Eastcote arts critic KATE LONGHURST reviews Oliver! at Theatre Royal, Drury Lane

LIONEL Bart's musical masterpiece Oliver!, based on Dickens' tale of an orphaned boy taken in by a colourful gang of pickpockets in 19th-century London, is back in a revival of the major 1994 London Palladium production.

This time though, at Drury Lane, there's a unique twist, in the form of the sort of 'hype' that could only be caused by the current trend for reality-TV casting.

An unknown musical theatre hopeful, Jodie Prenger, secured the role of Nancy in the BBC's appropriately named I'd Do Anything, and three boys - Laurence, Gwion, and Harry - won the title role.

Top comic character actor Rowan Atkinson, most famous for his eponymous roles in Blackadder and Mr Bean, was announced in the much sought-after role of Fagin. This helped to secure an unprecedented £15million in advance ticket sales for the £4.5million production, which boasts more than a dozen legendary songs, including Food Glorious Food, Consider Yourself, Where is Love? and You've Got to Pick a Pocket or Two.

Opening night was time for everyone to face the music, but particularly for Jodie, like Lee Mead and Connie Fisher before her. The critics agree that the production is a hit and Jodie a triumph, but I had to wait and see as I attended two nights before the première and she was absent (sickness or a sensible rest day before the big night?).

Be assured that Tamsin Carroll, who takes the role on two evenings, is excellent (she performed the role full-time in the Australian production) and the audience's riotous response to her delivery of all Nancy's songs, most notably the key As Long As He Needs Me solo, indicated that though we may have been disappointed not to see Jodie, we didn't feel short-changed.

Thankfully Rowan Atkinson was present. His physically creative portrayal is more humourous than sinister, and his fans will notice perhaps greater Mr Bean influences than Blackadder, but his whole outstanding performance is coloured with the traits that have served him well throughout his comedy career - double-takes, drawn pauses, twisted expressions and a very 'knowing' bulging eye.

Atkinson really looks the part too, and his trademark voice with delightfully sharp enunciation and rolling of Rs, though not pure, is acceptable for such a character role - depicting a man who would be feeling the timely effects of hard living and drinking a lot of gin.

I have seen evidence of the talent possessed by all three Olivers and Artful Dodger, either in this production or their previous work, and each are deserving of this chance to shine.

Unusually, the pairing of the boys seems to change each week so whichever two you see will be sure to bring a fresh energy. Not surprisingly, the two most experienced boys - 13-year-olds Harry Stott as Oliver (previously in Mary Poppins) and Ross McCormack as Dodger (in my opinion one of the best Gavroche actors in Les Misérables for years) were paired for the opening night.

'My' boys were 12-year-old chorister Laurence Jeffcoate - with an angelic voice and smile to match - who successfully brings out the desire in Oliver to belong, and 11-year-old Robert Madge, who stole the show as Dodger with wonderfully energetic, confident cockney singing and dancing.

Burn Gorman looks young in the role of Bill Sikes and is smaller in build than one may imagine the character to be. Most comparisons will doubtless be made to Oliver Reed's dominating performance in the 1968 film. Gorman does lack the menace of Reed, but nonetheless is enjoyable to watch. And achieving a threatening air is harder when you consider that in the stage version, Sikes sings an uninteresting tuneless song, which prompted audience members who have only seen the film to whisper in amusement to their neighbour 'Bill Sikes singing?'.

Elsewhere in the cast, famous screen villain Julian Glover appears as the kindly (rather underused and underplayed) Mr Brownlow, and there's a theatrically creepy stand-out performance from Julian Bleach as the undertaker Mr Sowerberry during another less well-known song, That's Your Funeral.

The dynamic choreography by Matthew Bourne (Swan Lake, The Car Man) keeps the large cast, including 50 children, in impressively synchronised form, with the opening workhouse sequence achieving the 'wow' factor as hungry urchins enter the stage from all directions.

Anthony Ward's jawdropping sets are a star in themselves. There isn't a way you can think of in which the huge structures can't move, as this giant playground transforms itself from the towering workhouse to the streets of London, the highly inventive entrance and Fagin's underground den.

There is no doubt that this is a brilliant musical - it's big and bold - but with that comes a slightly disappointing lack of grit and drama that many will love from the Oscar-winning film. However, it's hard to complain when your feet keep tapping to one great tune after another, and your spirits are lifted so high you'd swear you could fly! **For Rowan Atkinson's and Jodie Prenger's performance schedules, see www.oliverthemusical.com.

Show times are 7.30pm Monday to Saturday, with matinées at 2.30pm Wednesday and Saturday. Tickets cost between £17.50 and £60.