Lionel Bart’s beloved 1960 musical Oliver! comes to the Spanos Theatre Friday, July 10, through Sunday, July 12, thanks to OEA Theatrical, an outreach program of Atascadero’s Oakwood Enrichment Academy (ages 7 and older; $35 to $65 tickets at pacslo.org/events/detail/oliver26).
Based on Charles Dickens’ classic 1837 novel Oliver Twist, the musical follows an innocent young orphan who escapes a brutal workhouse for the streets of Victorian London, only to fall in with a group of juvenile pickpockets run by Fagin, an exploitative criminal.
Bart’s musical is filled with memorable songs such as “Food, Glorious Food,” “I’d Do Anything,” “Where is Love,” “You’ve Got to Pick a Pocket or Two,” and “As Long as He Needs Me.”
“The goal of the program is to provide high-quality theatrical opportunities for performers of all ages while removing barriers that often prevent participation in the arts,” OEA Theatrical Director Erik Mario Austin said. “Rather than starting small, we decided to launch OEA Theatrical in a big way by producing one of musical theater’s most beloved classics on one of the region’s premier stages.”
The production features “nearly 50 local performers, including approximately 28 children portraying the workhouse children and Fagin’s gang,” Austin added. ∆
This article appears in July 2-9, 2026.
