by Winston Chua

PASADENA – Soon until July 17, the Pasadena Playhouse is showcasing one of it most successful plays in recent memory, the production of “TWIST – An American Musical” by William F. Brown, Tina Tippit, Tena Clark and Gary Prim. Debbie Allen directs a cast of 31 performers led by Tamyra Gray of American Idol fame.

“The show will be sure to steal your heart,” said Clark, who produced the lyrics and music for the show and spoke with the Tribune. “We’re very excited about the show and have sold more presale tickets than any show to have ever been at the Pasadena Playhouse.”

The story is poignant indeed, about the famous Oliver Twist, a mulatto orphan in search of family and a place where he can belong. It is about the love that resides inside of Twist, the love he can share in spite of being born into poverty and misfortune in prohibition times in New Orleans.

Check out TWIST?at the Pasadena Playhouse featuring talented actor Alaman Diadhiou (center) as Twist. Tena Clark (left) and?Debbie Allen have helped make the show a huge success already. The show has presold more tickets than any other show in Playhouse history and runs until July 17. TWIST - An American Musical is the timely adaptaion of Charles Dickens’ classic with a contemporary score, set in New Orleans on the eve of the Great Depression. TWIST 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 intolerance in his quest to find his family and to find love.