To which British entertainer did songwriter/composer Lionel Bart sell the rights to the musical ‘Oliver!’ for a reputed 350 pounds sterling?
Oliver! and lyrics written by David Lambert. It is set seven years after the events in the novel "Oliver Twist" by Charles Dickens where the Artful Dodger has been sentenced to an Australian penal colony and has a romantic involvement with the character Bet. When Lionel Bart faced severe financial difficulties several years later, he sold his past and future rights to "Oliver!" to the entertainer Max Bygraves for £350. Bygraves later sold them on for £250,000 Oliver! Oliver! is an English musical, with music and lyrics by Lionel Bart. The musical is based upon the novel "Oliver Twist" by Charles
Lionel Bart Lionel Bart Lionel Bart (1 August 1930 – 3 April 1999) was a writer and composer of British pop music and musicals. He wrote Tommy Steele's hit "Rock with the Caveman", which became the first British pop song to break into the American Top 40, and was the sole creator of the internationally acclaimed musical "Oliver!" (1960). With "Oliver!" and his work alongside revolutionary theatre director Joan Littlewood at Theatre Royal, Stratford East, he played an instrumental role in the 1960s birth of the British musical theatre scene after an era when American musicals had dominated the West End. Best