Kennedy Center Presents World Premiere of OLIVÉRio: A Brazilian Twist
(courtesy of the production)
The Kennedy Center's production of OLIVÉRio: A Brazilian Twist starts performances tonight.
Based on Charles Dickens’s classic novel Oliver Twist, this adaptation follows Oli, a young girl recently uprooted from the Brazilian desert to the poor favela neighborhoods of Rio de Janeiro. With her mother gone looking for work and food scarce, Oli has been sent to an orphanage. In desperation she pins her hopes on attending the city’s New Years’ Eve pilgrimage to the beach, where she plans to ask the goddess of the sea to grant her one wish. In order to participate, she dresses as a boy, but is quickly drawn into the plots of con man Falcão. With the help of Falcão’s spunky apprentice Zé Esquiva and his wash maid Nanci, Oli tries to turn her dreams into reality and escape a childhood on the streets.
Juliette Carillo directs the show, which features book and lyrics by Karen Zacarías and music by Deborah Wicks La Puma. The cast is composed of Felicia Curry as Esperança Olivério, Rayanna Gonzales as Iemanja, James Konicek as Silas Sykes, Donna Migliaccio as Rosa Maria, Sasha Olinick as Falcão, Erika Rose as Nanci, and Arturo Soria as Zé Esquiva.
The creative team includes Luciana Stecconi (set design), Ivania Stack (costume design), Colin K. Bills (lighting design), Christopher Baine (sound design), Sonia Pessoa (choreography), and Richard Miller (music director).
Performances will run through February 21.
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