Of course everyone knows Charles Dickens' Oliver Twist. But did you also know that the novel was turned into a famous musical in 1960 and into a musical film in 1968? I didn't... and while I am learning a lot about Uganda and Africa here, I am learning just as much about the English and their funny ways ;-)
Anyway, the musical is great with the touching story of
a young orphan struggling with the hard London street life of the 19th
century. Packed with many emotional songs, some witty twists and a thrilling storyline. Leona played one of the kids in the orphanage, held hostage by some ridiculously mean patrons.
Being fed only one tiny bowl of horrible porridge Oliver dares to ask the famous question "Please Sir, can I have some more?" which promptly leads to the orphanage selling him to an undertaker where he gets badly abused.
After a short while he runs away from that horrible place, too, and meets the "Artful Dodger" a London street kid...
...who introduces him to Fagin's gang of kid pickpockets.
They have a great time hanging out with Nancy, a pretty young woman with great energy and humour;
...but unfortunately she's in love with the most wicked and ruthless criminal in the whole of London: Bill Sykes. Played by, aehm, me :-/
So, Oliver goes through all kinds of hardships and trouble like being caught by the police while trying his new pickpocket skills (and failing), he recovers through the help of a kind gentleman...
... but then gets recaptured again by the pitiless Bill Sykes, who kills lovely Nancy in one of his outbursts of fury.
Finally, Bill gets hunted down by the enraged mob and the police, Oliver is freed and all is well that ends well.
Anyway, must have been pretty gruesome cause the newspaper explicitly commented on my part: Daily Monitor Uganda: "KADS brings fun to Oliver!" But as usual, half the fun is on stage and half the fun is backstage - and I can prove I'm not quite the evil person that everyone in Kampala now thinks I am :-0
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