Sadness and excitement as Chichester Festival Theatre's Oliver! nears the end of its run

SussexWorld

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.”

Transcript

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.

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