Sadness and excitement as Chichester Festival Theatre's Oliver! nears the end of its run
As Oliver! comes to the end of its Chichester run on Saturday, September 7, Oscar Conlon-Morrey, our Mr Bumble, will be reflecting on “absolutely the happiest time I have ever had in a regional theatre.”
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00:00Good afternoon, my name is Phil Hewitt,
00:06Brief Arts Editor at Sussex Newspapers. Now sadly, as far as Chichester is concerned,
00:10Oliver comes to an end. The first week is September and it's lovely, as we say goodbye
00:17to the show in Chichester, to talk to Oscar, who has been Mr Bumble throughout. But you've
00:22had the most amazing summer in Chichester with this show, haven't you?
00:26Oh, Phil, I've adored it. I've adored it. I've adored the show, of course, naturally, but
00:32Chichester, I cannot begin to explain how much we've been looked after here,
00:38and how gorgeous the people are. I mean, I'm very used to London, so it's
00:44a far cry.
00:45We're used to it, absolutely, it's a problem since then.
00:47Well, people look at me.
00:49I know I've had hellos in the street, it's just, it's felt...
00:55When you arrive at Chichester's Festival Theatre on your first day, you're given a pack called
00:59Home From Home, and it details all the ways in which you can enjoy Chichester and navigate
01:08about. They give you a bicycle and a lock and lights and all that business, and look after
01:12you and make sure you can get places and go to Brackleshire and the East Wittering, West Wittering.
01:16And I honestly have never felt more at home in this place. This is my favourite
01:26ever regional venue that I have visited as an actor in my career.
01:30Had you not performed in Chichester before this summer?
01:33I had. I performed here last year. I was Ian McKellen's son in Mother Goose.
01:39Of course, yes.
01:41I think it was only a couple of weeks we were here.
01:43But it's so interesting, isn't it? Because it is just this cultural hub outside of Theatreland.
01:51The next one down is Chichester, or maybe Edinburgh, and then Chichester, because you
01:56have so much variety. And you've obviously got two spaces here at the Festival Theatre,
02:02another one on the way. It's a cultural hub. And when we were doing the pantomime rehearsals,
02:07I remember them saying, well, one of the venues is Chichester. And we said,
02:11how is that possible? We're playing proscenium arches everywhere. And they said, no,
02:13we've put two extra weeks aside to restage the show in its entirety,
02:18just because we have to play this venue, because it's so...
02:21Absolutely. And brilliant that it's been so hospitable. And maybe that's contributed to
02:26the fact you were saying that of all the shows that you're in, you always have great confidence
02:29in them. And sometimes you discover that confidence is misplaced. But with this one,
02:35that confidence was absolutely right. And the show has been bliss to perform in. Why do you think
02:41it's worked so well? There's so many ingredients in this, aren't there, when you look at it?
02:45There are. There are so many variables. I think the team has to take top spot for why it's worked
02:52so well. Cameron McIntosh adores this show. It's his baby. He was in it. He was an assistant stage
02:59manager on one of the original productions, and now owns the rights. And he cares so deeply about
03:08it that whereas other producers might be out, like, put the team in place and then step out
03:14of the room and come to a production showing before it leaves the rehearsal space. Cameron
03:20was there every single second of every single day. And yes, A, terrifying, but B, also
03:29deeply moving and stressed the importance of the legacy of the piece. And I think that
03:38ultimately is what makes it as successful as it is. And you've got a pretty good director too.
03:42Matthew Bourne, I mean, what a captain of this ship. He just steers us in perfect direction,
03:52but also keeps this open communication with every other department. It's so holistic. It's so
03:58total theatre. Every single head of department is talking to each other and the communication is
04:03clear. That's what comes across when you sit in the audience. You're thinking of all the things
04:07that have converged perfectly for it to be the brilliant spectacle that it is. Yeah, I'm glad
04:12that comes across because that really is, that is down to Matthew and JP van der Spree, who is the
04:18associate on it as well. They are just an excellent team. And the actors as well, it has to be said.
04:25They've done very well with the casting.
04:29But it's going to be a funny feeling when it finishes in Chichester, because it finishes
04:33in Chichester, but only so it can resume in London. How exciting is that?
04:38It's so exciting. It really is. And I'm just very grateful that we've been able to spend,
04:44you know, the past month or two months here, building, playing, discovering, and now we're
04:53ready to move on to the West End. But what we've learned here will stay with us forever. And I
04:59don't imagine this would have been the same production had we gone to the West End directly.
05:03I think the fact that we were able to build it and grow it here in Chichester is ultimately what
05:09will account for the success of this production. Yeah, and I think it will stay with the audiences
05:14forever. It's one of the most memorable summer musicals I've ever seen in Chichester.
05:18I really hope so. I really hope so.
05:20Really lovely to speak to you and congratulations on everything.
05:23Thank you, Phil.