By Joel Applegate
Upon entering the theater we see the Urinetown actors getting ready, mingling about the Bastian Theatre space talking to each other and audience members before the show starts at UVU’s new Noorda Center for the Performing Arts in Orem, Utah. These deliberately transparent tactics tell us we are about to be treated to a SHOW!
The stage manager, Jesus Alonso, makes the pre-show calls audible to the audience while the actors stretch, vocalize, and roll on props and costumes. Here we get to see both the elegant and the whimsical in Mallory Goodman’s great costume designs.
The set, by Janice Chan, is hewn in rough scaffolding in browns and oranges and is cleverly constructed to break apart and accommodate the different scenes from the corporate suite to the sewer.
Our narrator is Officer Lockstock, played with devil-may-care aplomb by Jacob Thomason. With his beautiful baritone, Thomason is our Master of Ceremonies, if you will, and in certain knowing asides, he slides like an oil slick from his character into the fourth wall.
From the outset, the chorus is full voiced and well-balanced. The thoughtful direction and choreography by Matthew Herrick gives the audience consistently great views in this production performed fully in the round in the Bastian Theatre’s spacious Black Box.
The music in Urinetown has a pop essence to it punctuated with the growl of rock and roll. Many choristers in the ensemble take the opportunity to pop out for a riff that adds to character and story. And the story has some familiar elements to it, like the rich gal and the struggling working guy heading inevitably for romance, which reminded me of the same element in Newsies. And again, like Newsies, the background is the struggle for justice and freedom. You can’t get any more American than that.
Cholesterol, a natural ingredient that is made of Sildenafil citrate. levitra online canada Another benefit of cheap viagra canada regular watermelon consumption is that it can lower your blood pressure. viagra mastercard Ginseng, a common ingredient in most herbal medicines is quite effective in lowering blood glucose. You do discount viagra pharmacy not have to be completely impotent to suffer – some people may suffer from poor libido.The music of Urinetown is complex and satisfying and the many standouts in the cast certainly do it justice. Our hero, Bobby Strong, played by the well-cast,earnest Kyle Baugh, fights against the tyranny of a world in which the poor must pay to pee. There’s a water shortage, you see. And high above the fray of the raggedy peons, Caldwell B. Cladwell pulls the chains of everybody’s commodes. AsCladwell, Jordan Briggs, resplendent in his glad rags, sings in a lovely, tonal voice, easily transitioning from dialogue into musical phrasing with apparently no effort at all. Cladwell is father to Hope, played by Abigail Watts. Watts has a beautiful soprano, and whether intentionally or not, Hope comes across as both caring and somewhat, slightly, but only just a little bit — ditzy. (The writers of this musical are clearly fond of the old English literary convention of naming characters after characteristics.)
Rounding out the cast, McKelle Shaw‘s flaming-haired, strong-minded Miss Pennywise, Duncan Johnson‘s handsome and smarmy Senator Fipp, and Morgan Jepson‘s Little Sally are key plot movers who sing with determination, clarity, and power. Jepson keeps her knowingness just under the surface in service of the naïve little girl she’s supposed to be playing — but she’s not fooling me.
Herrick’s choreography is a blast to watch. His entire direction of this piece shows a great sense of humor, timing, and character understanding. In terms of dancing, the most fun I had all night was the choreography of the All-Cop Extravaganza and the song that I’ll just call “Don’t Be the Bunny.”
The excellent direction throughout UVU’s Urinetown is self-referencing in lots of clever and silly ways. In their own words, “Urinetown is your town if you’re hopeless, down and out.” But it’s your musical if you want to see a bright, entertaining, and thoughtful romp through a compelling American archetype.
Utah Valley University School of the Arts presents Urinetown Book and Lyrics by Greg Kotis, Music and Lyrics by Mark Hollman.
Utah Valley University, Noorda Center for the Performing Arts, Bastian Theatre, 800 W University, Faculty Annex, Orem, UT 84097
September 28 – 30, October 1 – 5, 2019 7:30 PM, October 5 matinee 2:00 PM.
Tickets: General Public $15.00, Students $10.00, Group rate in sets of ten $13.00.
Contact: 801-863-7529, artstickets@uvu.edu
UVU School of the Arts Facebook Page
Urinetown Facebook Event
0 Comments