Photo Flash: First Look at Vital Theatre's A (TOOTH) FAIRY TALE

Vital Theatre Company has announced the return of past Vital favorite A (Tooth) Fairy Tale, opening March 16, 2013 at the McGinn/Cazale Theatre at 2162 Broadway at W 76th St. The show features book by author Ben Winters (Uncle Pirate [musical]; The Last Policeman; Sense and Sensibility and Sea Monsters [novels]), music and lyrics by Rick Hip-Flores (My New York), and direction by Linda Ames Key. BroadwayWorld has a first look at the cast in action below!

Collecting teeth and delivering quarters is tiring work, and The Tooth Fairy is ready for a vacation! Luckily, she meets a young boy named Samuel who is sick and tired of being a kid, and all the rules that go with it. But when Samuel and the Tooth Fairy arrange to switch places, nothing goes exactly as planned as adventures ensue across the Upper West Side of Manhattan and throughout New York City. A (Tooth) Fairy Tale is a wild, silly adventure filled with shiny quarters, sugary candy and learning who you're really meant to be.

The cast of A (Tooth) Fairy Tale includes Jamie C. Anderson, Cory Lawson, Emily Maixner, Katrina Michaels, Jen Morris, Joel Stigliano, and Andreas Wyder. The crew includes Director Linda Ames Key, Set Designer Kyle Dixon, Costume Designer Sarah Riffle, Lighting Designer Josh Bradford, Musical Director Mike Pettry, Choreographer Tim Connell, and Production Stage Manager Kelly Burns.

A (Tooth) Fairy Tale concludes the 2012-2013 Vital season of family programming. Featuring four musicals for children and families, this year's Vital season included two world premieres - Fancy Nancy The Musical and Show Way - and the return of Vital favorites Angelina Ballerina The Very Merry Holiday Musical and A (Tooth) Fairy Tale. This lineup continues Vital's mission to produce entertaining and educational live theatre for families and young audiences.

Rick Hip-Flores (music and lyrics) was the Musical Supervisor and Arranger for the Gershwin musical, 'Swonderful (Pittsburgh CLO), and Heatwave: The Jack Cole Project (Queens Theatre in the Park). As pianist he has recently played in the Broadway/New York orchestras of Billy Elliot, Into the Woods, Spelling Bee, Wonderland, and The Radio City Christmas Spectacular. Other musical director credits include: High School Musical (MUNY), Singin in the Rain (North Shore Music Theatre), Jacques Brel (Zipper Theatre), Breaking Up is Hard to Do (Actors' Playhouse), Shakespeare on Broadway (Symphony Space), 8 by Tenn (Hartford Stage), Henry and Mudge, A Christmas Carol (TheatreworksUSA), and numerous productions for Musicals Tonight. As composer and lyricist, Rick has written songs for Neon Mirage (Humana Festival, 2006), My New York (Vital Theater), Dido and Aeneas (Prospect Theater), Tartuffe, As You Like It (Worth Street Players), and the Columbia University Varsity Show.

Ben H. Winters (book writer) is the author of six novels, including the New York Times bestseller Sense and Sensibility and Sea Monsters and the middle-grade novel The Secret Life of Ms. Finkleman, an Edgar Award nominee and a Bank Street College Best Children's Book of 2011. Winters' other books include the science-fiction Tolstoy parody Android Karenina, the Finkleman sequel The Mystery of the Missing Everything, and the supernatural thriller Bedbugs, which has been optioned for the screen by Warner Brothers. Winters also wrote the book and lyrics for three musicals for young audiences: The Midnight Ride of Paul Revere, A (Tooth) Fairy Tale, and Uncle Pirate, based on the award-winning children's book by Douglas Rees. Ben's new novel, The Last Policeman, was released from Quirk Books in July of 2012; he is at work on a book of scary poems for kids, to be published by Price Stern Sloan in spring, 2013.

Linda Ames Key (director) The Klezmer Nutcracker; My New York; Velma Gratch; The Bully; and A (Tooth) Fairy Tale (Vital Theatre Company); Nights at the Circus; Clowning the Bard; Clowning the Bible (Fringe NYC); 365 Days, 365 Plays (Makor/The Public); Bang Bang You're Dead; The Laramie Project (Fringe First Winners, Edinburgh Fringe Festival); The Laramie Project (Cochrane Theatre, London); Anton in Show Business; Twilight of Los Angeles (1992 Edinburgh Fringe Festival); Three Days of Rain; Brink of Life (Dreamcatcher Rep); Embracing Freedom; Remember the Dream (Ellis Island Foundation); Lone Star Grace; Rita Faye Pruitte; You Miss Them ... by Suzanne Bradbeer and Flyer by Kate Aspengren (Six Figures Theatre Company); The Risen Chris; Bethlehem; My Wife's Coat; Overhead (Vital Signs); Full Bloom; Alison's House; Of Sleep and Shadow (Mint Theatre Company); Degas in New Orleans (E.S.T's Oktoberfest). As a producer: Vital Signs 9 and 10, Andria Laurie's The Awakening, Sherry Kramer's Wall of Water, Katt Lissard's Dark Lantern, and five years of producing and directing plays by women as Six Figures' Artistic Director. As a Teaching Artist, CUNY's delegation at Kigali institute of Education in Rwanda in 2011 and 2013. Education: BS in Performance Studies, Northwestern University, MA in Applied Theatre at CUNY. She is thrilled to be assistant directing Cat Youth Theatre's production of INSIDE OUT. She was recently named a Fulbright Specialist in Applied Theatre through 2017.

Vital Theatre Company is dedicated to producing entertaining and educational theatre for young audiences. Located on New York City's Upper West Side at the McGinn/Cazale Theatre, Vital Theatre Company commissions three to five new musicals for children each season. Since its founding in 1999, Vital Theatre Company has been honored with the 2012 Off-Broadway Alliance Award for Best Family Musical, two Awards for Excellence by the Off-Off Broadway Review, and has received high acclaim from audiences and critics alike for being "a wonderful place for parents to introduce their kids to the glories of live theatre, done well and at modest prices" (Off-Off Broadway Review). Now entering its 14th season, the company has presented 76 original productions for over 300,000 children and their families. Vital Voices, Vital Theatre Company's vibrant Arts-in-Education program, engages over 1700 NYC Public school students and eight school communities by integrating theatre arts into the core curriculum to stimulate academic progress and inspire creative achievement.

Performances run March 16 - April 28 on Saturdays and Sundays at 11 am and 1 pm, with special school holiday performances on March 25 - 28 and April 1 - 2 and 10 at 11 am and 1 pm. Tickets begin at $25. Premium seats are available for $30. For reservations, visit www.vitaltheatre.org, call us at (212) 579-0528, or visit the McGinn/Cazale box office. Vital Theatre Company is located at 2162 Broadway at West 76th Street on Manhattan's Upper West Side.

Photo Credit: Sun Productions

Andreas Wyder and Emily Maixner

Emily Maixner and Andreas Wyder

Cory Lawson, Katrina Michaels, Andreas Wyder, Jen Morris, and Joel Stigliano

Andreas Wyder and Katrina Michaels