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Urinetown: The Musical will be showing July 19 - July 22
Click Here for more information.
Wednesday, July 18, 2012
In the Words SYC Students - Bryce Bowden
Summer Youth Conservatory actor Bryce Bowden shares a little of his experience with the Conservatory and Urinetown: The Musical and why he's an actor!
Tuesday, July 17, 2012
Exuberance in Urinetown
By: Mark Lewis, Music Director
"What?"
"It's a show."
"Urine, as in, like ...?"
"Yeah. The music's great."
[Actual conversation I had.]
Today we're rehearsing "Snuff That
Girl", so naturally everyone is in a good mood. The juvenile delinquent
faction of the rebels has kidnapped the boss' daughter. She's tied up. A mean
jazz beat starts.
"Cops will be here
Bustin' heads
Mighty quick
But we'll beat them to the punch
when we snuff out that chick"
Drum solo.
Dance!!
Look! It's the hero. It's Bobby Strong. How'd he
get here? We've moved on to "Run, Freedom, Run".
The hits just
keep comin'.
The cast stands by while the director talks to
the choreographer. Like me, they can't wait to do the song, a high energy gospel
satire. I admire their patience. The cast is all high school age actors.
Oh no, it's hand claps in theater! They always get off the beat, it's inevitable.
I'm playing away, the cast is circling behind me chanting “Hallelujah!”
I was going to tell them to sing out with exuberance - but I wouldn't have been heard. Not with all this exuberance around.
Oh no, it's hand claps in theater! They always get off the beat, it's inevitable.
I'm playing away, the cast is circling behind me chanting “Hallelujah!”
I was going to tell them to sing out with exuberance - but I wouldn't have been heard. Not with all this exuberance around.
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Urinetown: The Musical will be showing July 19 - July 22
Click Here for more information.
Monday, July 16, 2012
Choreographing Urinetown: The Musical
By: Missy Barnes, Choreographer
Urinetown is one
of my all-time favorite musicals. The first time I heard the cast recording, I
laughed out loud. At first hearing, I was particularly amused by the musical
references to such classics as Fiddler on
the Roof, West Side Story, Les Miz, and
The Threepenny Opera.
Inspiration for "What is Urinetown?"
Inspiration for "Follow Your Heart"
Inspiration for Act 1 Finale in Urinetown
Inspiration for "Privilege to Pee"
On one level, Urinetown
can be seen as a tribute to the well-structured musical of the mid-twentieth
century. It contains everything you could imagine a good story needs: a hero, a
villain, a love story, and a struggle between two diverse groups of people. The
songs are evenly spaced throughout the play in the tradition of Guys and Dolls and Hello, Dolly! In addition to the great music, the script is witty
and intelligent. It offers the perfect blend of comedy and social commentary,
dealing with such issues as environmental concerns and social Darwinism. Unlike
the classics of the American musical theatre, the play offers a plot twist
toward the end of Act II which reminds us that Urinetown is indeed a unique piece of theatre
Working on the musical for the second time has been a great
pleasure. I love the creativity and excitement that exists within the
production team. It is such a joy to work with a group who constantly strives
for excellence and is always open to new possibilities. The Paul Green Theatre
offers a wonderful challenge in terms of creating choreography because there
are so many areas in which staging can occur, including through the aisles near
the audience. The cast is talented, enthusiastic, dedicated, and great fun to
work with. I cannot imagine a more fabulous summer theatre experience than the
one I have had working with PlayMakers SYC.
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Urinetown: The Musical will be showing July 19 - July 22
Click Here for more information.
Thursday, July 12, 2012
Scenic Inspiration for Urinetown
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| An example of Art Deco style. |
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| The Astrodome in Houston after its participation in relief efforts for Hurricane Katrina victims. |
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| The set for a production of Bertolt Brecht's The Good Woman of Szechwan |
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| Juxtaposition of the run-down countryside with the distant Capitol. |
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| A sneak peek of the actual Urinetown set. |
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| A close-up on the Urinetown set. This is the Urine Good Company logo with clear Deco influence. |
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Urinetown: The Musical will be showing July 19, 2012 - July 22, 2012
Click Here for more information.
Tuesday, July 10, 2012
Costuming Urinetown: The Musical
By Jade Bettin, Costume Designer
This is my
fourth time costuming for the Summer Youth Conservatory and while I am proud of
each of the others, I find myself incredibly excited to see the costumes for Urinetown: The Musical onstage. Perhaps it's because
I've been incredibly fortunate to have such a great team ‑ talented theatre
tech students and amazingly generous volunteers ‑ working in the costume shop
to realize my vision for the show.
That vision began with a collection of images presented to me by one of the directors, Jeff Stanley. The pictures ranged from Depression Era images of men and women standing in bread lines to President Skroob from the Mel Brooks movie, Spaceballs.
Jeff, Adam Dill (assistant costume designer and costume shop manager extraordinaire), and I really focused in on the juxtaposition that exists in the play between the haves and have nots ‑ groups the directors had dubbed the "Cladwellians" and the "townies". It's a contrast that existed quite starkly in the 1930s and a reality that resonates today in the chants of "we are the 99%". So as a designer I was drawn to the silhouettes of the 1930s, but didn't want to make the look so foreign as to suggest that this was only an issue way back when.
Of course with the Summer Youth Conservatory, we're outfitting a cast of about 30 (if you include the costumed musicians). Consider that some of the actors play both townies and Cladwellians and you have a lot of pairs of shoes. (Or two miss-matched shoes in the case of Little Becky Two Shoes.) With the exception of a handful of pieces, most of what will be seen onstage is pulled from our own costume storage, altered to fit the actor, and then in the case of the townies, made to look as if they haven't washed their clothes in twenty years. All this definitely makes for a flurry of activity in the costume shop.
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That vision began with a collection of images presented to me by one of the directors, Jeff Stanley. The pictures ranged from Depression Era images of men and women standing in bread lines to President Skroob from the Mel Brooks movie, Spaceballs.
 |
| Costume research materials |
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| Mel Brooks as President Skroob in Spaceballs |
Jeff, Adam Dill (assistant costume designer and costume shop manager extraordinaire), and I really focused in on the juxtaposition that exists in the play between the haves and have nots ‑ groups the directors had dubbed the "Cladwellians" and the "townies". It's a contrast that existed quite starkly in the 1930s and a reality that resonates today in the chants of "we are the 99%". So as a designer I was drawn to the silhouettes of the 1930s, but didn't want to make the look so foreign as to suggest that this was only an issue way back when.
Of course with the Summer Youth Conservatory, we're outfitting a cast of about 30 (if you include the costumed musicians). Consider that some of the actors play both townies and Cladwellians and you have a lot of pairs of shoes. (Or two miss-matched shoes in the case of Little Becky Two Shoes.) With the exception of a handful of pieces, most of what will be seen onstage is pulled from our own costume storage, altered to fit the actor, and then in the case of the townies, made to look as if they haven't washed their clothes in twenty years. All this definitely makes for a flurry of activity in the costume shop.
Costume fitting for SYC actor Bryce Bowden
Urinetown: The Musical will be showing July 19 - 22, 2012
Click Here for more information.
Costuming Inspiration for Urinetown
This year's summer youth conservatory production, Urinetown: The Musical, is a classic tale of the haves and the have-nots. Costumes have a Depression Era feel to them with added Brechtian comedy and caricature. When preparing for design meetings, co-director Jeff Stanley pulled these images to illustrate the look he and co-director Julie Fishell were hoping to communicate.
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| Cartoon from the British satirical magazine Punch. |
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| Inspiration for the more affluent cast members of Urinetown. |
 | |||
| Inspiration for the less fortunate cast members of Urinetown. |
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Urinetown: The Musical will be showing July 19, 2012 - July 22, 2012
Click Here for more information.
Monday, July 9, 2012
SYC Is an Important Experience
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So here we are a week away from tech for Urinetown: The Musical, and the
young people who are part of this year’s SYC are doing a FANTASTIC job.
Watching them intersect with our professional company of artists, artisans and
stage managers has been incredible, and I am thrilled for the experience they
are having.
We forget sometimes that the theatre can do for young people
what we know that sports can also provide. Teamwork, collaboration,
empowerment, time-management skills, preparation and discipline are all
life-skills being developed through this program and will serve these young
people very well in whatever career they end up choosing for themselves.
We have taken our time to figure out how best to serve the
young people in our region, and after a year off to study how to be most
impactful, we are excited for this year’s performance and the structure of the
entire SYC program which includes Theatre Quest for younger students, and a
rehearsal and performance component for the older students. We have combined
this with a technical production unit, so that we are serving multiple groups
in targeted ways.
The SYC is as important a part of PlayMakers work as
anything else we do and I can’t wait to see the results of all of their hard
work.
See you at the theatre!
Thursday, July 5, 2012
SYC's Urinetown: The Musical is an NBC 17 "Hot Pick"
Our 2012 Summer Youth Conservatory's production of Urinetown: The Musical has been chosen as a "Hot Pick" for July. Fun for the whole family! Stay tuned to the blog for upcoming posts from PlayMakers Producing Artistic Director Joseph Haj, Costume Designers Jade Bettin and Adam Dill, and Urinetown surprise guest bloggers!
Tickets for Urinetown: The Musical are on sale now. CLICK HERE to purchase online or call our Box Office (M-F 10-4) to purchase by phone. Adults $15; Children $10; PlayMakers Season Ticket Holders $13
Urinetown: The Musical runs from July 19-22. Thurs-Sat @ 7:30pm; Sun @ 2:00pm http://www.playmakersrep.org/urinetown
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