Kristion Thompson

Professor Penz

Foundations of dance

May 1, 2019

In April I went back to my old high school and saw the musical Urinetown, and

surprisingly it knocked my socks off and I was astonished. In the past the musicals were

a little lackluster considering the dance number all looked the same and were basic

moves that would make people fall asleep. The dancing for Urinetown was honestly

very amusing eye catching, and comedic. The musical consisted of a mixture of jazz,

modern and a little of tap. The majority of the dance breaks were jazz based. Also, there

were some signature moves that never cease to make me feel nostalgic. Also, in the

song “Snuff the girl” the dance break was inspired by the dance fighting and when

you're a jet from “West Side Story” by Arthur Laurents.

The lighting for the show was pretty basic. The gels for the lights were mostly

warm white for day time and a very faint baby and navy blue for night time, an electric

blue spotlight for someone who is a ghost, a red saturated spot light to show someone's

death or just a regular white spotlight. The lights were very cohesive with the setting,

tone and actions that were happening in the scene.

As for the costumes they clearly showed the difference between the rich people

and the poor people. The poor people followed a monochromatic scheme of neutral

colors such as gray, white, tan and beige. Following the color scheme, the clothing was
tattered and tethered. The rich people wore bright colored colors varying from red to

blue and yellow and pink to show contrast the two popularities. Following that scheme

the rich people wore suits, dresses and other formal clothing.

This show also had some very comedic aspects to it that the audience found very

pleasing and enjoyable. Whenever they captured someone, they’d tie them up but never

well so the person who got captured would always find their way out of being tied up

with ease. There was also a running gag in the show where if someone did or said

something shocking all of the village folk would simultaneously bend over, dip and

th
swing their head in circular motion and say “WHAAAAAT”? Breaking the 4 wall was

also something that was done in the show a lot.

All in all, Urinetown was a very ironic and dark humored show but very good

nonetheless. The dancing grabbed me and kept me intrigued. It was very refreshing to

know that my school for once didn’t reuse the same tired moves that they use in every

musical.