Editing Oliver! (section)

===Act I===
The musical opens in the workhouse, as the half-starved orphan boys are entering the enormous dining hall for supper. They are fed only [[gruel]], but find some solace by imagining a richer menu ("Food Glorious Food"). Oliver gathers up the courage to ask for more, and is immediately apprehended by [[parish]] [[beadle]] [[Bumble (Oliver Twist)|Mr. Bumble]] and the Widow Corney, the heartless and greedy caretakers of the workhouse ("[[Oliver! (song)|Oliver!]]"). Mr. Bumble and Widow Corney are left alone, and Mr. Bumble begins to make amorous advances ("I Shall Scream!"). Mrs. Corney pretends to resent his attentions, but ends up on Mr. Bumble's lap, as he eventually proposes to her. Mr. Bumble then takes Oliver and sells him as an apprentice to an undertaker, [[Mr. Sowerberry]] ("Boy for Sale"). Mr. Sowerberry and his wife taunt Oliver and Mr. Bumble ("That's Your Funeral"), causing Mr. Bumble to become angry and storm out. Oliver is sent to sleep in the basement with the coffins ("[[Where Is Love?]]").

The next morning, Noah Claypole, another employee of Mr. Sowerberry, insults Oliver's dead mother, whereupon Oliver begins pummeling him. Mrs. Sowerberry and her daughter, Charlotte, who is also Noah's girlfriend, run in. The three lock Oliver inside a coffin, and Mr. Bumble is sent for. The entrance of an intoxicated Mr. Sowerberry doesn't aid matters, and during all the commotion Oliver escapes. After a week on the run, he ends up in the city of London and meets a boy about 16 years old known as the [[Artful Dodger]]. Dodger seems a kindly boy, and welcomes Oliver to join him and his friends ("[[Consider Yourself]]"). Dodger is, unknown to Oliver, a [[pickpocket]], and invites Oliver to come and live in [[Fagin]]'s lair. Fagin is a veteran criminal "[[fence (criminal)|fence]]" who sends out young boys as pickpockets. Oliver is completely unaware of any criminality and believes that the boys make handkerchiefs rather than steal them. Oliver is introduced to Fagin and his boys and taught their ways ("[[You've Got to Pick a Pocket or Two]]").

The next day, Oliver meets [[Nancy (Oliver Twist)|Nancy]], an older member of Fagin's gang and the girlfriend of Fagin's terrifying associate [[Bill Sikes]], a brutal house-[[burglar]] whose abuse she endures because she loves him. Nancy, along with her good friend Bet and the boys sing about how they mostly like their unconventional if dangerous lifestyle ("It's a Fine Life"). Oliver bows deeply to Nancy and Bet, trying to be polite. All the boys laugh and mimic Oliver. Nancy singles out Dodger to demonstrate the way the rich people treat each other ("[[I'd Do Anything (Oliver! song)|I'd Do Anything]]"). Nancy and Bet leave, and Oliver is sent out with the other boys on his first pickpocketing job ("[[Be Back Soon]]"). Fagin tells Oliver to go with Dodger and another boy named [[Charley Bates]], but when Dodger and Charley steal a handkerchief from [[Mr. Brownlow]], a wealthy old man, they run off, leaving the horrified Oliver to be arrested for the crime ("The Robbery").