A play called “Urinetown” being put on is likely to be an intriguing event to many, and its content does not leave room to be disappointed after such a title.
Starting November 10th and ending November 18th, Prairie High School’s drama club put on six shows involving the musical “Urinetown.” Urinetown, produced on Broadway in 2001, and directed by John Rando, is a satirical comedy musical winning three awards. In the Prairie drama club’s performance, Urinetown is directed by Claire Verity, stars Hunter Fahndrich, Riley Elwess, and Ruth Sprenger, and is shown in the Prairie High School auditorium.
In Urinetown, the cast acts out a town following laws that forbid private toilets and public urination after a long drought, having its bathrooms managed by a monopolizing private company that charges citizens to use the public restrooms. The play is narrated by a police officer by the name of Officer Lockstock (Ruth Sprenger), often accompanied by Little Sally (Charlotte Conner), and the two find themselves breaking the fourth wall together many times. The owner of the private company, Caldwell B. Cladwell (Spencer Norman) has a daughter, Hope Cladwell (Riley Elwess), who comes to town to work for her father after she finishes school. However, she unintentionally causes complete chaos to break out in the town when she meets a boy named Bobby Strong (Hunter Fahndrich).
The musical is filled with fun songs, amusing characters, and many hilarious jokes (with lots of these jokes being quite audacious). There is never a dull moment, with the audience often laughing or cheering at the content of the play. Riley Elwess, a senior appearing in her sixth show and starring in a show for the first time, says “…the setting and what happens in the show is really crazy,” therefore making it a lot of fun.
The Prairie Drama Club’s rendition of Urinetown first started its work in June, first learning the dances and then beginning rehearsals once the school year started, and leading up to the show in the middle of November. The show has a cast of over 30 of Prairie’s students, ranging from freshmen to seniors. Urinetown brings in a lot of new cast members appearing in their first show. “The biggest challenge I faced was a challenge that I face most years with the first show,” says Claire Verity, director of the Prairie drama club for up to 15 years. “Maybe half of my students are new to the process and haven’t done a show before or haven’t done a show at the level of which we work.”
The cast was able to overcome these challenges in time, as seen by the amazing performances they gave us. The Prairie Drama Club will give us another show later this year, so stay tuned for that as well.
