New Musical TWIST Re-imagines Oliver Twist At Diversionary Theatre 7/9-8/9

Diversionary Theatre will produce the new musical Twist as the first show of its 2009-2010 season, running July 9-August 9. Set against the backdrop of Victorian England, Twist re-imagines Oliver Twist as a lonely, attractive young man searching for love, and discovering an outrageous London underworld. Twist weaves dark comedy, Victorian erotica and gender-bending, along with A Catchy new musical score into the power of Dickens' famous tale. The book and lyrics are by Gila Sand, music by Paul Leschen with Gila Sand, and additional music by Garrit Guadan. James Vasquez will direct, and Tim McKnight will be music director.

"We are very excited to continue our tradition of doing an inventive, new musical during the summer," said Dan Kirsch, Diversionary's Executive & Artistic Director. "Twist is going to be lots of fun for our audience." Twist will be an official event of San Diego LGBT Pride (July 18-19).

From the Workhouse to the Undertaker's to the streets of London, Twist creates desire wherever he goes. Encountering a flirtatious Artful Dodger, Twist is drawn into a lair of prostitutes and pickpockets, ruled over by Fagin, a stunning male dominatrix with a nasty temper. "Dickens probably never imagined drag divas, bondage, shoe fetishes and dream ballets when he wrote Oliver Twist, and it is truly amusing to revisit the classic with these new--ahem--kinks added in." - Broadwayworld.com.

Along with the provocative pleasures of Twist, audiences will find a compelling story of risk and redemption: "What makes Twist more than just another goofy gay, S&M, drag, gender-bending, fetishist romp (yeah, it's all in there) is a surprisingly solid grounding in the spirit of the Dickens original. ... Twist is basically just looking for a place where he can feel safe. And putting that sort of heart into the piece, from beginning to end, grounds the entire production." - Talkin' Broadway.

Diversionary's cast will feature Jacob Caltrider as Twist, Tom Zohar as The Artful Dodger and David McBean as Fagin, with Jackie Cuccaro, Andy Collins, Tony Houck, Jimmy Latimer Jr., Benjamin Lopez and Amy Northcutt.

Twist was created by Gila Sand and composer Paul Leschen. For the Diversionary production, Gila and Paul are excited to premiere new songs to Twist's award nominated score. Twist's Drama Desk nomination came after nine performances off-off Broadway, in company with Broadway nominees Spring Awakening and Legally Blonde. The following workshop of Twist, at New York's Midtown InterNational Theatre Festival, garnered awards for Best Book, Lyrics & Music. Gila's previous work has been seen at the New York International Fringe Festival (The Three of Clubs); Paul recently launched the successful debut of his new musical Bedbugs! in the 2008 New York Musical Festival. Inquiries regarding Twist can be directed to themusicaltwist@gmail.com.

Director James Vasquez has been responsible for restaging the original choreography for The Old Globe Theatre's annual production of Dr. Seuss's How The Grinch Stole Christmas for the last six years, served as Choreographer and Associate Director for Cygnet Theatre (A Little Night Music, Arcadia, and Pageant) and North Coast Repertory Theatre (Back to Bacharach and David). With his Production Company, Daisy 3 Pictures, James is the director and screenwriter of the indie hit, READY? OK! (distributed by Wolfe Releasing), which has played over 40 national and international film festivals, taking top honors at Seattle, North Carolina and San Diego Gay & Lesbian Film Fests.

Diversionary Theatre was started in 1986. The mission of the theatre is to produce plays with gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender themes that portray characters in their complexity and diversity both historically and contemporarily.

Twist will preview on July 9 and 10, and open on Saturday, July 11 and run through Sunday, August 9. Performance times are: Thursday at 7:30pm, Friday & Saturday at 8:00pm, Sunday at 2:00 & 7:00pm, and a Monday, July 27 performance at 7:30pm. Season subscriptions are now available for Diversionary's six-show 2009-2010 season. Single tickets for Twist will go on sale in early June. For information, call the Diversionary box office at 619.220.0097 or log on to www.diversionary.org.