Broadway's Brian Stokes Mitchell, Patti LuPone, & More Bring Magic To Disney Juniors' VAMPIRINA

Two musical theatre composers are bringing Broadway magic to VAMPIRINA on Disney Junior. Composers Michael Kooman and Christopher Dimond, who most recently composed Romantics Anonymous, are pulling out all the stops for the Disney Junior animated series, Variety Reports.

Vampirina is based on the "Vampirina Ballerina" books by Anne Marie Pace and tells the story of a vampire girl who relocates with her family from Transylvania to Pennsylvania.

"It's a challenge that has really pushed us as songwriters and gotten us to be better writers, more thoughtful and conscious of what we're doing," explains Dimond, the team's lyricist. "When you're writing a song for theater, at a certain point you have to start to think how this is going to be physically staged in front of a live audience, and that involves a number of limitations. In animation, you can do almost anything."

The composing team have been given the chances to work with several broadway veterans for the 25-episode TV season. The series features Isabella Crovetti as young Vampirina, with Lauren Graham and James Van Der Beek as her parents. The series also stars Tony winners Patti LuPone and Brian Stokes Mitchell as Vampirina's grandparents.

"Getting to know their voices allows us to know their quirks - what their range is," explains Kooman, who adds that he can pick an actor's best note. "If I have a high note for Lauren Graham. I know it's going to be an A."

In addition to LuPone and Mitchell, others with Broadway backgrounds have guested on the show, including Andrew Rannells, who played an Egyptian mummy, and Christian Borle, who will be guesting in a segment set to air on March 16 on Disney Channel.

"Vampirina" airs daily on Disney Channel and Disney Junior and is also available on the DisneyNOW app. In addition to Graham, Van Der Beek and Crovetti, the series stars Wanda Sykes (ABC's "black-ish") as Vampirina's cantankerous yet loyal gargoyle sidekick Gregoria; Mitchell Whitfield ("My Cousin Vinny") as playful ghost, Demi; Jordan Alexa Davis ("Sofia the First") as Vee's best friend and next-door neighbor, Poppy; ViviAnn Yee ("The Boss Baby") as another one of Vee's close friends, Bridget; Dee Bradley Baker("Phineas and Ferb") as Vee's teacher, Mr. Gore, and the Hauntley's dog, Wolfie; Benji Risley ("If You Give a Mouse a Cookie") as Poppy's twin brother, Edgar; Cree Summer ("A Different World") as Poppy and Edgar's mom, Edna; and Ian James Corlett ("Dinosaur Train") as Chef Remy Bones, the Scare B&B's resident skeleton chef.

Photo Credit: Walter McBride

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