Photo Flash: Karen Olivo, Brandon Victor Dixon, and More in THE ODYSSEY at The Public Theater

This weekend, director Lear deBessonet and composer Todd Almond's adaptaion of Homer's The Odyssey marks the third year the Public Theater's Public Works hits Central Park's Delacorte Theater with a brand new musical spectacular based on a classic piece of literature, mixing the talents of a handful of Equity actors with performing arts groups and community organizations from throughout New York's five boroughs. BroadwayWorld brings you a first look at the production below!

THE ODYSSEY features equity actors Todd Almond (Singer); Brandon Victor Dixon (Odysseus); Andy Grotelueschen (Cyclops); Karen Olivo (Penelope); and Lucas Caleb Rooney (Antinous); along with cameo group performances by The Bobby Lewis Ensemble; The D.R.E.A.M. Ring; Flamenco Vivo Carlota Santana II; The Marching Cobras; The New York Youth Symphony; TADA! Youth Theater and NYC bikers from Old Bones, N.Y.C. Fire Riders, and MLC Crew Riding Club.

The five Public Works community partner organizations are Children's Aid Society (Manhattan); DreamYard Project (Bronx); Fortune Society (Queens); Brownsville Recreation Center (Brooklyn); and Domestic Workers United (all boroughs, including Staten Island).

Now in its third year, Public Works annually creates ambitious works of participatory theater in partnership with community organizations from all five boroughs of New York City. This year the grand trilogy continues with Obie Award-winning director Lear deBessonet and lyricist/composer Todd Almond, the team behind the acclaimed Public Works productions of The Tempest and The Winter's Tale, creating a breathtaking new musical adaptation, THE ODYSSEY. Inspired by the historical pageantry movement of the early 1900s-known for blending mass spectacle with community engagement-this latest work in deBessonet and Almond's three-part cycle reimagines the Greek epic with Public Works' signature blend of professional actors, community members and special guests. Man-eating Cyclops, a sorceress that turns sailors to beasts, and the deadly sweet song of the Sirens explode onto the stage with spectacular dance numbers in this joyful, larger-than-life musical about finding your way home-no matter where fate may lead you.

Photo credit: Joan Marcus

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