Dickensblog

Another 'Artful Dodger' trailer

This one is a little longer and gives us a somewhat fuller picture of what the Dodger (Thomas Brodie-Sangster) and Fagin (David Thewlis) have been up to.

Teaser trailer for 'The Artful Dodger'

The first trailer is here:

As you can see from the logo, the show will air on Hulu in the U.S., along with Disney+ in Australia.

TCM alert -- a trifecta!

There's a triple-header of Dickens films on the channel early tomorrow morning, as part of a "coming of age" theme. David Copperfield (1935) starts at 2:15 a.m. Eastern, Oliver Twist (1948) at 4:30 a.m., and Great Expectations (1946) at 6:30 a.m.

'Dodger' limited series coming to Disney+

The eight-part series, shot in Australia and starring Thomas Brodie-Sangster, David Thewlis, and Maia Mitchell, will premiere November 29. Deadline has more, including a few images.

Sam Mendes's next Audible drama: 'David Copperfield'

(And can we all just thank him for doing something besides Great Expectations?)*

The acclaimed director's next Dickens dramatization for Audible** comes out November 30. It will star Ncuti Gatwa of "Doctor Who" as David, along with Helena Bonham Carter (presumably as Aunt Betsey), Theo James, Jessie Buckley, Richard Armitage (already an award-nominated David Copperfield narrator), Jack Lowden, Toby Jones, Indira Varma, Ralph Ineson, and Reece Kenwyne Mpudzi. Deadline Hollywood has more.

*I imagine he'll get to GE eventually, but honestly, I think we just needed a little break.

**After Oliver Twist, which I still need to listen to (so many audiobooks, so little time). I'll share some thoughts here when I do.

Christopher Eccleston to star in West End 'Christmas Carol'

The former Doctor Who star, who also played Fagin in the recent British series Dodger, will play Scrooge this winter in the London production of Jack Thorne's A Christmas Carol stage adaptation. Go here for more details!

Rehearsal footage from Encores' 'Oliver!'

Playbill's YouTube channel has shared rehearsal clips of "Where Is Love?" and "Consider Yourself" from the upcoming New York City Center production, embedded below. And BroadwayWorld has photos from the rehearsal. The cast, led by Benjamin Pajak as Oliver and Julian Lerner as the Artful Dodger, looks great, and I envy you lucky people who get to see this onstage!

 

Casting announced for Encores' 'Oliver!'

The upcoming Encores! production, which will run May 3-14 at New York City Center, will star Lilli Cooper as Nancy, Raúl Esparza as Fagin, Tam Mutu as Bill Sikes, Brad Oscar as Mr. Bumble, Benjamin Pajak as Oliver Twist, and Mary Testa as Widow Corney. More information on the production and on where to purchase tickets is available here. Thanks to Rachel McMillan for the tip!

'Shadow Chasers' to feature Dickens and his characters

In the adventure film Shadow Chasers, to be shot in Australia this fall, a young Charles Dickens will join forces with Oliver Twist, Scrooge, and Marley "to save Old London from imminent destruction." George Mahaffey (Chief of Station) wrote the script, and Luke Sparke (Occupation) will direct. Deadline Hollywood has the details!

'Dickens and Prince': A review

Dickens and Prince: A Particular Kind of Genius by Nick Hornby (Riverhead Books, 2022).

What do a 19th-century Victorian novelist and a 20th-century rock star have in common? More than you might expect, according to award-winning author Nick Hornby, who's devoted an entire book to the unlikely pair. 

The impetus for the book came from the 2020 release of a commemorative boxed set of Prince's 1987 album Sign o' the Times. This release -- which included a whopping 63 songs that hadn't originally made the cut -- got Hornby thinking: "Who else ever produced this much? Who else ever worked that way? It was supposed to be a rhetorical question, but then I realized there was an answer: Dickens. Dickens did. Dickens worked that way."