I love the name Oliver, and now I have even more reason. My adorable husband loves the musical - specifically the 1968 version. He watched it often as a child, especially at Christmas. He was positively giddy when we found a copy. I love this, of course. It's always me who wants to re-live childhood fun. So we watched it, and I've gotta say; it was exceptional. The actors were phenomenal - the songs, well most of them, were delightful and the dancing was superb. I wished I had been one of the extras just so I could dance some of those numbers. Oddly enough, Oliver was my least favorite character, but by the end I realized that he wasn't who the musical was even about...he's really just there to provide complication for the other characters. The social commentary was very satirical and biting - made even darker by silly scenes throughout. I must admit that I am not a great fan of Dickens; therefore, I have not read Oliver Twist, and its hard for me to imagine anything he wrote in musical form, but I'm willing to bet this musical captures the feelings of the novel pretty well despite of - or maybe even because of - the singing and dancing. So, if you have a chance, watch Oliver! it's worth it. It may have even risen to the top of my favorites in the musical catagory - perhaps even topping Mary Poppins? hmmmm.