KVPAC Hosts World Premier Theatre Production of Batina's Best First Day
It's Official! Batina's Best First Day is coming to life as a stage musical performed by children at the Katy Visual and Performing Arts Center (KVPAC) this month. The special production is a musical version of the popular children's book by native Texan author Denise Ditto, and will showcase some of Katy’s most theatrically talented students, ages 7-14.
"I can't tell you how excited I am to have Batina's Best First Day on stage at KVPAC," says Ditto, a freelance writer who loves writing for children and a variety of other topics, often focusing on recollections from her childhood and growing up in Houston. "When I started the process of writing a children's book about the tooth fairy, I had no idea it would turn out to be such an extraordinary adventure. During the early stages of development, I could hear my characters talking and interacting with each other. One of my friends suggested I take the book to KVPAC, where Gregory Magyar, the Executive Artistic Director, said they loved the idea and wanted to make my book into a musical."
“The process of adapting the book to the stage has been interesting,” explains Ditto who started working on The Tooth Collector Fairies series in 2012 and plans to catalog the material after the premier and make it available for performance anywhere in the United States. “The script is basically the dialogue from the book with inserts here and there of added character actions. Then there are places where music is inserted. There is a total of six songs. I must confess, writing the songs was more of a challenge than writing the book. I look forward to hearing the melodies written by Laura Bettis. I know her tunes will be far better than the ones I tried to sing. And who knows, one day I might be surprised and hear these songs on Radio Disney. The way things have been going lately, anything's possible!”
Join Batina the Tooth Collector Fairy and her best friends in the magical land of Brushelot as they experience their first day on the job collecting teeth. With challenges including over-sized wings and sabotage from Jolene and other Lazy Fairies, Batina is determined that her humongous wings will not interfere with her mission to complete her task to win the Best First Day Ribbon from Mistress Molar.
Performances are scheduled for October 21st at 7:00pm & October 22nd at 12:00pm on the Kennedy Grand Stage. Tickets are available on-line or at the door. For more information, please visit the KVPAC website at www.kvpac.org or call 281.829.2787.
KVPAC is a 501c3 non-profit arts education organization serving the Katy community since 2001. We are located at 2501 S Mason Rd, # 290, Katy, TX 77450 in the Great Southwest Equestrian Center Complex.
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