EMMY(R) AND GOLDEN GLOBE(R) AWARD NOMINEE ANNIE POTTS AND EMMY(R) AWARD WINNER RICHARD THOMAS LEAD A TALENTED ENSEMBLE CAST IN HALLMARK CHANNEL'S FIRST MOVIE MUSICAL DRAMA, "THE MUSIC TEACHER" A HALLMARK CHANNEL ORIGINAL MOVIE WORLD PREMIERE AUGUST 11

Featuring Original Songs And Lyrics Composed By Alan Ett

Emmy(R) and Golden Globe(R) Award nominee Annie Potts ("GCB," "Designing Women") and Emmy(R) Award winner Richard Thomas ("The Waltons") star in Hallmark Channel's first movie musical, "The Music Teacher," a Hallmark Channel Original Movie World Premiere, Saturday, August 11 (9pm ET/PT, 8C). "The Music Teacher" features original songs and lyrics composed by Alan Ett. Potts plays a high school music teacher on the brink of losing her beloved afterschool program, who learns the lasting bonds she's made with her students have not only touched their lives, but changed hers forever. The film also stars Kerry James ("Heartland"), Emilie Ullerup ("Arctic Air"), Moneca Delain ("The Break-Up Artist"), Shawn Roberts ("Resident Evil: Retribution"), Peter-John Prinsloo ("Edgemont") and Rukiya Bernard ("Christmas in Canaan").

In Kansas City, Alyson Daley (Potts) is a high school music teacher whose afterschool program has taught dozens of students how to sing while gaining confidence to build bright futures. Alyson has dedicated herself to changing her students lives for the better, a mission she began sixteen years ago when a tragic accident caused the deaths of her husband and son. Mourning the loss alone, Alyson used the program as distraction, but is now devastated again when district budget cuts threaten to cancel the program for good. Hearing the news, her first class of students decides to reunite to put on a show-stopping musical to raise money and keep the program alive. Now adults, the cast and former friends look back on the lessons they learned as troubled high school students from Ms. Daley. As they rehearse, they begin to form new bonds - and repair old ones - just in time for opening night, and give their beloved teacher renewed strength to heal her heart.

Annie Potts recently returned to series television in the ABC drama "GCB," based on the bestselling book Good Christian Bitches. Potts has created many famous female roles in her career, perhaps none better known than 'Mary Jo Shively' from "Designing Women." Potts was nominated for an Emmy(R) Award for her work in "Love & War" and she received two Screen Actors Guild nominations for her work on "Any Day Now." Potts is also known for film roles "Pretty in Pink," "King of the Gypsies," "Ghostbusters I & II" and many others. Annie Potts has a long list of Broadway credits, most recently taking over for Tony nominee Hope Davis in God of Carnage.

"The Music Teacher" is a Front Street Pictures Production in association with Axelrod/Ett Productions. Ronald Parker, Jonathan Axelrod and Alan Ett are executive producers. Harvey Kahn is the producer. Ron Oliver directed from a script by Ronald Parker. Alan Ett composed original lyrics and songs for the film.

Hallmark Channel, owned and operated by Crown Media Holdings, Inc., is a 24-hour basic cable network that provides a diverse slate of high-quality entertainment programming available in high definition (HD) and standard definition (SD) to a national audience of over 87 million subscribers. The top-tier program service is distributed through approximately 5,500 cable systems and communities as well as direct-to-home satellite services across the country. Hallmark Channel is the nation's leading destination for quality family programming with an ambitious slate of original TV movies and specials, as well as some of television's most beloved sitcoms and series, including The Golden Girls, Frasier, Little House on the Prairie, and The Waltons. Since 2010, Hallmark Channel has also been home to original daytime lifestyle programming and is debuting two new daily series, Home & Family and Marie, on October 1, 2012. Hallmark Channel's sibling network is Hallmark Movie Channel, also available in HD and SD, which focuses on family-friendly movies with a mix of classic theatrical films, presentations from the acclaimed Hallmark Hall of Fame library, original Hallmark Channel movies and special events.