What’s Happening?
The Michigan City High School Theatre Department is kicking off the year with their first show, “Urinetown,” originally written by Mark Hollmann. This oddly-titled show is a musical satire of the legal system, capitalism, social irresponsibility, populism, bureaucracy, corporate mismanagement, municipal politics and musical theatre itself. Winning three Tony Awards and producing over 1,000 premiers in two years, this show is the perfect start to the theatre department’s success for this year.
“Urinetown” is about a town that had a 20-year drought, resulting in a severe water shortage. The issue leads the government, in a feeble attempt to save water and make money, to charge people to urinate. If they fail to pay the hefty fee, they are exiled to the mystery penal colony ‘Urinetown’ and are never allowed to return. The citizens of the town go into protest, starting the “pee-for-free” rebellion.
The play is unique in many ways. From humor to the name itself, “Urinetown” is a good fit and challenge for the MCHS Theatre Department. It is contemporary, upbeat, and sarcastic beyond belief, cleverly making fun of real-life issues while also breaking the fourth wall multiple times.
Starting in July, the department has been working tirelessly to perfect this work. They have rehearsed hours on end, choreographed, memorized, and built their own props multiple days out of every week. They are eager to preform, and expect the turnout to be good.
Student Spotlight
Senior Julia Miller is a well-known student-leader at Michigan City High School. She is involved in several clubs, including student council, steering committee, National Honor Society, French club, and many more.
According to Miller, her favorite and most influential clubs are the ones that have to do with theatre: drama club and Thespian Society. Miller is an active and high ranked member in Thespian Society, the honor society of theatre. Inducted in her first year, she has gradually progressed through the ranks to become the highest level member possible, an International Honor Thespian.
Miller joined the theatre world back in sixth grade. She was in gymnastics for a while, but lost interest and wanted to try something new. In result, she joined the Young People’s Theatre in sixth grade and her passion grew from there. She realized that she loved the art of putting a show together and the challenges that came with it. Miller then went on to join drama club at MCHS, and later became a student leader.
Becoming experienced in acting and productions, Miller takes on many different roles within the club. In the past, she did more acting and as she became more experienced, she realized she liked working behind the scenes.
“I am not the best actor and cannot sing that well either. My only roles have been either mean or overly loving, and I feel like there is not much diversity in that. I love productions because you get to create something,” she explained.
This year, Miller is the student director. She instructs members while also working with the stage crew. Thus far, she is loving creating the props, as they are different and more challenging than those of the past.
Miller’s goal for this year is simple, “I want to keep the kids in theatre this year, not because they feel stuck, but because they should love what they are doing. We make a conscious effort to include everyone and make them want to stay. That is how we keep the program alive.”
Teacher Spotlight
Charles Puetzer is the head of the theatre department, acting as stage manager, set designer, and technical director. He also teaches algebra and has been at MCHS for six years.
Puetzer has a knack for encouraging his kids to succeed in theatre, but stresses academics above everything. Most kids in drama club have a GPA of 4.0 or higher, and the rest are 3.5 and higher. He never pushes them too hard, and makes sure they are succeeding in more ways than one.
One thing that stands out about Puetzer is his involvement and enthusiasm in the program, but also his distance from the production itself.
Miller explained, “Mr. Puetzer is the best out of the six directors I have had. He lets his students run the show, as it is a high school production, not the teacher’s.”
She later added, “He never takes an opportunity away from any student’s chance to succeed.”
Puetzer not only encourages his students to take initiative, but he is also humble, always willing to ask for help or feedback from his students. While choosing this year’s show, he made a list of potential productions and allowed the students to have input on the final decision. His trust and pride in his students is obvious, and it makes theatre feel like a second home.
What’s Coming Up?
The MCHS theatre department has not made the final decision on what the next show will be, but are working to perfect their current show and better the program overall, especially through fundraisers. The next will be a tag day this Saturday from 10 AM - 4 PM at Al’s on Karwick. There will be more to come as well as giveback nights, so keep an eye out for flyers!
“Urinetown” will premiere on Friday, November 9th at 7:00 PM, Saturday the 10th at 7:00 PM, and Sunday the 11th at 2:00 PM. Make sure to come out and see the show! Also, be on the look-out for any fundraisers to help support our talented students in theatre.