The Yellow Brick Road: Theatreworks USA event

Theatreworks USA, the nation's leading not-for-profit professional theatre for family audiences, is to present the world premiere of the new musical The Yellow Brick Road as its 23rd Annual Free Summer Theatre Program's featured production.

The musical will open at the Lucille Lortel Theatre on 27 Jul 2011, following previews from 19 Jul and run through to 19 Aug 2011.

The Yellow Brick Road is an all-new salsa and merengue-infused musical inspired by The Wizard of Oz.

In Chicago, the windy city, Dora Inez Garza is preparing for her fifteenth birthday celebration -- a traditional quinceanera. Her mother and uncles have worked so hard to make it an exciting fiesta for her, but Dora, feeling caught between the expectations of her heritage and her desire to be like any other contemporary American teenager, doesn't understand why the tradition is so important to her family.

With a little help from a mysterious woman and her enchanted gift, Dora is swept up into a gran tornado that drops her (and her little chiuahua, too) in a magical world where she must slip on the ruby zapatillas and take a journey of self-discovery, dancing down the yellow brick road.

She seeks the only person who can help her return to the world she knows -- the superstar with all the answers: the Wizard of Oz -- la Maravillosa Maga de Oz. Along the way she befriends a tongue-tied scarecrow, a heartless iron chef and a cowardly mountain lion, but a crazy, mean bruja intent on total world domination will stop at nothing to steal Dora's stylish, yet super powerful shoes.

Directed by Devanand Janki and choreographed by Devanand Janki and Robert Tatad, The Yellow Brick Road features a book by Mando Alvarado and Tommy Newman, with music and lyrics by Jaime Lozano and Tommy Newman.

The Yellow Brick Road features Virginia Cavaliere (Dora), Lexi Rhoades (Carnival Gloria / The Wizard), Natalie Toro (La Bruja), Ryan Duncan (Scarecrow), Frank Viveros (Tino) and Cedric Leiba Jr., (Mountain Lion).

The production features scenic design by Roger Hanna, costume design by Sydney Maresca, lighting design by Jeff Croiter, sound design by Carl Casella, puppet design by Lake Simons, orchestrations and arrangements by Salomon Lerner and Jaime Lozano, and music direction and additional arrangements by Zachary Dietz..

Launched in 1989, the mission of Theatreworks USA's Free Summer Theatre Program is to provide New York City youth with their own free theatre tradition that not only entertains, but also educates and fosters positive values and an appreciation for theatre. More than 15,000 FREE tickets will be distributed to The Yellow Brick Road this summer.