A recent production of a legendary musical at St. Mary’s College in Crosby proved to be a sellout success.

Families and friends packed the school hall to the rafters for the three-night run of Lionel Bart’s 1960s Dickensian classic, Oliver.

A huge cast of 70 pupils performed in the musical which was later made into an Oscar-winning movie starring Oliver Reed, Ron Moody and Harry Secombe.

They had to tackle showstoppers like Food Glorious Food, Consider Yourself, It’s A Fine Life and Pick A Pocket Or Two.

Pupils in the lead roles included Christopher Stoops from Year 7 as Oliver, Gregory Best as Fagin, James Kirby as Bill Sykes and Claire Cooke as Nancy.

There were also cameo appearances by members of staff, including Head of Sixth Form Daniel Magill who reprised the role of Mr Sowerberry that he had played in the last St. Mary’s production of Oliver, 16 years ago.

Head of Drama Laurence Doherty, who directed the show, commented: “When you take the backstage crew into account around 100 pupils and staff played an active role in this production.

“They all did fantastically well to make this challenging two-hour show such a success, in particular Christopher Stoops in the title role, a young lad who has only just made the transition from our prep school, The Mount, into the senior school.

“The talent, energy and enjoyment of the performers was visible for everyone to see, so it was no surprise that the show brought the house down each night.”

Leaving the audience wanting more ­ Christopher Stoops as Oliver pictured with Gregory Best (Fagin), James Kirby (Bill Sykes) and Clare Cooke (Nancy).

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