THE decision to welcome many new performers for the Ravensbury Players' production of Oliver over the weekend more than paid off, when the musical was a roaring success.

Every one of the performances at Ramsbury's Memorial Hall from last Wednesday to Saturday was sold out and people who could not get a ticket even turned up at the dress rehearsal the weekend before just to catch a glimpse of it.

The Lionel Bart musical had a cast of more than 40 actors and a 12-piece orchestra, including children from five schools, in one of their biggest ever productions.

Director Millie Britton said that the show exceeded her expectations.

"Everyone did absolutely amazingly well. I am so proud of each and every one of them. The feedback we have had so far has been stunning," she said.

"It was a huge team effort. We have spent months and months on this and to finally finish it in the way we did was brilliant. I am exhausted but I can look back and say we did a great job of that.

"We had a wonderful mix of young and old performers, many of whom had not stepped onto the stage before with the Ravensbury Players but they did so well. People wanted to see more of us.

"We have our annual general meeting on Thursday to discuss our next production but we may take a break from musicals for a while, it really does take a mammoth effort."