University Players to perform new children's play

University Players, IU’s undergraduate theater organization, will debut its traveling children’s musical “Miss Nelson is Missing!” at 6:30 p.m. today at the WonderLab Museum of Science, Health and Technology. The museum is located near the B-Line Trail in the heart of the entertainment district.

“Miss Nelson is Missing!” is the second children’s show University Players has organized. The production will run through March and April and is free to all audiences.
“It’s just a fun, little story about a childhood classroom that is having some behavioral issues, and the teacher decides to take an unconventional approach to solving those problems,” said sophomore Alexandra Goodman, University Players’ marketing director.

The musical is based off the children’s book of the same name, Goodman said.
“It’s going to present some very relevant messages and themes to our young audiences,” said junior Braden Cleary, University Players’ director of educational outreach.

University Players has many theatrical productions every year, completely organized and performed by undergraduates of all majors, Goodman said.

“This year alone, we will have produced six shows — one with sold-out performances at the Buskirk-Chumley Theater — and put together several workshops and social events for our members, including our first-annual 24-Hour Play Festival,” Cleary said.
He said the organization is a great place for undergraduates to gain experience in all aspects of theater.

“They get to direct it, light it, do costumes,” Director Megan Gray said. “This show is unique because it’s not part of our main season and is an independent project because it is a children’s musical.”

An hour before the musical, University Players will conduct an interactive event for children called the Science of Theatre.

Stations will be set up for children to see what goes into making a theatrical production, Gray said.

“We will have a set booth, a costuming booth, a little booth for them to learn a little song and dance combination,” Goodman said. “And it’s just a fun, hands-on experience for the kids before they see the show.”

Gray said the Science of Theatre event will show children there is more to a musical than just singing.
 
The combination of events is how University Players is giving back to the Bloomington community, Goodman said.

“We do a lot of stuff on campus, and our main target audience that attends every show is college students, undergrads,” Goodman said.

“We’ve talked about, for a while, that we want to stretch out into the community and provide more performance opportunities for Bloomington at large and specifically
children.”

This is the second year WonderLab has collaborated with University Players in order to provide this experience for children.

“WonderLab is a wonderful institution in Bloomington, and a lot of families frequent that and love to go to the special events that they host,” Goodman said. “And I think that it is so fantastic that they are reaching across and entering into the arts, since you normally do not see science mixed with theater.”

She said the University Players wants to expose children to theater and the art of theater.

“As a theater major, I think children’s theater is the most important thing we can be doing because arts programs keep being cut in their schools,” Gray said. “We should be bringing arts to the kids.”

Gray and Goodman said they think college students will also enjoy the show.  Gray said it will be a great chance to “relive your childhood.”

“Everyone is so talented and really giving this production their all, and it’s also fun to see something that you were familiar with as a child redone as an adult,” Goodman said. “It’s going to be fantastic and everyone is so passionate about it.”