PALATINE, Ill.—“Lionel Bart’s Oliver!” was an immediate hit when it first opened in 1960, and it became even more successful when it was made into the 1968 movie musical. Now, its revival by Music on Stage at Cutting Hall Arts Performance Center in Palatine, Illinois, allows us to enjoy that sparkling gem of a show.
Based on Charles Dickens’s novel, “Oliver Twist,” published in 1838, the story follows a young, mistreated orphan who escapes a harsh workhouse and runs off to London. There, he falls into a criminal gang, but ends up holding on to his innocence and goodness, and with the help of well-meaning adults, escapes his impoverished past to find familial love.
