Debbie Allen to Direct and Choreograph Twist Musical at Pasadena Playhouse

Golden Globe and Emmy Award winner Debbie Allen will direct Twist – An American Musical, at the Pasadena Playhouse, June 14-July 24, with an opening set for June 25.

Based on Charles Dickens’ classic Oliver Twist, this family musical features a book by Tony Award-nominee William F. Brown, music and lyrics by Grammy Award-winner Tena Clark, and music by Gary Prim. The musical previously played Atlanta’s Alliance Theater last year, under Allen’s direction.

This adaptation is set in New Orleans on the eve of the Great Depression. It tells the story of a young orphan boy born of a courageous white mother and an incredibly talented black father who navigates the colorful and sometimes rough waters of street life and racial indifference in his quest to find his family and to find love.

Allen directed the all-black Broadway and West End revivals of Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, and is well known as a choreographer for stage, film, and television, having won many awards for her work. As an actress, she is also a two-time Tony Award nominee for West Side Story and Sweet Charity, and appears in both the original 1980 film of Fame and the 2009 remake.

The cast and additional creative team will be announced at a later date.

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