From the writer/director:

The old movie Babe has this line: “Farmer Hoggett knew that little ideas that tickled and nagged and refused to go away should never be ignored.”

Years ago, I had an idea that had been tickling and nagging for some time: What about a show about schools, performed by teachers themselves?

Finally, I found the courage to take Farmer Hoggett’s advice. I wrote a script filled with skits and song parodies about education, rented a ballroom in the Fort Collins, Colorado, Lincoln Center, held auditions, and advertised a show. Moonlighting Teachers was born.

The good news: People actually bought tickets!

The bad news: An early September blizzard shut down everything, including our show.

“The show must go on!” of course. When our show finally opened, the audience members soon erupted in laughter. And then they kept laughing. Music to my ears!

After that inauspicious beginning, Moonlighting Teachers kept performing. Over the next 17 years, we performed at countless back-to-school district programs, retirement dinners, district, state, and local conferences, and even national educational conferences. Every show was a collaborative effort, with input from cast members and musicians.

My business at the time, Cottonwood Press, Inc., sponsored our shows. It was a good fit since we sold materials for teachers to use in the classroom. When I sold the business, though, I no longer had a staff to help me with the details of a show that included a band and 15-25 cast members. I put aside Moonlighting Teachers and for several years wrote and staged a series of smaller shows called “Lipstick—the fine art of being female.”

Then the pandemic hit, and there were no shows at all.

Fast forward to fall, 2023. I was having lunch with a former Moonlighting Teacher, and he told me he had a message from his wife: “Bring back Moonlighting Teachers!” she said. “We need it!” I told him I didn’t think I’d be able to write a show that was current, since I hadn’t been connected to education for a number of years. “Nonsense,” he said, and he began listing numbers that, with minor updates, were still every bit as relevant today as they had been way back in 1997.

I started re-evaluating. I interviewed teachers and visited schools and started writing. One thing led to another, and soon I had agreed to three new performances in September, 2024, as a benefit for Loveland, Colorado’s, Teacher Education Foundation.

When shows begin, I am always in the orchestra pit with my accordion and a bad case of nerves. When I hear the first wave of laughter—well, there is nothing like it. Laughter is the hook that keeps me—and the cast members—coming back for more.

Cheryl Miller Thurston