'Angelina Ballerina' ready to hit area musical stages
Vital Theatre Company producing artistic director and founding member Stephen Sunderlin credits his audiences for providing the inspiration for “Angelina Ballerina the Musical.”
The famous dancing mouseling and her friends Alice, Gracie, AZ and Viki are headed to the area for performances beginning Sunday and continuing through Jan. 30 as part of Pitsburgh International Children's Theater offerings.
“It actually came from a parent in our audience,” Sunderlin said of how an Angelina Ballerina story found its way into Vital Theatre Company's repertoire.
“We like to do original pieces, and we always seek input from our audiences,” Sunderlin said. “One woman suggested, ‘How about Angelina Ballerina?'”
Contacts were made with Katherina Holabird, author of the original Angelina Ballerina book series. The books are illustrated by Helen Craig.
Holabird's books have sparked a series of literary awards, including the Child Study Association's Children's Book of the Year in 1990 for “Angelina's Christmas.”
Holabird also was honored in 2006 with an invitation to Queen Elizabeth's 80th birthday party at Buckingham Palace for her work with the little mouseling and her beloved friends.
The books also were the basis for the PBS Kids television animated series “Angelina Ballerina, The Next Steps.”
Sunderlin said it was a yearlong process to develop the musical show, which runs approximately an hour and is designed to appeal to children ages 3 to 10, their families and friends.
The live stage production was created by Vital Theatre Company's Susan Di Lallo with music by Ben Morss.
“We first had to determine what story we wanted to tell,” Sunderlin explained.
The show tells the story of Angelina and her friends, who are very excited to find out special guest Serena Silvertail is coming to Camembert Academy, the dance studio where they take lessons, to judge a dance contest.
Angelina's specialty is ballet, but the contest includes tap, modern, hip-hop and even Irish step dancing.
Sunderlin explained Angelina is very excited for the contest, but gets to the studio late and all the ballet slots already are filled.
So the mouseling has to make a decision — try her best at another dance form or skip the contest.
Although dance is the focus of the Angelina stories, there always are lessons to be learned and choices to be made.
Sunderlin said a friend's son came to one of the shows and applied the lessons presented when making a decision about pursuing soccer or baseball.
“There are always the lessons she's learning,” Sunderlin said about Angelina. “But the main one is, as long as you do something with your heart, follow it.”
Because Angelina is involved with dance, and especially for this show with the dance contest, Sunderlin said the cast members definitely need to be strong in dance.
“We found a terrific director (and choreographer) Sam Viverito. He and his assistant conducted an hourlong dance class (for cast members),” Sunderlin said. “Some were stronger in one form than another. I think the more well-rounded you are, the more it will benefit you in your career. The same goes for singers.”
So far audiences have embraced “Angelina Ballerina the Musical,” the artistic director said.
“We have kids who shout out the characters' names before they even say them,” he said. “The kids are so excited to see Angelina. I like to watch the audience to see their reactions.”
Sunderlin also had high praise for Pittsburgh International Children's Theater, a division of the Pittsburgh Cultural Trust, plus one of the venues, Gateway High School in Monroeville.
“I love Gateway,” he said. “It's nice to see a school district so committed to the arts to have such a wonderful facility. It's a great place to introduce children to the theater. For some of them, this is their first live theater, even some as young as 1 or 2.”
The live Angelina show makes its Pittsburgh debut Sunday at the Byham Theater downtown at 2 p.m. and a student matinee Monday at 10:15 a.m. The show hits Gateway Wednesday at 7 p.m., Pine-Richland High School Thursday at 5:30 and 7:30 p.m., Sewickley Academy Jan. 28 at 7 p.m., Upper St. Clair High School Jan. 29 at 11 a.m. and 2 p.m. and Seneca Valley Senior High School Jan. 30 at 2 p.m.
Individual tickets are $11 at the door, $9.50 in advance, and can be ordered online at www.pgharts.com , by calling the box office at 412-456-6666 or in person at the Box Office at Theater Square along Penn Avenue in Pittsburgh. Group tickets can be ordered at 412-471-6930.
