me’, a number which could be easy to over-dramatise and shout through but she maintains a believable sincerity and wonderful tone throughout.
A cast recording of this calibre will surely launch Matthew Bourne and Jean-Pierre Van Der Spuy’s 2024 revival of Oliver! (currently running at London’s Gielgud Theatre, with revisions and new material from Cameron Mackintosh) to even greater heights. Please sir, we want some more!
Sorcha Exworthy
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