Urinetown A Hit!

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IMG_5939 (800x533)IMG_5815 (640x427)IMG_5912 (640x427)IMG_5989 (640x427)If you came to school on Monday, April 7th, you probably heard a slight buzz about the spring musical, Urinetown. Everyone kept saying it exceeded their expectations and was actually a really good show. These aren’t lies! Although the play had a sad story line, featuring death and corruption, the music was upbeat and the jokes were thrown around constantly. Unlike most musicals, it featured a love story that never got a chance to start up.  Love was NOT the main idea of the plot. Urinetown was actually a story about a successful man, Cladwell, lying to the town about a water shortage and opening public bathrooms.  His goal was to make public urination illegal and force everyone to pay to use the bathrooms. When he releases a new “fee,” things break out into a revolution that tears the two lovers, Bobby and Hope, against each other.  Bobby kidnaps Hope (daughter of Cladwell) in order to blackmail Cladwell, the successful owner of Urine Good Company. Throughout the story, characters speak of a town called Urinetown, which was rumored to be a dream town, containing everything one would want. Although the audience did not learn this until the Second Act, there was no such thing as a “Urinetown,” since it was actually a metaphor for death. If someone was caught committing a crime, they were sent to “Urinetown.” When the police officers catch the leading male character, Bobby Strong, they send him to Urinetown by throwing him off a building. When the shocking news reaches the rebellion, they think of whether or not to kill Hope Cladwell, the daughter of Caldwell B. Cladwell, and former love interest of Bobby Strong. The insightful words of Little Sally, who explains the true meaning of Urinetown to the rebellion, inspires them to keep her alive. By doing so, Hope becomes the face of the rebellion. She leads them through Urine Good Company and helps them overcome her father, while at the same time finding out who her mother was.

After overcoming the Urine Good Company, Hope allows free public bathrooms and people were able to come and go as they pleased. Even though his intentions were bad, Hope’s father had been on the right track when he was talking about a water shortage. When everyone is allowed to use the public bathrooms freely, a water shortage does truly happen, causing the town to become a ghost town- as everyone slowly dies from dehydration. I’m happy to report that the hard work the Urinetown cast put in paid off!  The music was upbeat, despite the sad plot line, and the singing was unexpectedly enjoyable. The play featured an amazing cast full of fresh, talented faces. The acting was done amazingly along with most of the singing. In addition, the casting was just perfect! For example, Vanessa Chia-Chung played Officer Lockstock, a goofy, evil police officer who narrated the whole story line. After years of being on the stage, I can honestly say this was her best performance yet. Although she will be graduating in June, Vanessa made the audience want more of her. Everyone was buzzing about the hilarious police officer. This also goes for Madison DelPrior, Brittany, and many more! Mr. Meyers and Mrs. Raegan must’ve been proud to say that they trained these students to do as well as they did. Keep up the good work. I can’t wait for the next play. Hopefully, there are more projects coming up that exceed our expectations.  Urinetown was a hit!