Charles Dickens’ 1838 novel “Oliver Twist” has already been made into a musical–the 1960 West End British musical “Oliver!” that was later made into a 1968 musical movie.  But this is 2011 and this musical version, called “Twist: An American Musical” takes the story out of Victorian times and into 1928 New Orleans.

The young orphan boy isn’t just a lost child of gentlemanly origins, but a mulatto–his father, Roosevelt King (Jared Grimes), the best black tap dancer in New Orleans and his mother, Angela Thatcher (Ava Gaudet), a well-born white woman.  Angela is pregnant and showing when she and Roosevelt meet at the train station just after Roosevelt’s last performance on the stage of the Jewel Box Theatre with his partner Boston (Matthew Johnson).  Accosted during a loving embrace by the KKK, Angela is beaten and Roosevelt is killed after revealing the leader of this mob is Angela’s brother Lucius (Pat McRoberts).

Angela crawls to the parish orphanage where she asks the nurse to take her gold locket and give to her child. Flash forward a decade later and the nurse has taken off with the locket and Angela’s boy is named Twist (Alaman Diadhiou alternating with Coco Monroe).

Potlatch (Paul Aguirre) and Miss Cotton (Diane Delano) sell Twist to a funeral home director, but he escapes and is recruited by Pistol (Joshua Bolden) to become part of Boston’s gang of boys who sell booze. This is Prohibition and the Jewel Box is now the center of a bootleg operation. Boston’s girl is Della (Tamyra Gray) who has a big voice and big dreams, but can’t shake her bad boy infatuation with Boston.

There’s some powerful singing but the musical feels overlong. William F. Brown and Tina Tippit’s book has a tendency toward over exposition (e.g. the explanation as to why the boy is named Twist or the reason Boston isn’t a king like Roosevelt) and some the songs could be easily cut to make this a sleeker production. The songs (lyrics by Tena Clark and music by Clark and Gary Prim) are gospel and rock infused and there are some fun moments (when the funeral director sings “Death is Alive and Well”) and a powerful ballad (“Reach for the Sky”), but none of the melodies remain after you leave.

Under director Debbie Allen, the cast moves, including the younger cast members and there’s a lot of energy, but re-edited the musical would be sleeker and highlight the movement and remaining songs. And there’s some fine dancing, including the first tap sequence.

The voices varied from the light soprano of Diadhiou to the commanding dastardly vocalizations of McRoberts or the amazing power of “American Idol” finalist Tamyra Gray as Della. Despite these problems, this musical production left you upbeat and energized.

Get out your best hats and dress up (as the Sunday matinee audience was) and make it out to the Pasadena Playhouse. The run has been extended until 24 July 2011. Regular ticket price range is from $49.00 – $79.00, with Premium Seating available for $100.00. Tickets are available by calling The Pasadena Playhouse at 626-356-7529 or by visiting The Pasadena Playhouse Box Office, Monday from 12:00 p.m. – 5:00 p.m. and Tuesday – Sunday from 12:00 p.m. until 6:00 p.m. during non-performance dates and Tuesday – Sunday from 12:00 p.m. – 8:00 p.m. on performance dates.

Pasadena Playhouse, 39 S. El Molino, Pasadena, CA 91107

For more information, visit the Pasadena Playhouse website.