Vital Theatre Company Opens FANCY NANCY THE MUSICAL World Premiere, 9/29

Vital Theatre Company has announced the world premiere of Fancy Nancy The Musical, opening September 29th, 2012 at the McGinn/Cazale Theatre at 2162 Broadway. With a book by Susan DiLallo, music by Danny Abosch, and direction and choreography by Sam Viverito, Fancy Nancy The Musical is based on the bestselling children's book series by Jane O'Connor and illustrated by Robin Preiss Glasser. This magnifique musical-that's fancy for great show-begins performances on September 29th, 2012 with a "pink carpet" press opening.

Performances continue September 30-November 12 on Saturdays and Sundays at 11 am and 1 pm, with special school holiday performances on October 8 and 17 and November 6 and 12 at 11 am and 1 pm. Tickets begin at $29.50. Premium seats are available for $49.50. 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 on Manhattan's Upper West Side.

The story follows Nancy and her friends Bree, Rhonda, Wanda, and Lionel, who are going to be performing in their very first show, "Deep Sea Dances." Nancy is positive, that's fancy for 100 percent sure, that she and Bree will be picked to be mermaids. When another girl wins the coveted role of the mermaid, Nancy is stuck playing a dreary, dull tree. Can Nancy bring fancy flair to her role, even though it isn't the one she wanted?

The cast includes Aly Bloom, Darilyn Castillo, Tricia Giordano, Jes Dugger, Kyle Motsinger, and Kate Hennies. The crew includes Scenic Designer Kyle Dixon, Lighting Designer Josh Bradford, Costume Designer Amanda Jenks, Music Director James Dobinson and Production Stage Manager Samantha Honeycutt.

Fancy Nancy The Musical opens the 2012-2013 Vital season of family programming. Featuring four musicals for children and families, this year's Vital season includes two world premieres and two returning favorites. In addition to Fancy Nancy The Musical, this January will see the world premiere of Show Way, based on the Newbery Honor-winning book of the same name. Vital favorites Angelina Ballerina™ The Very Merry Holiday Musical and A (Tooth) Fairy Tale return to round out the season. This lineup continues Vital's mission to produce entertaining and educational live theatre for families and young audiences.

Susan DiLallo (Book and Lyrics) is a recipient of the covetEd Kleban Award. Her libretto for an original musical comedy, Iron Curtain, earned her a Jonathan Larson Award. The show was further developed during a residency at the Eugene O'Neill Music Theater Conference, and showcased at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival. It was seen in the 2009 NAMT Festival, The Village Theater, and in NYC in November. Her book and lyrics to another original musical comedy, Once Upon a Time in New Jersey, won both a Richard Rodgers Award and The Global Search for New Musicals Competition, Cardiff 2005. It has had several regional and international productions, and opens in August 2012 at the Su! rflight Theater, NJ (Roy Miller, Producer). Other credits include: revised libretto for the classic Arthur Schwartz/Dorothy Fields/George Abbott musical A Tree Grows in Brooklyn, Theatre at St. Clement's, March, 2011 (commissioned by Peccadillo Theater Company), Outer Critics Circle nominee, Best Revival of a Musical; book and lyrics for two musicals based on the children's book and PBS series Angelina Ballerina the Musical (commissioned by Vital Theatre Company), currently running in NYC; book and lyrics for the Mattel/Clear Channel production of Barbie Live! In Fairytopia (national tour, 2006); book and lyrics for Pinocchio, a Family Musical about Adoption (winner, Hangar Theater KIDDSTUFF New Play Competition); lyrics for The Soprano State: New Jersey's Culture of Corruption (film), directed by Peter LeDonne. 2010; currently writing book and lyrics for a musicalization of t! he James Patterson novel, Sundays at Tiffany's.! She has a B.S. from New York University (English literature/ Secondary Ed) Member: ASCAP and the Dramatists Guild.

Danny Abosch (Music and Lyrics) is the composer/lyricist of Placebo, a new musical that has been performed at the University of Michigan, Oklahoma City University and Emerson College. Recently, Placebo won the PMTP Development Award and will be performed in August 2012 at the Pasadena Playhouse. Danny is also the composer/lyricist of Unwritten Rules , an original musical that had its world premiere in 2007 and placed in the Academy for New Musical Theatre's 2008 Search for New Voices in American Musical Theatre. Originally fro! m Deerfield, IL, Danny is a graduate of the University of Michigan with a B.M. in Music Education. Danny currently lives in New York City and is a student of NYU's Graduate Musical Theatre Writing Program. Danny studied musical theatre writing as one of twelve participants in the Johnny Mercer Songwriter's Project at Northwestern University in June 2009, where he worked closely with Broadway composers Lin-Manuel Miranda and Craig Carnelia. Danny also studied songwriting at Berklee College of Music. Danny's music can be heard on the TV show Dance Moms and in the upcoming film Waiting In The Wings. In addition to composition, Danny's vocal arrangements of popular music are often performed by college and high school vocal ensembles. Danny is also the founder of the website BetterACappella.com. Music Direction and Conducting credits include Beauty and the Beast, Man of La Mancha, and Kiss of the Spider Woman at the University of Michigan. Danny is a certified teacher and a member of ASCAP.

Sam Viverito (Director & Choreographer) Sam has directed and choreographed shows all over the world. Productions include: Hairspray, Quiz Show, Bat Boy, Disney's Hunchback Of Notre Dame, King & I and the first American company of A Chorus Line (Seoul, Korea); Brighton Cares (Brighton, England); Garden Brother's Circus, A Touch Of Broadway (Canada); and Charles Bach's The Wonder Show (Malaysia & Japan). National tours: Man Of La Mancha, Gypsy, A Chorus Line. Regional Theaters: La Cage Aux Folles, Funny Girl, Sweet Charity, Annie, 42nd Street, Evita, Buddy, Broadway Bound, Opa!, Corps Of Discovery, and for the last 20 years, the Shoji Tabuchi Show, in Branson, MO. Sam returns to Vital Theatre with Fancy Nancy The Musical, after previously directing Angelina Ballerina The Mu! sical and Angelina Ballerina The Very Merry Holiday Musical.

Jane O'Conner (author) graduated from Smith College and is an editor at a major publishing house. She is the author of more than fifty books for children, including the #1 New York Times bestselling Fancy Nancy, Fancy Nancy and the Posh Puppy, Fancy Nancy: Splendiferous Christmas, and Fancy Nancy: Nancy Clancy, Super Sleuth, illustrated by Robin Preiss Glasser, and the Nina, Nina Ballerina stories, illustrated by Dyanne Disalvo-Ryan. Fancy Nancy won the Borders Original Voices Award for picture books in 2006. Jane has two grown sons, Robby and Teddy, and her sister, Jill Abramson, is the Executive Editor of the New York Times. Jane was born, bred and still lives on ! the Upper West Side of Manhattan with her husband, Jim, and their canine companion, Arrow.

Robin Preiss Glasser (illustrator) graduated from the Professional Children's School in New York City. She was a soloist with the Pennsylvania Ballet for eleven years and then received a BFA degree from Parsons School of Design. Robin has designed theatre and ballet sets and costumes, playbills and posters. Her first book, Judith Viorst's Alexander, Who's Not (Do You Hear Me? I Mean It!) Going to Move was made into a musical and produced by The Kennedy Center in 2003. She received an ALA Notable Book Award for You Can't Take a Balloon into the Metropolitan Museum, written by her sister, Jacqueline Preiss Weitzman, which was an American Bookseller Pick of the Lists. America, A Patriot! ic Primer, written by Lynne Cheney, was published in May 2002, and was No. 1 on the BookSense and New York Times bestseller lists, where it stayed for 5 months. A second book by the team, A is for Abigail, followed in 2003 to critical success and was again a New York Times bestseller. Robin is now the illustrator of the beloved and bestselling Fancy Nancy series. She lives in Southern California with her husband, attorney Robert Berman, and her children, Sasha and Benjamin.

HarperCollins Children's Books is one of the leading publishers of children's books. Respected worldwide for its tradition of publishing quality, award-winning books for young readers, HarperCollins is home to many timeless treasures-Charlotte's Web, The Chronicles of Narnia, Goodnight Moon, Where the Sidewalk Ends, the Ramona series, Where the Wild Things Are; and popular new classics-The Graveyard Book, A Series of Unfortunate Events, Warriors, and Fancy Nancy. Consistently at the forefront of digital innovation, HarperCollins Children's Books delights young readers through engaging storytelling in all fo! rmats, including ebooks and apps. HarperCollins Children's Books is a division of HarperCollins Publishers, one of the leading English-language publishers in the world and a subsidiary of News Corporation (NASDAQ: NWS, NWSA; ASX: NWS, NWSLV). Headquartered in New York, HarperCollins has publishing groups in the US, Canada, the UK, Australia/New Zealand, and India. You can visit HarperCollins Children's Books at www.harpercollinschildrens.com and HarperCollins Publishers at www.harpercollins.com.

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.

 

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