Great Musical Performances: Food Glorious Food from Oliver
One of my favorite musicals of all time is Lionel Bart’s “Oliver.” To be sure, it’s based on the great Dickens novel. Then why do I tear up at several points in this musical? It happened when I watched the movie version as a teen, played the part of Fagin in the Amity Summer Theater Music Workshop while in high school in the late 60s, and listen to the album. Is it the tragedy of the story (even with the happy ending) — or something about seeing kids in pain? Or something more?
One of my favorite numbers is “Food Glorious Food.” On the Broadway cast album the song about kids dreaming of good food while they got gruel to eat was done with incredible energy and pizazz. In the filmed version, it loses some of the energy.
But here is a gem. A You Tube video of a stage production some years ago where the kids have some of that vocal and performance pizazz.
Here’s the stage version:
And now the movie which is much slicker, perhaps better acted but not as spirited:
If you’re interested in this musical, you can still get the film version on DVD:
But I recommend if you’re interested in the score you get the Original Cast Album since the energy is much better:
One Response to “Great Musical Performances: Food Glorious Food from Oliver”
I've never been a big fan of musicals except Oliver. Not only do I love it, it is one of my favorite movies of all time. I love the soundtrack. When I was a kid I was in love, truely in love with Mark Lester (Oliver), I have a worn out album and I bought it as soon as I found it on DVD and CD. I love it.
It's been sometime since I watched it or listened to it, thanks for reminding me of how much I love it.