Usually when people think of a musical, they think of magical plots, uplifting musical numbers and a satisfying ending. These are the usual set of rules to follow when producing a good musical. Although, when most things follow a set of rules, that makes breaking them garner all the more attention. This is the main idea behind Urinetown, a musical that doesn’t abide by the norms of theater.
Urinetown is the musical that Green Hope Theater will be performing from Apr. ninth to Apr. 11th. It follows a story where a city is experiencing a water shortage because of a drought. This has forced them to conserve water and the city has been doing this by making citizens pay to pee. If citizens don’t abide by this rule and pee somewhere other than a bathroom then they get sent to Urinetown as punishment. This brings up the question as to what Urinetown actually is. Well, as said in one of the song numbers it is “a kind of mythical place, you understand. A bad place. A place you won’t see until Act Two. And then? Well, let’s just say it’s filled with symbolism and things like that.”
With such a bizarre premise for a play it’s hard not to wonder, why did the director choose this play specifically? Acting teacher and director for this play Mr. Comperatore shared, “It is incredibly smart and ridiculous and it’s one of the most well-written musicals I think I’ve ever worked on.”
Joining the play would seem like a daunting task for some people. With hard choreography and numerous lines, picking it up would be hard, especially since the students auditioning are still managing academics. But even though it is difficult, many actors have expressed positive views on the play and talked about what motivated them to join despite the difficulty.
A senior in the play, Brian Pollard (‘26) stated, “I love doing this. It’s my senior year musical and I think the message within it is so important as well, especially during this specific time period.”
Adding onto this, freshman actor Annelise Wadsack-Stewart (‘29), when asked what she would say to someone too scared to join the musical, said, “Just try out, no one cares if you do badly and if you do well, then you’ll get a role! It’s a really fun experience.”
With how the actors and the director have described the play, it’s safe to say that they’re quite excited to perform this musical. The audience should get ready to witness a play where “faces, clothes and bladders are distressed.” With a whacky plotline and colorful cast of characters, this musical will be one to remember in Green Hope Theater for both the actors and the audience.
