Posted by Full casting has been announced for a production of Lionel Bart’s Oliver! at the Crucible Theatre in Sheffield. The production, which runs between 29th November 2013 and Sat 25th January 2014, will star many West End favourites including Tom Edden (Fagin), Hayley Gallivan (Nancy) and Ben Richards (Bill Sikes, pictured right).
The cast also includes: Georgie Ashford (ensemble), Kathryn Barnes (ensemble), Andrew Bryant (Noah Claypole), Nick Butcher (ensemble), Adam Dutton (ensemble), Emilie Fleming (Charlotte Sowerberry), Bob Harms (Dr Grimwig), Victoria Hinde (Assistant Choreographer and ensemble), Kiara Jay (ensemble), Rebecca Lock (Widow Corney), David Mara (Mr Brownlow), Myra McFadyen (Old Sally), Rachel Moran (Bet), Harry Morrison (ensemble), James O’Connell (ensemble), David Phipps-Davis (Mr Bumble), Adam Rhys Charles (ensemble), Liza Sadovy (Mrs Sowerberry/Mrs Bedwin) and Chris Vincent (Mr Sowerberry).
Samual Bailey (age 12) and Jack Skilbeck-Dunn (age 11) will share the title role of Oliver Twist, with Jack Armstrong (age 13) and Travis Caddy (age 14) alternating as the Artful Dodger. All four boys were selected from open auditions held at Sheffield Theatres.
Based on the novel by Charles Dickens, Oliver! is the story of an orphan who runs away from a workhouse and falls in with a gang of boys trained to be pickpockets by gang leader, Fagin. Oliver! is Daniel Evans’ third musical for the company, after last year’s My Fair Lady and the world première of Tim Firth’s This Is My Family.
Tom Edden’s theatre work includes his critically acclaimed performance of Alfie as part of the original cast of One Man, Two Guvnors at the National Theatre and then the West End. On its transfer to Broadway, Edden received a Tony Award Nomination for Best Performance by an Actor in a Featured Role, as well as an Outer Critics’ Circle Nomination, and went on to win The Drama Desk Award in the same category. His other theatre work includes A Little Hotel on The Side (Theatre Royal Bath), 101 Dalmatians, Hamlet (Royal & Derngate), Arabian Nights, A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Creation Theatre) and Picture Of Dorian Gray (Big Telly Theatre). For television, his credits include Dr Who, Stuart: A Life Backwards and Spartans; and for film, Mike Leigh’s Untitled 13, The Wolf Man, and he has recently completed filming on Kenneth Branagh’s Cinderella.
Hayley Gallivan is currently Standby Elphaba in Wicked (Apollo Victoria). Her theatre credits include: A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Ragtime, The Boyfriend and Lady Be Good (Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre), The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee (Donmar Warehouse), Grease (Piccadilly Theatre), Spring Awakening (Lyric Hammersmith and Novello Theatre), Fiddler on the Roof (UK tour), and Ordinary Days (Finborough Theatre).
Ben Richards’s theatre credits include: 9 to 5 (UK Tour), Priscilla Queen of the Desert (Palace Theatre), Guys and Dolls (Piccadilly Theatre), Grease (Victoria Palace, Dominion Theatre and UK Tour), Little Shop of Horrors (Octagon Theatre), Saturday Night Fever (London Palladium), and Smokey Joes Café (Prince of Wales Theatre). For television his credits include as series regulars in The Bill, Holby City, Footballers’ Wives and Footballers’ Wives Extra Time; and Dad. He also appeared as a judge on the second series of Strictly Dance Fever for BBC 1. For film, his work includes Chakara, Julie and the Cadillacs and Bring Me the Head of Mavis Davis.