"Twist" Hits Pasadena Playhouse

The "Twist" is coming to the Pasadena Playhouse.

Timeline: The Historic Pasadena Playhouse

It's a new musical based on the Charles Dickens classic, "Oliver Twist" and is directed by Debbie Allen.

"Twist" transposes Dickens' story of an orphan boy who falls in with a gang of pickpockets to New Orleans on the eve of the Great Depression, the LA Times reports.

The score is by songwriters Tena Clark and Gary Prim, and the book is by Tony Award nominee William F. Brown.

Debbie Allen directed and choreographed the Atlanta production, according to the LA Times, and will return for the Pasadena version.

"I'm motivated by the challenge of the excavation of the characters, of the narrative, and then ultimately creating the spectacle that makes it all come together," says Debbie Allen, director.

"I've never done so much acting and singing, and I love showing what I can do," states Coco Monroe, actor.

The Pasadena Playhouse was forced to shut down its main stage in February because of major financial pressures, according to the LA Times. The company emerged from bankruptcy in July and said that it has successfully raised $2 million thanks to a matching grant.

The musical will begin preview performances on June 14, reports the LA Times, and is scheduled to run through July 24.

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