(HACKETTSTOWN, NJ) -- Centenary Stage Company’s Young Audience Series brings its touring productions to the Lackland Performing Arts Center. October 3 through October 5, CSC will present a different children’s show each day including: Miss Nelson is Missing, School House Rock Jr., Live!, and Polkadots: The Cool Kids Musical. The Centenary Stage Company's Young Audience Series (YAS) is part of the professional Centenary Stage Company's mission to serve the region's youth with dynamic performances and workshops throughout the year offering stage adaptations of beloved classic children's literature.

The children’s theatre productions will run October 3 through October 5 in the Sitnik Theatre of the Lackland Performing Arts Center on the campus of Centenary University at 715 Grand Avenue in Hackettstown, NJ. Performance dates and times are Saturday, October 3 at 11:00 am; Sunday, October 4 at 2:00 pm and Monday, October 5 at 3:00 pm. Saturday’s Performance will be Miss Nelson is Missing, Sunday’s show is School House Rock Jr. Live!, and Monday will be Polkadots: The Cool Kids Musical. Tickets are $15.00 for adults and $10.00 for children under 12. Tickets and more information are available online at centenarystageco.org or by calling the box office at (908) 979 – 0900.

Miss Nelson is Missing (book by Mike Artell and adapted by Joan Cushing) is about, Miss Nelson, a teacher who’s just too nice. She can't control her crazy classroom full of ill-behaved students who take her kindness for granted. But when she disappears, her substitute is the no-nonsense Viola Swamp! With the big test approaching, the kids suddenly realize how much they miss their Miss Nelson... and they'll do anything to get her back!

School House Rock Jr. Live!, the Emmy Award winning 1970s Saturday morning cartoon series that taught history, grammar, math, science and politics through clever, tuneful songs is instructing a whole new generation to "Unpack Your Adjectives and do "The Circulations", this time on the stage! You’ll hear all of you favorite School House Rock songs in this production, originally adapted and produced for the stage by Theatre BAM from the series created by George Newall and Tom Yohe.

Polkadots: The Cool Kids Musical (by Melvin Tunstall, III, Douglas Lyon, Greg Borowsky) follows 8-year-old Lily Polkadot who just moved to the "Squares Only" small town of Rockaway. As the first Polkadot in an all Square school, Lily faces an almost impossible task of gaining acceptance from her peers. From daily bullying to segregated drinking fountains, Lily's quest seems hopeless until she meets Sky, a shy Square boy whose curiosity for her unique polkadot skin blooms into an unexpected pal-ship. Inspired by the events of The Little Rock 9, Polkadots: The Cool Kids Musical serves as a colorful history lesson for children, reminding them that our individual differences make us awesome, not outcasts.

For more information or to purchase tickets, visit centenarystageco.org or call the Centenary Stage Company box office at (908) 979 – 0900. The box office is open Monday through Friday from 1 – 5 PM and two hours prior to all performances. The Centenary Stage Company box office is located in the Lackland Performing Arts Center on the campus of Centenary University at 715 Grand Ave. Hackettstown, NJ. Centenary Stage Company can also be found across social media platforms; Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. Like and follow to receive the latest in CSC news and special offers.

The 2020-2021 season of performing arts events at the Centenary Stage Company is made possible through the generous support of the Geraldine R. Dodge Foundation, the NJ State Council on the Arts, the Shubert Foundation, the Blanche and Irving Laurie Foundation, the Sandra Kupperman Foundation, and CSC corporate sponsors, including Premiere Season Sponsor The House of the Good Shepherd, Silver Sponsors Hackettstown Medical Center Atlantic Health System, Home Instead Senior Care (Washington), and Fulton Bank, and Centenary Stage Company members and supporters.

Photo by Chris Young