Rowan Atkinson has been on UK television for the past 30 years. From sketch writer and performer of the BBC satire Not The Nine O’Clock News, he has starred in the very successful Blackadder series, and as Mr Bean which went onto spawn two feature films – Bean: The Ultimate Disaster Movie and Mr Bean’s Holiday.
He has also appeared in several movies including The Tall Guy, Four Weddings and a Funeral, Scooby Doo, Love Actually and Johnny English.
Oliver – A West End Musical
But last year Rowan Atkinson decided to return to the stage to play Fagin in Oliver, a musical adaptation of the Charles Dickens novel.
Oliver opened on January 14, 2009 at the Theatre Royal Drury Lane. Rowan Atkinson last appeared on stage over 20 years ago with his one-man show Rowan Atkinson In Revue.
This new version of Lionel Bart’s Oliver musical attracted huge interest following prime time Saturday night TV exposure of auditions through the BBC talent show, I’d Do Anything whereby unknown ‘wannabies’ battled it out week after week for the chance to play Nancy and Oliver and become West End stars in the process.
You can buy Oliver Tickets now.
Speaking about his role as Fagin, Rowan Atkinson said:
“In the 1980s I enjoyed doing a lot of West End theatre and since then have been distracted very much by Mr Bean and film making. I had been thinking for some time about returning to the stage and the idea of the role of Fagin, which has long intrigued me – some time ago I even played the role in a school production – seemed like too good an opportunity to miss.”
Rowan Atkinson will star as Fagin until 18 July 2009.
Red Nose Day
On Friday 13th March Comic Relief will be celebrating another Red Nose Day to raise money for children in the UK and Africa. Comic Relief is also releasing a DVD of classic British comedy next week called Now That’s What I Call Comedy. Included is the very funny sketch Mr Bean’s Wedding – a sketch recorded especially for Comic Relief in 2007.
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1 comment so far
1 Melih // May 21, 2012 at 10:58 am
I saw Omid Djalili in The Hackney Empire’s New Act Of The Year show years ago and as far as I remember there was delinitefy a musical parody element in his show, he may even have played the guitar. Seeing him on TV I was amazed that he still does the Indian bingo caller sketch after all these years! Yes, I think it’s a great recasting.