A number of interruptions — pandemic-related and otherwise — could not keep musical theatre students at Victoria High School from bringing their year-end production to the stage, even if it meant staging their version of the Broadway hit Urinetown: The Musical in a reconstituted bike lockup.
“Truthfully, it’s been absolutely bananas,” director Kim Sholinder, who teaches drama and musical theatre at Vic High, said with a laugh.
“It’s been nuts. Not only are we dealing with all the COVID-19 stuff, we also moved schools this year. And we don’t have a theatre at the new school.”
Vic High is currently operating out of the former SJ Willis school while its longtime home on Grant Street undergoes substantial renovations. The long-term upside — future Vic High students will have a state-of-the-art theatre in which to perform — has come at a short-term cost, however.
Current students participating in Vic High’s theatre program have done battle with COVID-19 social-distancing protocols during the past two school years, while dealing with a lack of suitable rehearsal space. The former theatre at SJ Willis was converted into a library for Vic High students, which meant an outdoor former bike lockup has been home for rehearsals as they ready Urinetown for its run, which gets underway Wednesday.
“It is significantly safer than being indoors, and it is within our own school grounds,” Sholinder said. “We’re not risking cross-exposure. We were set to perform [Urinetown] at Esquimalt High, but with the increase in COVID-19 in schools, there were students and parents alike who were uncomfortable with this idea, and I can’t blame them at this point.”
The theatre students, who are in Grades 9 through 12, have been resilient in the face of adversity. The musical was originally scheduled to take place at the end of February, but when health protocols did not ease as expected, Sholinder bumped the 2001 musical about capitalism, corporate culture and social upheaval to May.
When protocols were not lifted in time for the re-scheduled date, the production went forward with the knowledge that students would be performing it on camera for viewers at home from the former bike lockup. Vic High’s year-end performance was cancelled entirely last year, due to COVID-19, so Sholinder felt it was important to continue on for the sake of her students, even with the roadblocks constantly slowing their momentum.
“This is probably the strongest production we’ve ever done,” she said. “The students are dedicated and committed to making the show happen in spite of all the obstacles. It is the light for them at the end of this very, very dark tunnel.”
Students were given the choice of which musical they would like to perform. They chose Urinetown over a handful of more well-known Disney productions, Sholinder said. She applauded their decision, knowing what they were committing to, in terms of rehearsal time. “Musical theatre for me is a real collaborative process, so it’s important that this was student-driven.”
Urinetown’s foundation is the music (it won a Tony Award in 2002 for best original score), so when rehearsals started in November, she felt it was necessary to put them through their paces twice a week. Students were split into groups, based on COVID-19 protocols and where the production’s needs were at the time, she said.
The 70 cast and crew in the musical-theatre program has been reduced to a cast of 16 and crew of six for the upcoming online performances. Urinetown has been streamlined out of necessity, but the students have shown their mettle through the three-month process. In the words of William Shakespeare: though they be but little, they are fierce.
“Theatre in general is supposed to serve a purpose. Urinetown is a good fit for that,” Sholinder said. “It’s about taking back power, and is really satirical. It fits really well, especially with the entire cast having to wear a mask.”
ON STAGE
What: Urinetown: The Musical
Where: showtix4u.com/event-details/51415
When: May 19-22, 7 p.m.
Tickets: $20
