Tuesday 23 August 2011

ABC Wednesday, F for Food and Fagin.


 
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Another book written by Charles Dickens ( see my post of August 9, 2011) is Oliver Twist, which serves as the plot for the musical "Oliver", written by Lionel Bart."Food, Glorious Food", is the opening song of this musical ! Oliver Twist is a young orphan, living in an orphanage, which is in fact a horrible workhouse where the boys are badly treated and poorly fed. It is sung when the workhouse boys are dreaming and fantasizing about food while going to collect their gruel from the staff of the workhouse.Later on Oliver escapes from the undertaker's shop where he had to work. He arrives in London and meets the street urchin Dodger, who takes him to a place, where he lives together with many other street boys under the leadership of Fagin. One thing is sure:"The food is great!".But he has to go out with the boys learning to pick pockets, which he cannot do,then he meets an old gentleman who saves him from a lot of dangerous situations and who adopts him as his grandson.

With thanks to Denise Nesbitt, who created ABC.We started round 9 of the fascinating meme of ABC. For more interesting ABC posts click on the logo in the sidebar or Here. This week we are looking for words beginning with F.

Oliver is one of my favourite musicals. I saw it several times on video and I showed it to my students learning English. The songs are great and the characters are well performed. Oliver is a sweet young orphan and Dodger is a street urchin with a heart of gold. Fagin is absolutely inimitable. Here he comes as the man who trains little street boys to pick pockets.



OLIVER-You Gotta Pick A Pocket Or Two door billy_declan

21 comments:

Roger Owen Green said...

I suspect there are more Olivers being born every day, unfortunately.


ROG, ABC Wednesday team

??? said...

I recently learned that it was perfectly legal for a time in England to just capture street children and force them to work for you, which was a common way for chimey sweepers to get new apprentices. Charles Dickens definitely had a great part in making people aware of the horrible conditions so many people lived in during his time.

The Weaver of Grass said...

Yes, Wil, I agree aout Oliver being one of the best musicals the tunes are so catchy.

Sylvia K said...

Terrific post for the F Day, Wil! I love the musical, Oliver. Dickens was such an incredible writer and he did indeed help make people aware of so many of the awful conditions of his time. Hope you have a wonderful week!

Sylvia

Carver said...

What a great post for the F day. I have always enjoyed the musical Oliver. I saw a touring production of it as a young person and then took my daughter to a production of it when she was growing up.

EG CameraGirl said...

When my older daughter was just about to enter the seventh grade, she was one of the boys that sang Food, Glorious Food in Oliver, the musical.

Charles Dickens had a great sense of justice.

Kay L. Davies said...

I just mentioned "Food, Glorious Food" to my husband yesterday on our way home from Russia (it took a long, long time, and four plane rides) and now here it is in your very interesting ABC post!
I tried to keep up with posting on my blog but wasn't able to comment very often. It was a lovely trip, but it's nice to be home.
— K

Kay, Alberta, Canada
An Unfittie's Guide to Adventurous Travel

Chubskulit Rose said...

I love that first video!

George said...

Thanks for sharing these videos in your wonderful 'F' post. Oliver is Betsy's all-time favorite musical.

Tumblewords: said...

One of the first books I remember reading but only with age, have I learned to truly understand the conditions.

photowannabe said...

Now I am going to be singing that song all night... What a wonderful play about such difficult conditions.

Hildred said...

What a great post, - unfortunately the tragedy of it all is very much romanticized, but despite that a great reminder of past injustices.

Paula Scott Molokai Girl Studio said...

Food! Glorious food! Yes, a favorite of mine too. Sad, but well told.

Francisca said...

Dickens was genius. Oliver Twist is a romantic musical about a hideous slice of history... and a reminder that not everyone gets enough food. Then and now. Fabulous F post, Wil.

Unknown said...

I love the story of Oliver. Seeing that on Broadway would be fantastic!

Gattina said...

Unfortunately I missed this Musical in London, but there is still time !
Gattina
ABC Team

Kim, USA said...

I don't know here in the US but in the Philippines this is still rampant and even getting worse. Thanks for this beautiful post.

ABC Wed

Chloe m said...

I love that Charles Dickens novel, Oliver. Such a good choice for F!

Vicki Lane said...

Dickens was a great example of a writer who changed his world.

Jay said...

It's a great musical, isn't it? I love the songs!

Dutchbaby said...

Wonderful clip you featured here, Wil. Thahks for sharing.