Urinetown at River Stage
Last night I went to see a community theatre production of Urinetown. I realized that I haven't been to River Stage since 1998! What a shame, especially the theatre is literally seven minutes away from my house!!
I was impressed with the quality of the performance, especially the cast. At first, the actor who played Bobby Strong was not a standout until he meets Hope but after that, I couldn't keep my eyes away from him. Vocally as well as his acting was really solid. I'd like to see him playing Sweeney someday (like at least 10 yrs later ;-). Needless to say, I'd see his performance in other shows again! The actress who played Hope was well matched, again vocally she was superb plus she had a good comedic timing too.
The direction and staging was pretty good, and I didn't feel it dragged like when I saw the show at A.C.T..
I was a bit sadden b/c when I looked around the audience, there were two groups: middle age to senior theatre lovers and students who seem to be the friends' of cast. I didn't see many young non-friend people. I know it was a Friday night but it's unfortunate that young people are not supporting community theatre, especially this was a first musical show at River Stage. Maybe the title of the show turned off people. But a theatre community needs to work hard to attract younger audience.
I was impressed with the quality of the performance, especially the cast. At first, the actor who played Bobby Strong was not a standout until he meets Hope but after that, I couldn't keep my eyes away from him. Vocally as well as his acting was really solid. I'd like to see him playing Sweeney someday (like at least 10 yrs later ;-). Needless to say, I'd see his performance in other shows again! The actress who played Hope was well matched, again vocally she was superb plus she had a good comedic timing too.
The direction and staging was pretty good, and I didn't feel it dragged like when I saw the show at A.C.T..
I was a bit sadden b/c when I looked around the audience, there were two groups: middle age to senior theatre lovers and students who seem to be the friends' of cast. I didn't see many young non-friend people. I know it was a Friday night but it's unfortunate that young people are not supporting community theatre, especially this was a first musical show at River Stage. Maybe the title of the show turned off people. But a theatre community needs to work hard to attract younger audience.