Political satirist, composer, & lyricist
Joan Cushing is best known for her political satirical revue Mrs. Foggybottom & Friends! which opened at the New Playwrights Theatre (Washington, D.C.) in 1985 to rave reviews, consequently moving to the Omni-Shoreham Hotel, where it ran for ten hit years, as well as performances at Don't Tell Mama and The Triad in NYC. Also in New York, she performed her solo nightclub act Lady Sings the News! at the Ballroom, filling in for Blossom Dearie, and studied musical theatre writing at the BMI Musical Theatre Workshop.
More recently, she has adapted 5 popular children's books as musicals, receiving over 180 productions and 2 national tours: Miss Nelson Is Missing!, winner of the 2003 Nat'l Children's Theatre Festival; Junie B. Jones & a Little Monkey Business!; Miss Nelson Has a Field Day!, finalist 2005 Nat'l Children's Theatre Festival; Petite Rouge; all commissioned by Imagination Stage, and Brave Irene, commissioned by Adventure Theatre. Other theatres which have produced her work include Seattle Children's Theatre, Childsplay, Dallas Children's Theatre, Orlando Shakespeare Festival, Mill Mountain Theatre, Barter Theatre, First Stage Milwaukee, Walnut Street Theatre, Stage One Louisville, Manhattan Children's Theatre, California Theatre Center, and Omaha Theatre Co
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According to TYA Magazine, she is "the most produced playwright in children's theatre" and Miss Nelson Is Missing! is the most produced play. For upcoming works, see NEWS. Recent works include a brand new script for Tussaud, based on the deliciously gruesome and dark tale of Madame Tussaud, winner of the 2001 Source Theatre Festival; her new musical, The Christmas Doll, opens in December at Children's Theatre of Charlotte; a commission with Imagination Stage for Heidi, the musical (with playwright Martha De Silva) premiering next season; and Ramana's Garden based on the true stories of children in an orphanage in Rishikesh, N. India (with Kathy Carroll). Ms. Cushing resides in the nation's capital with her husband Paul Buchbinder and their son Ben, and three cats. Ms. Cushing is represented by the Susan Gurman Agency.