Tag: children’s books

Scott Icenogle and Sean Hayes (image via Simon & Schuster)

Will & Grace star Sean Hayes and his husband, composer Scott Icenogle, are thrilled when they get the call to be substitute teachers – of a kids’ ballet class.

The duo are instructed to put the young dancers through their paces in order to get ready for upcoming performances of the holiday classic, The Nutcracker.

But Sean and Scott soon decide that their mission is to share the true story of how the Sugar Plum Fairy got her wings, which just happens to be the subject of their new picture book, PLUM: How The Sugar Plum Fairy Got Her Wings.

It seems Hayes has loved The Nutcracker since he was just a little kid. He recently told Parade, “When I was a kid, I listened to that record over and over and over again.”

“I memorized every note of every instrument, from every song, in the entire ballet,” he adds. Hayes says the ballet’s story with interesting characters, like The Mouse King, was just too ‘trippy’ for him not to love.

So he and hubby Scott set about to create their vision of the Sugar Plum Fairy’s backstory. In their new book, Plum, a young orphan girl, is sent on an adventure to the Land of Sweets by a mysterious magician.

Overcoming obstacles along the way, young Plum eventually finds herself adopted. Not by a king and queen, but by two Kings, Patrick and Christopher.

Of course, the two funny men can’t just ‘release’ a book. There’s got to be a comedic way to share the news, so here’s the intro video for the new book:

Promoting the new children’s book on Good Morning America today, the couple shares that the book is just the latest collaboration between the married couple.

They also produce a popular YouTube channel titled, The Kitchen Sync, which has garnered over 2.4 million views and been seen by more than 250 million people around the world across social media platforms.

One the most popular is their take on the Barbra Streisand holiday track, “Jingle Bells,” which Hayes describes as “one of the funniest things because she sings it like she’s on cocaine.”

Not to disappoint, Hayes and Icenogle offer their newest Christmas lip-sync, costumes and all, for the Good Morning America audience, “I’m Getting Nothing For Christmas.”

Watch below.

And since it is officially the holiday season, let’s check out the full sugar-rush “Jingle Bells” lip-sync video from Sean and Scott: