OLIVER TWIST! to Open Next Week at Virginia Stage Company

Virginia Stage Company will introduce another original work for its second Season 38 production - a brand new, music-driven adaptation of Charles Dickens' Oliver Twist that takes audiences on a gritty journey of hope and the search for identity, all while exploring what it means to be born into a certain class. Adapted by Patrick Mullins with music by Jake Hull, the show's namesake character embarks on an electric struggle for a better life that still resonates today.

In collaboration with The Governor's School for the Arts and developed in part by Zeiders American Dream Theater, Mullins' Oliver Twist is a jubilant world within a world that tells a classic story of want and the fulfillment of a wish. Due to ongoing renovations to Norfolk's historic Wells Theatre, this production will debut at TCC's Roper Performing Arts Center and will include a cast of twenty-five (25) made up of both professional actors and GSArts students.

In collaboration with the Foodbank of Southeastern Virginia and the Eastern Shore and as part of their Art for Social Change Series, Virginia Stage Company will host an #ARTwithaTWIST competition for a cause, to ease the pain of food insecurity in Norfolk. As part of this community engagement initiative, Virginia Stage will collect nonperishable food donations for the Foodbank during the opening weekend of Oliver Twist. For more information, check out their blog post about the event: www.vastage.org/blog/2016/10/3/artwithatwist-foodbank-partnership.

Oliver Twist opens on October 28, and after 18 performances, the production will conclude on November 13. Tickets for each show start as low as $20, while the best seats in the house are available for $55 with discounts for groups, students, and the military.

Virginia Stage Company is southeastern Virginia's leading theatre destination, serving an audience of over 70,000 annually both at the Wells Theatre and throughout the community. Virginia Stage Company's mission is to "enrich, educate, and entertain the region by creating and producing theatrical art of the highest quality."