Urinetown
CAST
Officer Lockstock
Georgia Barron
Officer Barrel
Angelo Vasilakakos
Penelope Pennywise
Cassie Ogle
Bobby Strong
Joey Phyland
Little Sally
Kristie Nguy
Mr McQueen
Luke Ward
Hope Cladwell
Lauren Gunson
Caldwell Cladwell
Joshua Spencer-Pepper
Hot Blades Harry/Old Man Strong
Elliot Wood
Becky Two Shoes
Marlena Thompson
Senator Fipp
Wil Jones
Tiny Tom
James Frampton
Soupy Sue
Chloe Makiol
Josephine Strong
Julia Miletta
Ms Millenium
Rebecca Ordiz
Second Year Ensemble
Teddy Burgess, LauraJoy Bunting, Ellie Carroll, Ellie Chan, Yashith Fernando, Ashley Garner,
Justin Grey, Abu Kebe, Jordan Koulos, Grace Laing, Kristen Robertson, Julia Sterrett,
Chloe Stojanovic, Will Thomas, Henny Walters, Tymyka Wines
CREATIVE AND PRODUCTION TEAM
Director
Trudy Dunn
Music Director
Paul White
Choreographer
Freya List
Assistant Director
Cohan
Voice and Dialect Coach
Anna McCrossin-Owen
Dance Captain
Angelo Vasilakakos
Set Designer
Jessamine Moffett*
Costume Designer
Aye Bañez*
Lighting Designer
Isabella 'Iz' Zettl*
Sound Designer
Taarani Charrett-Dunlop*
Technical Manager
Luke Grana*
Production Stage Manager
Madison Brake*
Deputy Stage Manager
Annie Gleisner*
Assistant Stage Managers
Lucy Anderson
Jess Smart
Head Of Staging
Emily Van Dyk*
Workshop Assistants
Chloe Goldsmith
Ranko Hong
Bradley Hora
Brooke Painter
Xander Reichard
Taylor Amakia Tiauli
Senior Costumiers
Charlie Bel Craft*
Alex Heien*
Costume Manager
Maisy Butchart
Costume Assistant
Kiara Brown
Head Electrician
Amber Swank
Deputy Electrician / Lighting Programmer and Operator
Sophie Walter
Lighting Crew (Bump-In)
Harrison Croft
Lara Gabor
*Third year Bachelor of Fine Arts (Design and Production) students
PROFESSIONAL STAFF
Production Coordinator
Andy Turner
Workshop Supervisor
Alan Logan
Construction Consultants
James Clarke
Scenic Art Department
Morgan Jones
Costume Supervisor
Rose McCormick
Costumier
Natalie Gillis
Photographer
Ben Fon
Special Thanks to
Origin
ACADEMIC STAFF
Head of Music Theatre
Tyran Parke
Head of Production
Lisa Osborn
Production Academic Mentors
Jacob Battista, John Ford, Jessica Lawes, James Wilkinson, Tom Willis
VCA Production Academic Staff
Anna Cordingley, Martyn Coutts, Jo Evans, Amanda Hitten, Lisa Mibus, Matt Scott
DIRECTOR'S NOTE
Just like a good political cartoon, Urinetown uses overt, satirical humour to deliver its social message. And, also, like a good political cartoon its content, while often ridiculing, manipulates its audience to engage with a particular perspective. So be warned - there is nothing subtle about this entertainment!
Urinetown offers a view of a polarised world inhabited by the ‘haves ‘and the ‘have-nots’; a corrupt, greedy world where a 20-year drought has enabled the controlled and expensive use of public amenities; a world in which power is wielded with indiscriminate ease because the oppressed have forgotten how to question the society in which they live.
What better material for a toe-tapping musical, right? Deliberately written to parody theatrical conventions this show unashamedly alludes to songs, shows and styles with which you may already be familiar.
Our Urinetown is set in contemporary urban Australia, since the problems that Mark Hollman and Greg Kotis highlighted to the USA in 2001 are universal to any ego-centric capitalistic system, even ours. The fact that its message is increasingly relevant now, two decades later, suggests that if we don’t start listening soon, it may quickly become too late.
Working with these actors on this show has been an unequivocal joy and my admiration for them knows no bounds. I have asked a great deal of them in terms of finding their ‘inner Aussie grotesque’ and they have enthusiastically embraced all of challenges presented by this show to bring it to life for you. The qualities evident in these performers are a director’s dream, and their abundance here is testament to the expansive training they have received here at VCA under the guidance of Tyran and all the other staff. This admiration I also extend to the design creatives and to the crew who have listened, laughed and run with every idea.
With Urinetown’s abundance of musical numbers, I also pay tribute to Freya and Paul for their creativity, and sensitivity to detail; and to Cohan for their enthusiasm and support during the rehearsal chaos.
So, as you will hear in the opening number…
This is Urinetown.
On with the show!
- Trudy Dunn, Director