If you are aged between 9 and 12 years old, and would do anything to play the part of orphaned urchin Oliver Twist in the West End, put 1-3 February in your diary, the date of the London auditions for I’d Do Anything, the BBC’s new theatrical talent show.
Following on from the television series How Do You Solve A Problem Like Maria? and Any Dream Will Do, which made West End stars of Connie Fisher and Lee Mead, I’d Do Anything aims to find three young actors to alternate in the title role, and an older actress for the part of Nancy, in Cameron Mackintosh’s forthcoming revival of the musical Oliver! in London.
The TV series, again hosted by Graham Norton and featuring a judging panel led by Andrew Lloyd Webber, airs later this year, before the stage musical opens in an as yet unconfirmed West End venue in the autumn.
Auditions are open to any UK resident within the specified age range, regardless of whether they have any musical theatre training or not. All budding young Olivers should head to one of the open auditions, with their parent or guardian, during January and February. The London auditions are held at the Marriot County Hall in Westminster on 1-3 February from 09:00-19:00. Auditions are also being held in Manchester, Belfast and Glasgow.
Lionel Bart’s musical Oliver!, first seen in the West End in 1960, is based on Charles Dickens’s classic novel Oliver Twist and has a score including the famous numbers Consider Yourself, Food Glorious Food and I’d Do Anything. It was last produced in London by Mackintosh in 1994 at the London Palladium, the production upon which this 2008 revival is based.
To download a full information pack about the auditions for Oliver, plus information about auditioning for Nancy (open to anyone over 17 years old), visit www.bbc.co.uk/oliver
CB