Tartaglia's Johnny and the Sprites Begins in January

John Tartaglia's new show "Johnny and the Sprites" is set to air on Playhouse Disney (Disney Channel) starting in January 2007.

The show "follows Johnny T (Tartaglia) as he moves into an extraordinary tree house left to him by his late uncle. There he meets a group of magical beings known as Sprites, who take Johnny into their special world. Johnny T returns the favor by showing the Sprites what it means to be human. Each episode features a musical number," as press notes state.

"Ginger is a Female Sprite who is very athletic and competitive, while Basil is a Male sprite who is pretty much the opposite. He is not into sports, but he loves books. 2 other recurring characters are Seymour the schmole, who lives in the garden, and the next door neighbor Mrs. Moldystew, who is usually cranky and always complains about something.

The show was created by Tartaglia and the team of Michael Schupback, Daryl Watson, Jill Cluckson, and Louise Gukow.  Tartaglia originated the roles of Princeton and Rod in Avenue Q, and also stars as Lumiere in Beauty and the Beast.

Each show will be a half hour long (when the original was only 5 minutes) and will have two 15 minute adventures in each episode.

To watch clips from the show, visit http://disney.go.com/disneychannel/playhouse/johnny/index.html  (click on "watch a video").