By Daisy Moriarty ’25
The Frederick Gunn School’s Winter Musical, Urinetown, had three very successful shows, though to achieve this, it took a lot of hard work by the Frederick Gunn students and staff who were involved in the show. The audition process began on Tuesday November 28, after the cast had had the opportunity to prepare their audition songs over Thanksgiving break. This first day of auditions was focused on each cast member presenting their audition song to the director, Mr. Burnham, and the music director, Mrs. Fay. The auditioners were then given adjustments, so Mr. Burnham and Mrs Fay could see the performance with slight adjustments, and how well the performer was able to take direction and apply it to their performance.
The next day, auditions continued, this time focusing on scene work. Actors presented both monologues and scenes with a partner, which they chose from the options Mr. Burnham pulled from the Urinetown script. They were not given the monologues and scenes until they arrived at the audition, so it was a cold read! On Thursday and Friday, while casting was being decided, the cast and crew read through the script and listened to the show’s music, so they could begin to familiarize themselves with the show. Then, on Friday night, while many of the cast members were in a vocal ensemble rehearsal, the cast list was announced! During the rest of their rehearsals before the Holiday break, the main focus in rehearsals was learning the show’s music with Mrs. Fay. Because the music and harmonies in Urinetown are very challenging, this was a time consuming feat.
After the Holiday break, the cast worked on staging and choreography. Many of the cast members had worked on their lines over break, so they were able to focus on their staging and choreography during rehearsals. Starting with Act 1 Scene 1, the cast worked through the script. Six days a week, for two hours, the cast and crew worked tirelessly to learn dances, music, and staging. With the help of Al Chiappetta, Terry Hawley, and Greg Fisher, the student design team worked on sound, costumes, lighting, and set design, in order to create the visual and auditory aspects of Urinetown that made the show come to life.
On Sunday, February 18, Tech Week began. During this intense week, the cast and crew attended rehearsals on a different schedule than they had for the past few months, meeting from 12 to 6 on Sunday, and 6 to 9 from Monday to Wednesday. Then, on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday, Urinetown had its three performances, all of which were well-attended by Frederick Gunn community members, family members of the cast and crew, and people from the Washington community. The work of everyone involved in the musical truly paid off, as despite several cast members becoming sick, and not being able to perform, each performance was a great success.
