Everything has a perilous price in ‘Urinetown’
Estefan Granucci ’19 starred in “Urinetown” as Bobby Strong.
May 23, 2019
From March 29 to April 7, the Archbishop Riordan High School drama department presented their spring musical “Urinetown,” an ironic comedy, set in a dystopian society that has been ravaged by a 20 year drought.
The main plot of the story is a revolutionary rebellion against the UGC, short for the Urine Good Company, a private corporation that extorts money from the poor by charging them to use the restroom.
This rebellion is led by the hero of the story, Bobby Strong, played by Riordan’s own Estefan Granucci ’19. Bobby’s uprising rebellion thrives on the premise of people being able to do “whatever you like, whenever you like, with whomever you like, in whatever location you like.”
New, yet familiar drama director, Greg Callaghan, chose this interesting play, explaining, “I wanted to do a comedy with great parts for the leads and the ensemble, every actor on stage had a clearly de ned character…I also wanted to do a show that spoke to a larger social issue, I wanted to do a show with a small band instead of a full orchestra, I had seen ‘Urinetown’ when I was in high school and have been obsessed with it ever since.”
Throughout the course of the play, glimmers of American social values were hinted at. The three hour long play contained comedic, ironic, and wholesome aspects that reeled the audience in, and the outstanding performance by the students captivated the entire theater. The most substantial component was the singing, as each person in the cast contributed to the beautiful harmonies sung in each verse.
The performance on stage was not the only jaw dropping aspect of the production. Behind the scenes, Riordan’s stage crew worked tirelessly on designing and creating a set for the musical. The stunning 8 foot tall, 25 to 30 feet wide structure was an eyecatcher, taking two and a half additional weeks prior to tech week to build.
“It took us about two additional weeks prior to the beginning of tech week, initially, due to our process of set design in the past,” said Amanda Grace of Mercy ’19.
“I had some doubts of our stage crew’s ability to perform such a task, but to my surprise, we were clearly able to efficiently finish this amazing set in time for the play.”
New set designer Hector Zavala encouraged the stage crew to make strides in the right direction in terms of set design. Additionally, Grace stated, “Moving forward, since we have a new technical director, our sets are definitely going to be a lot more pleasing to the eye. I think we have a bright, new future for set design for this crew so I’m really excited for what’s to come.” The chemistry witnessed on stage between the cast was incomparable to the family like dynamic off stage. “The cast is a family. We work together to try and build each other up, and I think that’s a part of why we perform so strong on stage, because the fact that we have this family like relationship off stage… and also the fact that we are all getting along, we can just encourage each other to do better,” said Eva Moody ICA ’20.
Although Riordan’s drama club is referred to as a tight knit community, they are open to new members. Henry Bensurto ’20 said, “It’s an exciting family to be in. If you mess up, they’ll help you. If you want to join musicals or plays that Riordan hosts, become part of the family.”