Amy Morley plays Ms. Miser, a schoolteacher who is about to get her lesson plan inspired by the muses of History (Michael Sanchez), Science (Brett Dunn), Math (Jon White), and English (Christina Kilpatrick). With a great deal of help from their entourage, they show her how to put a fun, new spin on her lectures as one School House Rock episode after another comes to life on the stage. Some of the many highlights:

* Orion Crocker and his big scrolled-up Bill (looking very reminiscent of the famous animated one) hopes and prays that he will become more than a bill and be passed into law.

* If you’re ever looking for someone to sing tongue twisters, you may want to consider Heather Banks who sings the awkward Rufus Xavier Sarsaparilla with style and somehow sans slipups.

* An out-of-this-world astronomy lesson complete with black lighting and Interplanet Janet (Sophie Meyer).

* Great solos come from a variety of young actresses including Jenna Wille leading the lesson on women suffrage, Sarah Slaven introducing us to the preamble of the Constitution, Jackie Foster alerting us to the power of interjections, and Jillian Dudley jumping in at the last minute to sing Do The Circulation when the regular cast member fell ill.

* A very young Elvis in the form of the charismatic Reed Lievers, leaving swooning girls as the falling victims of gravity.

* Michael Sanchez, who is also the keyboardist for the show, accompanies himself while exploring the magic of the number three with some help from the cast, with Michael later donning the engineer cap for the huge Conjunction Junction number with the ensemble and some good choreography (Ashley Springett), making this most popular episode the biggest one of the night.

* And then there’s probably the biggest surprise hit of the night, Unpack Your Adjectives with the impossibly charming, poised, talented, and adorable eight-year-old Giovanna Zavala leading a group of intrepid adjective backpackers through the wilderness of words.

Performed February 23 - March 3, 2007.

Rob Hopper
National Youth Theatre

Ms. Miser: