Oliver! Good Luck to the New Fagin

Omid Djalili takes over as Fagin at tomorrow night’s (July 20th 2009) performance of Oliver! There’s a super interview with him in The Sunday Independent.
In it we learn that Omid is not Muslim, as many people assume, but a member of the Bah’ai faith. He talks about playing a Jewish character and says:

“I think that if you’re playing a Jewish character, and if you can find the truth of something in that character, then that’s OK,”

It sounds like his Fagin will be quite different to Rowan Atkinson’s interpretation. The interviewer says:

it is a genuine shock when Fagin himself walks into the dressing-room. As Lionel Bart’s musical take on Dickens’s most ‘orrible villain, he is sullen, scowling and deeply scary. “I’m so pleased you like the look!” he says as I recoil from his handshake and the make-up lady begins to wipe away the bruised circles under his eyes. I wouldn’t say I “like” it: the look is chilling. It will frighten children.

I think this bodes very well for the production. Fagin should slightly give you the chills, he’s not a cosy character and he should make us uneasy.

So if you go to Oliver! and see Omid Djalili please leave us a comment and tell us what you think of the new Fagin.