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Tony Award winning musical combines political satire and broad comedy
College Theater presents Urinetown, the Musical at 8 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 29 through Saturday, Nov. 1 at the Williams Center for the Arts. Tickets are $2 for students, $3 for faculty and staff, and $6 for the general public, and are available at the Williams Center box office, (610) 330-5009.
Directed and choreographed by Mary Jo Lodge, assistant professor of English, with vocal direction by Jennifer Kelly, assistant professor of music, Urinetown received rave reviews when it broke onto the Broadway scene in 2001. This musical satire, by Greg Kotis and Mark Hollmann, depicts a world wracked by ecological disaster and corporate greed-and a hero who rises to lead the people to freedom.
Entertainment Weekly called the show “inspired, fresh, exuberant, even moving.” Praised for reinvigorating the very notion of what a Broadway show could be, Urinetown won three 2002 Tony Awards for Best Director (John Rando), Best Original Score (Mark Hollmann and Greg Kotis), and Best Book of a Musical (Greg Kotis).
“The play is simultaneously political theatre, environmental satire, broad comedy, and musical theatre parody,” says Lodge. “I have long had an interest in both political theatre and musical theatre, and in some ways, Urinetown is the perfect show for me to direct because it combines both interests. This show has been especially exciting to approach as a choreographer because it has allowed me to incorporate choreography from many famous musicals of our time.”
Lodge says the play finds its roots in 1930’s political theatre and early musicals of Kurt Weill and Bertolt Brecht. “It irreverently spoofs these classic politically charged pieces, while simultaneously parodying musicals from the 1930’s through the present,” she says.
“We are very proud of the cast. Urinetown is a timely and satirical show about water shortage, power, and corporate greed. Our students are successfully presenting the humor in these weighty topics,” says Kelly.
Cast Members: Brett Billings ’12 (Marion, Kan.), Paul Sommers ’09 (Wenonah, N.J.), Christopher Duru ’10 (New York, N.Y.), Adam Pie’09 (Doylestown, Pa.), Mason Carter ’11 (Bedminster, N.J.), Daniel Ricken ’12 (Woodbury, N.Y.), Treyvon Jackson ’10 (Germantown, Md.), Naomi-Beth Itescu ’10 (Havertown, Pa.), Samantha Smith ’12 (Lynnfield, Mass.), Jacqueline Macri ’09 (Malvern, Pa.), Megan Fulmer ’09 (Lititz, Pa.), Alexandra Lucy ’12 (New Hope, Pa.), Dana Pardini ’12 (Coplay, Pa.), Katherine Whitman ’11 (New Hope, Pa.), Sarah Bellioti ’09 (Buffalo, N.Y.), Stacey Goldberg ’12 (Melville, N.Y.), and Tomi Osunkoya ’11 (Abuja, Nigeria).
Crew members: Julie McNeish ’09 (Southbury, Conn.), dramaturge and assistant director; Carolyn Fast ’10 (Rockaway, N.J.), stage manager and assistant director; and Patrick Kelley ’09 (Shillington, Pa.), rehearsal pianist and production bassist.
Guest Artists: pit band conductor and pianist, Thomas DiGiovanni ’96; set designer, Victoria Neal, visiting instructor of theater and English; lighting designer, Richard Kendrick, technical director for the Williams Center; and costume designer, Polly Kendrick.