With ticket prices for the Stratford Festival in the $60 to $100 range, you wouldn’t expect to see too many young children filling the seats, but Thursday afternoon the musical Oliver! was the bill of fare. Some Shakespeare purists bemoan the inclusion—and even the overwhelming popularity—of Broadway-style musicals on each new year’s schedule, but I enjoy them and the families packing the performances seem to concur. Pint-sized theater-goers must have been impressed with the acting, singing voice, and sheer cuteness of the boy who played Oliver; he is a small 4th grader who seemed even more miniature next to Colm Feore’s Fagin. The story is accessible and there are quite a few memorable and appealing tunes in Oliver, including Food, Glorious Food, Consider Yourself, As Long As He Needs Me, and Where is Love?. I’m not sure, however, what children might make of the likable Fagin and the way Nancy bows to abuse. As adults, will these children recall that their parents dragged them whining to a play or that their parents gave them a gift, like a savings bond that increases in value over their lifetimes?