RICHARD EDEN: Please Sir, I want a less scary Fagin for families!

Theatre bosses have toned down one of Fagin’s most explosive scenes in Sir Cameron Mackintosh’s West End production of Oliver! after deciding the infamous villain is simply too frightening for modern family audiences, an insider tells me.

The move comes as Matt Lucas prepares to take over the role for six weeks at the Gielgud Theatre, with current Fagin Simon Lipkin, 40, due to take paternity leave.

Fagin, one of Charles Dickens’s most unsettling characters, has traditionally been portrayed as a complex, volatile criminal.

But in the current show, one of the character’s most pivotal outbursts has been softened – when he discovers Oliver rummaging through his treasure box.

The source adds: ‘It used to be that Fagin slammed the box shut and went mad at Oliver for discovering his secret. Simon Lipkin performed it very well, grabbing Oliver and shouting, “Did you see it? Did you see it? Answer me, boy.” ‘But that scene has been watered right down. He doesn’t react like that any more. He doesn’t grab Oliver or shout, he just speaks sternly, which plays down the drama of the scene.’

While previous performers such as the late Ron Moody – Fagin in the beloved 1968 film – presented the character as somewhat sinister, this time around he is more of a loveable rogue.

The source added: ‘I think they’re trying to make the show more aligned for middle-class parents who these days lean into a gentler approach.’

Meanwhile comedian and actor Matt Lucas, 52, will take over the role from September 22 for a limited run of the show directed by Matthew Bourne. Representatives for Sir Cameron Mackintosh declined to comment.

Trinny's girl knows what fairies wear

It was a fairy-tale weekend for Trinny Woodall and daughter Lyla Elichaoff, who dressed as sprites for a fancy dress party in Cornwall. Lyla, 22, wore a pink sequinned dress and wings, while Trinny, 62, opted for a metallic pink frock and floral head band. 

Sharing a snap, Trinny said they ‘went to celebrate the belated 21st birthday of one of her oldest friends from school, Honor, for 24 hours, to the most enchanting home’. 

Why ballerina Francesca stays up far tutu late after her shows

Royal Ballet star Francesca Hayward, 34, has revealed why she often doesn’t get to sleep until 3am after a performance.

The night owl admits she is still buzzing long after the curtain falls. ‘I am doing my bows around 10.30pm, sometimes I’ll have a wig and a lot of make-up. By the time you’ve got your wig, your make-up and costume off, it’s 11.30 and you’re leaving the theatre,’ she says. 

‘I’ve got so much adrenaline and I’m talking to my fiance when I get home, then by the time I’ve eaten something and put my flowers in water it’s like 3am by the time I get to bed.’

Francesca is engaged to fellow principal dancer Cesar Corrales.

Bridgerton star Bessie Carter, 32, has always insisted she doesn’t live in the shadow of her famous parents, actress Imelda Staunton and Downton’s Jim Carter – and now she’s more than capable of calling the shots herself.

She is set to direct her Oscar-nominated mother in a West End production of A Christmas Carol in December. Imelda, 70, will be joined for the one-off live reading by A-listers including Matthew Macfadyen, The Crown star Emma Corrin and Oscar-winner Jim Broadbent. As she makes her directorial debut, Bessie may be stepping out of the spotlight, but clearly no one puts this nepo baby in the corner.

Daisy: Corsets make no Sense

They say that beauty is pain, and that seems to be true for actress Daisy Edgar-Jones. For the star of the much anticipated new adaptation of Jane Austen’s Sense And Sensibility has revealed the uncomfortable truth of playing Elinor Dashwood in the film, which comes to cinemas this month.

She describes how wearing tight period corsets to portray the heroine left her struggling to digest her lunch.

‘You have the petticoats and you’ve got the corset done up. And then I had to be sewn into my dress,’ Daisy says. ‘It would take like 20 to 30 minutes. Whenever I was wearing my corset, I’d eat lunch and then I’d feel that my food sort of sat there.’

London-born Daisy, 28, pictured, adds: ‘At the end of the day, I’d take my corset off and it would fall – I’d feel I would suddenly start digesting it.’

Never too Oldie to tie the knot

Guests at today’s Oldie Literary Lunch will doubtless be toasting the marriage of Oldie magazine publisher James Pembroke and his editorial assistant, Amelia Milne, who met four years ago today.

I can disclose that James, 59, and Amelia, 47, wed last month in Ostuni, Puglia, before continuing celebrations at Pembroke’s Italian olive mill nearby. Among guests were Oldie editor Harry Mount, Corrie star Dame Maureen Lipman, historian Andrew Lownie, Strictly veteran Nancy Dell’Olio and Boisdale restaurant owner Ranald Macdonald.

‘Amelia walked into the Oldie office on the 8th September, 2022,’ Pembroke tells me, adding: ‘She has the most stunning blue eyes. I fell in love there and then.’

The couple’s first dance was Volare, by Domenico Modugno. The pair each have two children from previous marriages.

He may be the blue-eyed boy of British comedy, but Jack Whitehall, 38, isn’t sure that he has the Hollywood body to break America.

He said at a Milton Keynes gig this weekend: ‘In LA every man is Love Island good-looking. You have body expectations to get in shape. I had to take my shirt off in a film next to The Rock. That does wonders for your self-esteem.’

Whitehall starred in Jungle Cruise with Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson in 2021.