Ferris State Theater held auditions for its first production of the year, called “Urinetown” opening in October.
Assistant Professor of Theater Dennis Henry chose “Urinetown,” by Greg Kotis for this fall semester’s musical. This production is a three-time Tony award-winning musical about a 20-year-old drought in a city causing a ban on private bathrooms, forcing citizens to pay for public bathrooms.
Henry chose “Urinetown” for the fall because of the casting number and the political aspects that it offers.
“It does have a little bit of a political story and we are in a political year, but it is not as angry or polarizing as the election is,” Henry said. “It both talks about corporate greed and government overreach.”
Henry thinks that this play is not only a good choice for its political relatability because of the upcoming presidential election, but it also helps lighten the mood surrounding politics by being a satirical comedy.
“I think it’s really important in this time to be able to laugh at ourselves a bit,” Henry said. “It also has something to say to make people think a bit about the things that we take for granted every day.”
Henry thought this production would be great for students who haven’t been to a play before and even for students who frequent them. This is because of the title and the list of songs that parody well-known musicals.
Henry believes this is a great opportunity for students and the community to watch this production as it is a bigger production title, and tickets are only $10.
“It has a hook for people who have been to a lot of shows, and for someone who has never been to one,” Henry said. “It’s one that’s got a lot of good songs in it, and that has some great comedy in it.”
Bryanna Monaco is a social work junior who loves to watch plays. She has gone to every production since she started her time at Ferris and enjoys watching them perform. Especially since her best friend frequently has a role in them. Monaco has not heard much about the upcoming play, but based on the title, she feels pretty neutral about it.
“It didn’t ring any bells or raise any flags,” Monaco said. “Every musical or play that Ferris puts on is fantastic, so I’m hoping it’s good.”
Lindsay Greenfelder is a freshman in dental hygiene, and she is also interested in theatre. Even though she does not play in them herself, her sister and many of her friends do, and she likes to watch them and see what goes on in the theatre.
When she first heard about “Urinetown,” she did not have any thoughts when it came to her first impression of it.
“I don’t ever have any kind of expectations when I go into plays,” Greenfelder said. “I just go to them and would be interested in going.”
“Urinetown” will be opening on Halloween and continuing through the weekend. Anyone can follow up on any updates on the current or upcoming productions on their Instagram: @ferrisstateuniversitytheatre.