It won’t be long before the doors to Mr. Hugo’s Little Library are officially open—and both the bookworms and the theater kids are going to love this one.

Co-produced by Canada’s Epic Story Media and Gibson Group in New Zealand, this live-action musical comedy series (eight x 12 minutes) has officially wrapped production as of this week.

Mr. Hugo is aimed at kids ages four to eight, revolving around a magic library overseen by the titular librarian—portrayed by George Fowler, who is better known as the award-winning New Zealand drag king Hugo Grrrl. (Fowler notably co-wrote and starred in the world’s first drag musical for kids, The Glitter Garden.)

In each episode, Mr. Hugo reads a storybook to three kids, and the fabulous fable comes to life starring performers from musical theater and drag traditions. You can expect to hear original tunes from NZ singers Tami Neilson and Ladyhawke, as well as Richard O’Brien, who wrote the iconic musical The Rocky Horror Show and starred as Riff Raff in its movie adaptation.

Told through song, performance and some pretty stellar outfits, these original stories will put a fun spin on familiar tropes and characters—a small-town superhero who has too few world-ending catastrophes to tackle, for example, or a witch struggling with Halloween party decorations.

Mr. Hugo’s Little Library‘s literacy mission, musical tone and a timely message about diversity and inclusivity should position it well to attract plenty of buyer interest.

Epic Story Media has global distribution rights and will be taking the series to Kidscreen Summit later this month. “We focus on important stories for audiences around the world where we feel we will build fandom,” says CEO Ken Faier. “We loved this project immediately and felt it was an important story to share.”

In Canada and New Zealand, Mr. Hugo has already been commissioned by TVNZ, RNZ, TVOKids and Knowledge Network, along with financial support from the Shaw Rocket Fund and NZ On Air. It’s set to debut this summer on TVOKids and TVNZ, followed by later launches on RNZ and Knowledge Kids.

“When Epic Story Media brought us Mr. Hugo’s Little Library in 2024, we knew that it was something we wanted to come on board for,” said Kirsten Hurd, commissioning editor of TVOKids, in a release. “The theatrical storytelling and beautiful visuals all wrapped up in a show that promotes literacy and inclusivity is a perfect fit for [us].”