A Review of Edgemont Theater’s Urinetown
On the weekend of April 10th, Edgemont Theater released their virtual performance of Urinetown the Musical. The cast and their directors worked hard to bring the show to life despite the difficult circumstances COVID-19 brought them. Rehearsals for Urinetown were fully online, but the cast still managed to preserve the vibrancy of the show. Edgemont Theater has a history of putting on wonderful musicals for the community each spring, so it was super exciting to see what they were able to do this year. The cast committed themselves to transferring the Edgemont Theater magic from the auditorium to the internet for the community to enjoy, and they succeeded!
Urinetown the Musical is a satirical comedy that takes place in a dystopian world where all citizens who are not high class have to pay to pee. A rebellion of poor people forms, and the rich people join them onstage in protest songs such as “Act One Finale” and “We’re Not Sorry”. The show mainly satirizes the legal system, capitalism, and corporate mismanagement.
While the show depicts modern political issues through comedy and overall absurdity, it also includes heartwarming storylines of romance and family relationships. The music in the show is both beautiful and powerful, a perfect accompaniment to the show’s dramatic romantic and political aspects.
Each cast member filmed the show from his or her own house and the crew edited each person onto a backdrop that made it seem like the cast, or rather characters, were together in the parallel universe of the show. The show included solos, duets, and group songs, as well as scenes.
The show featured outstanding performances from Izabelle Korman, Olivia Reduto, Abigail Duke, Anthony Sarro, Lucas Sun, and Evan Cohen. Izabelle and Lucas, who starred as the romantic leads, performed their duet “Follow Your Heart” so compellingly from their separate rooms that it seemed as though they were actually performing together. Anthony Sarro played Officer Lockstock, the narrator of the show and leader of the Police, and was accompanied by Abigail Duke playing Little Sally, co-narrator and energetic member of the rebellion. Abigail performed Little Sally’s sweet, heartfelt song “Tell Her I Love Her” beautifully, and Olivia Reduto, who played Pennywise, tore the virtual house down with her breathtaking belting of “Privilege to Pee.” Anthony Sarro and Richard Yan were a killer duo playing Lockstock and his police sidekick Barrel and singing and dancing in “Cop Song,” a fun and lively duet. In “Snuff That Girl”, the high energy and rowdiness from the poor people could be felt through the screen as they excitedly plotted their revenge on the rich people. The rich people, on the other hand, sang wittily about their high status in “Don’t Be The Bunny”, satirizing the act of oppressing the poor. Overall, I was incredibly impressed by the overall energy of the show and the lively emotions from each character regardless of the screen.
Of course, the cast couldn’t have created such an amazing virtual show without the help of their director Jacquie, music director Ricky, and choreographer Anthony. As Abigail Duke, or Little Sally, told me, “We owe it all to Jacquie. She worked so hard and was so dedicated to making our show the best it could be.” The cast did not have the opportunity to learn choreography or songs in person together because their entire process was virtual. This may not seem like a big deal, but after seeing the show it was shocking to learn that the cast hadn’t collaborated in person because they all seemed so invested in the show and connected to each other.
"The process was definitely frustrating at times because zoom theater is obviously not the theater we all love, but we all just stayed optimistic and motivated and were able to make the best out of it."
Abigail told me, “The process was definitely frustrating at times because zoom theater is obviously not the theater we all love, but we all just stayed optimistic and motivated and were able to make the best out of it.” This virtual performance was very impressive, and it was amazing to see the excitement of live theater and Urinetown, in particular, transferred onto a screen. Although I’m sure we would all rather have been enjoying the talent of these students in the auditorium, Urinetown: The Virtual Musical was a great replacement.