Urinetown—The Musical at HPA's Gates Performing Art Center

WAIMEA, Big Island of Hawaii—HPA Ka Makani Theatre presents the Broadway production, “Urinetown—The Musical,” at 7 p.m. on February 28, 29, and March 1 and at 4 p.m. on March 2 at the school’s Gates Performing Arts Center. Admission is $10 for adults and $5 for students. Tickets are available at the door the night of the show.

The book and lyrics are by Greg Kotis, with music and lyrics by Mark Hollman. Sheryl Goodspeed directs, with set and lighting design by Jared Terpak. Musical director is Adrienne Cherry. Choreography is by Angel Prince, who is assisted by Sarah Whitten.

“Urinetown—The Musical,” begins its satirical tale of industrial corruption in a Gotham-like city, where a 20-year drought has brought on a crippling water shortage. In a mad attempt to regulate water consumption, the government has outlawed the use of private toilets. The citizenry must use public, pay-per-use amenities owned and operated by the Urine Good Company (or "UGC"), a private corporation run by the corrupt and iron-fisted Caldwell B. Cladwell. Anyone who refuses to pay is immediately and without questions hauled off to Urinetown. Nobody knows exactly what happens in Urinetown, but the population is going mad, desperate for relief.

Kotis was inspired to write "Urinetown—The Musical" while traveling around Europe for a couple of weeks. He had so little money at the time that he began delaying trips to the pay-per-use public toilets in Paris and other cities as part of his budget plan. As Kotis considered whether or not to spare his precious coins for a visit to a pay toilet looming on the horizon, the idea for a play called "Urinetown" came to him.

"The play has so many layers and that's what great theatre is all about," says HPA's Goodspeed. "The arts can be a powerful tool to educate and effect change.

"The play promotes environmental awareness, which supports the school's Go Green efforts. There are messages about population demand, pollution, droughts due to global warming, decaying infrastructure, and privatization."

The cast features Ian Nelson as Officer Lockstock, Kimberly McFarland as Penelope Pennywise, Hans Fellhauer as Bobby Strong, Leah Smith as Little Sally, Samantha Emmons as Hope Cladwell, Kekai Clarke as Officer Barrell, Jordan Opdycke as Joseph Strong, Jordan Swan as Josephine Strong, Duke Chase as Caldwell B. Cladwell, Joseph Huang as Mr. McQueen, and Louis Polak as Senator Fipp.

Other cast members include Max Barreto, Tanya Boyer, Kassia Dombroski, Mariko Fujio-White, Anthony Gand, Gabi Geiger, Lacey Honda, HanaSara Ito, Samantha Johnson, Emily Johnston, Boombelle Khil-In, Bree Kobayashi, Lexi Korobkin, Alexandra Kowalski, Kelsey Martin, Logan Martin, Jackie Ornellas, Piper Power, Garnett Puett, Lynn Smith, Catie Takata, Julia Varboncoeur, Kim Wolforth, and Mariko Yoshinaga.

Student stage crew members are Ruby Fink, stage manager; Kassia Dombroski, costumer; and Makoa Johnson and Andrew Hopkins, lighting technicians.

For more information, call 881-4099.
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