Rebecca Bailey, Publicity Coordinator/Writer s1

For immediate release: September 6, 2017

CONTACT: Rebecca Bailey, Publicity Coordinator/Writer Hopkins Center for the Arts, Dartmouth College [email protected] 603.646.3991

Musical schoolroom mayhem in Miss Nelson Is Missing, November 5

HANOVER, NH—Oh, those students in Room 207! Spitballs, paper airplanes and all manner of rowdiness ensues—until their sweet-tempered teacher, Miss Nelson, is replaced by the ferociously strict Miss Viola Swamp. In Miss Nelson is Missing (a musical version of Henry Allard’s popular classic), the spirited students sing, dance and flex their detective skills as they hunt for the teacher they now appreciate.

Presented by New York’s Two Beans Productions, this perennial favorite will be performed on Sunday, November 5, at 3 pm in Spaulding Auditorium of the Hopkins Center for the Arts. The show is recommended for grades K-5.

It’s been more than 40 years since Viola Swamp first slinked into Room 207 at Horace B. Smedley School and whipped Miss Nelson's terrible, rude, worst-class-in-the-whole-school students into shape. In the intervening generations since the publication of the book Miss Nelson Is Missing!, millions of children have been fascinated by the legend of Miss Swamp. A diabolical creation from the minds of Harry G. Allard and James Marshall, Miss Nelson's alter ego illuminates the folly of misbehavior through amazing feats of disguise.

Although Allard never planned to write children's books, he teamed up with his friend Marshall, a children’s author and illustrator, in the early 1970s and embarked on a remarkable and exciting partnership which lasted until Marshall's death in the early 1990s. Marshall’s art and friendship inspired Allard’s first book, The Stupids Step Out. The two collaborated on numerous titles, including the misadventures of the Stupid family and the Miss Nelson books. Miss Nelson is Missing! was voted one of the most memorable books of the century.

Joan Cushing adapted Miss Nelson is Missing! for the stage and created the book, music and lyrics for this production. Cushing, a former elementary school teacher and cabaret performer, is best known for her long- running political satirical revue Mrs. Foggybottom & Friends. She also appeared in Gary Trudeau’s Tanner for President series on HBO, directed by Robert Altman, and studied musical theater writing at the BMI Musical Theatre Workshop.

Cushing has adapted 16 popular children's books as musicals, receiving more than 400 productions and five national tours: Miss Nelson Is Missing!; Junie B. Jones & a Little Monkey Business!; Miss Nelson Has a Field Day!; Petite Rouge: A Cajun Red Riding Hood; Heidi (with playwright Martha King De Silva), among many others. She also penned a political satirical column in Roll Call, the newspaper of Capitol Hill, entitled “The World According to Mrs. Foggybottom,” a high society character she created to skewer the sacred cows of Washington.

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION ABOUT…

The Hopkins Center for the Arts Founded in 1962, the Hopkins Center for the Arts is a multi-disciplinary academic, visual and performing arts center dedicated to uncovering insights, igniting passions, and nurturing talents to help Dartmouth and the surrounding Upper Valley community engage imaginatively and contribute creatively to our world. Each year the Hop presents more than 300 live events and films by visiting artists as well as Dartmouth students and the Dartmouth community, and reaches more than 22,000 Upper Valley residents and students with outreach and arts education programs. After a celebratory 50th-anniversary season in 2012-13, the Hop enters its second half-century with renewed passion for mentoring young artists, supporting the development of new work, and providing a laboratory for participation and experimentation in the arts.

RELEVANT LINKS http://www.joancushing.com/

CALENDAR LISTING Miss Nelson is Missing Oh, those students in Room 207! Spitballs, paper airplanes and all manner of rowdiness—until their sweet- tempered teacher, Miss Nelson, is replaced by the ferociously strict Miss Viola Swamp. In a musical version of Henry’s Allard’s popular classic, the spirited students sing, dance and flex their detective skills as they hunt for the teacher they now appreciate. Recommended for grades K-5 Sunday, November 5, 2017, 3 pm Spaulding Auditorium, Hopkins Center for the Arts, Hanover NH $18 -23, $10 Dartmouth students, $13-18 for youth Information: hop.dartmouth.edu or 603.646.2422