Health & Fitness
'Urinetown - The Musical' at the Warner - My Review
With the help of director Isabel Carrington, these teens clearly worked extremely hard, rose to every challenge and presented a very funny, very professional finished product.
It was ironic that we headed to Torrington on a foggy and rainy evening to catch the second performance of Urinetown The Musical by the Warner Theater Performance Lab students. The very satirical comedy is about a land dealing with a drought. The humor is very dry and the cast members in "the poor" and "the rebel" category are unwashed. The piece is demanding in its characters, in the intricate harmonies of the diverse musical numbers and in the necessary choreography. With the help of director Isabel Carrington, these teens clearly worked extremely hard, rose to every challenge and presented a very funny, very professional finished product.
Ms. Carrington did have some help. Katie Brunetto taught some non-dancers to dance quite well, thank you very much. She also had a magnificent cameo in the second act. David Anctil was the music director and brought out the best in all the singers. Mr. Anctil also designed the costumes and had a pretty amazing cameo himself. Les Ober was the master carpenter of the fitting set, but Karla Woodworth was the scenic artist.
My absolute favorite part of this night at the Nancy Marine Studio Theater (for which I had complimentary tickets) was sitting behind Ms. Carrington and hearing her laughter throughout the show. Whether she was enjoying a scripted joke or reacting to a change that one of her actors made, this proud director was so much fun to watch.
This P-lab instructor directed the teens with a perfect comic touch, and made some really smart choices in her staging and props. I loved the flashlights employed by "the law" and the handwritten signs worked into the scenes, not to mention the actions of the background characters during big lead character moments that kept us laughing. It all had a very Off-Broadway feel and the packed audience of family and friends of the students loved it.
The smallish cast all had a lot to do and each and every one did it well. A freshman at the Greater Hartford Academy of the Arts, Connor Picard (On Golden Pond in Goshen) did well as Mr. McQueen. Torrington HS sophomore Julia Traub was a commanding female Senator Fipp. and seventeen year old Noah Boisvert was the evil Caldwell B. Cladwell.
As Lockstock and Barrel, Lewis Mills HS junior Joey Calabrese and Wamogo senior Jeremy Piontkewicz represented the law. Mr. Calabrese had a natural comedic timing and even when he messed up a line was very funny.
Cheshire High sophomore Isabella Riccio was the perfect Penelope Pennywise and worked her plunger prop to the fullest. The other "poor" characters were played by Shanna Shotwell (Little Becky Two-Shoes,) Charlie Rau (Hot Blades Harry and Joseph "Old Man" Strong,) Catherine MacKay (Josephine "Ma" Stong,) Jacob Honig (Tiny Tom,) and Emma Avery (Soupy Sue.)
Gwen Mileti, a Holy Cross senior, brought a wonderful comic sense and sly attitude to the role of Little Sally. The fact that she was tall made it even better. Bobby Strong was played by the vocally talented Torrington HS senior Zach Roberts. Emma Seyer, a junior at Northwest Regional 7, was perfectly perfect as the beautiful and aptly named Hope. All three of these P-Lab veterans appeared in The Beautiful Empire of Ordinary Kings, an original work by Ms. Carrington.
Congratulations to everyone involved in this great production. One chance remains to see Urinetown The Musical this afternoon at 2:00pm. Take Ms. Carrington's advice and keep an open mind, get past the title of the show, and make a visit to Urinetown to see these talented teens in action.
