Lionel Bart in the context of "Tommy Steele"

"Food, Glorious Food", written by Lionel Bart, is the opening song from the 1960s West End and Broadway musical (and 1968 film) Oliver!.

Oliver! is a stage musical, with book, music and lyrics by Lionel Bart. The musical is based upon the 1838 novel Oliver Twist by Charles Dickens.

It premiered at the Wimbledon Theatre, southwest London in 1960 before opening in the West End, where it enjoyed a record-breaking long run. Oliver! ran on Broadway, after being brought to the U.S. by producer David Merrick in 1963. Major London revivals played from 1977 to 1980, 1994 to 1998, 2008 to 2011 and on tour in the UK from 2011 to 2013. Additionally, its 1968 film adaptation, directed by Carol Reed, won six Academy Awards including Best Picture.

The New Wimbledon Theatre is situated on the Broadway, Wimbledon, London, in the London Borough of Merton. It is a Grade II listed Edwardian theatre built by the theatre lover and entrepreneur, J. B. Mulholland, who at the time was also owner of the King's Theatre in Hammersmith and had owned the Theatre Metropole in Camberwell in the 1890's. Built on the site of a large house with spacious grounds, the theatre was designed by Cecil Aubrey Massey and Roy Young (possibly following a 1908 design by Frank H. Jones). It seems to have been the only British theatre to have included a Victorian-style Turkish bath in the basement. The theatre opened on 26 December 1910 with the pantomime Jack and Jill.

The theatre was very popular between the wars, with Gracie Fields, Sybil Thorndike, Ivor Novello, Markova, and Noël Coward all performing there. Lionel Bart's Oliver! received its world premiere at the theatre in 1960 before transferring to the West End's New Theatre. The theatre also hosted the world premiere of Half a Sixpence starring Tommy Steele in 1963 prior to the West End.

Oliver! is a 1968 British period musical drama film directed by Carol Reed from a screenplay by Vernon Harris, based on Lionel Bart's 1960 stage musical, itself an adaptation of Charles Dickens' 1838 novel Oliver Twist. It stars Ron Moody, Oliver Reed, Harry Secombe, Shani Wallis, Jack Wild, and Mark Lester in the title role.

Filmed at Shepperton Film Studio in Surrey, the film was a Romulus production by John Woolf and was distributed worldwide by Columbia Pictures. It includes such musical numbers as "Food, Glorious Food", "Consider Yourself", "As Long as He Needs Me", "I'd Do Anything", "You've Got to Pick a Pocket or Two", and "Where Is Love?".