BWW Reviews: Nashville Children's Theatre's MISS NELSON IS MISSING!

You know you have a hit musical on your hands when audience members leave the theatre humming the songs they just heard. But you know you have a mega-hit musical onstage when those audience members are of the six-, seven-, or eight-year-old variety and they are singing the show's songs and dancing their way out the door.

Well, that's exactly what Nashville Children's Theatre is experiencing with their current production of Miss Nelson Is Missing, the high-spirited adaptation of the 1977 book by Harry Allard, updated to 2010 and featuring terrific performances by six talented actors.

Led by the charming Lisa Kimmey Winans (in the dual roles of the much-put-upon Miss Nelson and her wretchedly over-the-top doppelganger Viola Swamp, the substitute teacher from H-E-double hockey sticks) and the uber-versatile Brian Webb Russell (who, once again, proves why he's a beloved and respected member of the Nashville acting community), the cast is pitch-perfect in telling the story to their rapt audiences.

Those horrid children in Room 207 of Horace J. Smedley Elementary School are the stuff of legend, what with their wild ways, and poor Miss Nelson - a kind and sweet educator who dresses in pastel florals and speaks in a comforting lilt - just can't seem to handle them. But when Miss Nelson disappears, only to be replaced by substitute Viola Swamp - whose braying voice would wake the dead while she brandishes a yardstick while clad in what can best be described as a prison matron uniform - those same kids quickly learn the error of their ways.

The transformative experience for the kids in Room 207 clearly resonates with the young audiences witnessing the mirthful mayhem onstage and the lessons learned by those unruly kids - to be kind and respectful to others, perhaps the most important among them - has an obvious impact on the kids in the seats of the Ann Stahlman Hill Theatre.

But, as with almost any production at NCT, the lessons offered are never overpowering or didactic, rather they tend to be more light-hearted and certainly more inspiring. As the Room 207 class learns the error of their ways, they do it in a rich and colorful style set to music by Joan Cushing (who is responsible for the book, music and lyrics of this winning musical comedy) that makes the learning experience more palatable and a whole lot more fun!

Directed by Julee Brooks with a clear-headed vision of what works for younger audiences, given ample support from frequent NCT collaborator Paul Carrol Binkley's superb musical direction and Holly Shepherd's energetic choreography, Miss Nelson is Missing works (on all levels, actually) for audiences of any and all ages. It's expertly produced with NCT's trademark design aesthetic, and enacted by a cast that is both capable and confident in their abilities to tell a good story.

The full-voiced Winans is wonderfully engaging as Miss Nelson and scathingly brilliant as Viola Swamp, creating two very real and very disparate characterizations that are both believable and on-targeT. Russell is sheer perfection in his quartet of roles, giving each of them (which include Pop Hanson, the school's custodian; Mr. Blandsworth, the ballpoint pen-loving principal; Al Catraz, the curator of the Museum of Crime and Punishment; and Detective McSmogg, the gumshoe hired by the kids to track down the errant Miss Nelson) his own special brand of individuality.

As the pack of Room 207 hooligans, Holly Wooten, Shawn Knight, Jamie Farmer and Ross Brooks are wickedly wonderful and completely believable as the grammar school cut-ups, as are their reactions to the arrival of Miss Swamp and their collective realization that Miss Nelson has only been trying to help them become better people.

Miss Nelson is Missing is imaginatively mounted and impressively - and artfully - designed, as evidenced by Erica Edmonson's sets, Patricia Taber's costumes and Scott Leathers' lighting design.

- Miss Nelson is Missing. Book, music and lyrics by Joan Cushing. Based upon the books Miss Nelson is Missing! and Miss Nelson is Back! by Harry Allard. Directed by Julee Brooks. Music direction by Paul Carrol Binkley. Presented by Nashville Children's Theatre. For ticket information, call (615) 254-9103 or visit the company website at www.nashvillechildrenstheatre.org.

Ross Brooks and Lisa Kimmey Winans in Nashville Children's Theatre's production of Miss Nelson is Missing!

To post a comment, you must register and login.