North Carolina Theatre, the region’s premier producer of professional Broadway musicals, is thrilled to announce casting for Oliver!, running Tuesday, July 17 through Sunday, July 22, in Raleigh Memorial Auditorium at the Progress Energy Center for the Performing Arts in downtown Raleigh, presented by Capital Bank.

Tim Caudle of Fuquay Varina will play the role of “Bumble” in the production. Caudle has performed in 35 NC Theatre productions, including Fiddler on the Roof, The Music Man, Peter Pan, and Man of La Mancha. Caudle has also appeared on television and in feature film roles, and has served as a judge for the NC Theatre Capital Awards program.

Broadway’s Kevin Gray will star as “Fagin”. Gray was last seen on the NC Theatre stage as “The Engineer” in Miss Saigon. Gray was also seen on Broadway in Jesus Christ Superstar, The King & I, Chu Chem and The Phantom of the Opera. Sam Poon will play the title role of “Oliver”. He is recently off the National Touring production of Les Misérables, which sold out its eight show performance run in Raleigh Memorial Auditorium in February. Stephen Tewksbury will play “Bill Sykes”. He has been on Broadway in Miss Saigon and Phantom of the Opera. Local talents Nicholas Kraft of Garner has landed the role of the “Artful Dodger”, and Heather Patterson King of Raleigh will play “Nancy”. Kraft is a long-time student of the NC Theatre Conservatory and has been seen on the NC Theatre stage in Evita and A Christmas Story, to name a few. King is the Director of Acting & Outreach at the NC Theatre Conservatory.

All other casting for the production has been announced and is comprised of 31 adorable local children who will sing their hearts out during fan favorites like “Food Glorious Food” on stage.

Oliver! vividly brings to life the ever-popular story of the young runaway orphan, colorful Artful Dodger, infamous Fagin and his gang of pickpockets, sinister Bill Sykes, nurturing and lovable Nancy and a host of memorable characters.

With music and lyrics by Lionel Bart, Oliver! is a British musical that premiered in the West End in 1960 and enjoyed a long and successful run on Broadway in 1963. A movie musical was made as a follow up in 1968 that received rave reviews. Oliver! was the first musical adaptation of Charles Dickens’ work to become an international stage hit. The Sunday Times exclaims that Oliver! is ‘Lionel Bart’s musical masterpiece’ and The New York Times says ‘it’s hard to top this extravagant, eye-dazzling Oliver!”

Ticket Information

Single tickets to Oliver! are on sale now and start at $25. To purchase, call the North Carolina Theatre Box Office at 919-831-6941 x6944. Tickets are also available through Ticketmaster at 800-745-3000 or www.ticketmaster.com. For more information please visit www.nctheatre.com.