PITTSBURGH -- Pittsburgh CLO is pleased to announce that 12-year-old Joseph Serafini of

Bethel Park, Pa., will play the lead role in the 2010 Summer Season production of Oliver!

Joseph is a sixth grader at Neil Armstrong Middle School in Bethel Park and a fifth year student at the Pittsburgh CLO Academy. He has appeared in seven Pittsburgh CLO productions, including A Musical Christmas Carol from 2005 through 2009 (Tiny Tim and Turkey Boy), the 2009 Summer Season production of Les Misérables (Gavroche) and the 2008 Summer Season production of Peter Pan (Michael Darling). Joseph also has performed as Winfield Joad in The Pittsburgh Opera production of The Grapes of Wrath and as Winthrop in The Pittsburgh Symphony Pops production of Shirley Jones, Marvin & The Music Man alongside Shirley Jones and Marvin Hamlisch. He reprised his role as Winthrop in the National Symphony Orchestra Pops 2009 production of The Music of The Music Man conducted by Marvin Hamlisch in Washington, D.C.

Running June 1-6 at the Benedum Center, Oliver! brings Charles Dickens’ touching tale of young orphan Oliver Twist to life. Hungry, homeless, and befriended by pickpockets, Oliver searches the crowded streets for the road to true happiness. Can he escape from the clutches of the crime ring and find a loving home? Oliver!’s Tony® Award-winning score boasts the musical theater classics “Food, Glorious Food,” “I'd Do Anything,” Where is Love?,” “Consider Yourself,” “As Long As He Needs Me,” “Who Will Buy?” and “Reviewing the Situation.”

Auditions for additional children’s roles for Oliver! will be held in March. Only current Pittsburgh CLO Academy students are eligible to audition. Registration for Pittsburgh CLO Academy’s second semester is still open. Enroll online at pittsburghCLO.org or call 412-281-2234 for more information.

In addition to Oliver!, Pittsburgh CLO’s 2010 Summer Season features the CLO premieres of three Tony® Award-winning musicals — Curtains, The Producers and Hairspray, as well as the highly-anticipated return of Miss Saigon and a dynamic new production of The Student Prince.