Mount Madonna School – Committed to Theatre
by Paul Myrvold

Urinetown: the Musical
Mount Madonna School

On the surface the idea of a high school mounting a production of a show named “Urinetown” might strike the unknowledgeable as, let us say, distasteful. When I appeared in a splendid production of the show at San Jose Stage Company a few years ago a colleague rejected my invitation to attend saying, “Oh…I could never see a show called Urinetown.” Urine, pee, piss. Ish! as my Minnesota-born mother might have said. Yes, the central conceit of the musical concerns a city twenty years into an implacable drought so severe that private toilets are banned. In order to conserve water, the people must use public amenities (run for profit by a private corporation) to perform their bodily functions. They have to “pay to pee.” But stuffed inside that notional kernel and wrapped around it is one of the cleverest, most bitingly satirical and tuneful shows ever. It’s a joy to perform and an evening of bittersweet fun for an audience.

Every time I visit Mount Madonna School to see a production I am thrilled by the herculean effort that is made to provide students with a first class theatrical experience. Urinetown is no exception. The show is written for a cast of sixteen with doubling and tripling of roles. This production, lead by director Sampad Martin Kachuck, boasted an expanded cast that numbered sixty-four, the entire Mount Madonna High School student body! (See Mr. Kachuck’s statement on the school’s full inclusion philosophy in the accompanying sidebar.)

Just to manage and rehearse such a crowd is a feat, but to get the job done so well is impressive. I know from experience that the show is demanding musically. The score gives clever nods to shows like 3 Penny Opera, West Side Story and The Fantasticks among others,which are honored by an echo but not imitated. Vocally, there is nothing easy there. The score is complex and rangy with intricate choral numbers. And for the most part the students handled it very well. Kudos for Musical Director Leah Parker. The choreography by Mayana Lisboa with “Hip Pop Special Choreography” by Luis Sanchez was detailed, clever, entertaining and took full advantage of the varying skill levels of the students.

The principal actors delivered their roles with confidence and panache. The star-crossed lovers, capitalist scion Hope Cladwell (Anneka Lettunich) and rebel leader Bobby Strong (PK Hattis), were suitably passionate. Tycoon villain Caldell B. Cladwell (Ben Mangus) was smarmy and evil. Conflicted facilities manager Penelope Pennywise (Mari Fox) was in turns stern, demanding and ultimately heroic. Officer Lockstock (a suave and sometimes villainous Jack Massion) and Little Sally (an adorable Erin Mitchell) stepped out of the plot to comment on the action – a sort of mini-Greek chorus.

There were many eye-catching performers among the ensemble, but it is difficult to put names to them. One I can name is Emily Handloff as Hot Blades Harry who sparked the best number of the evening, “Snuff That Girl,” which was a triumph and a song the actors clearly relished.

Designer Rajesh Westerberg’s multilevel set with a two-story cylinder representing Facility No. 9 which opened clam shell fashion to reveal Cladwell’s corporate headquarters was pleasing to see, wonderfully suited to the large cast and transparently lit by Dennis Randolph.

An army of parents, friends and former students provide firm support for the show, which was coordinated by Anurag White, who in other circumstance would probably be called producer. The youth of Mount Madonna School are truly blessed. I know they had a ball with this one.

La Factoria
El Teatro Campesino

Hand made, indigenous theatre created and performed by non-theatrical folks is rare. A show of that category that succeeds by being true, touching and wildly entertaining is a kind of a miracle. Created by a group of social workers led by primary writer Hammie O’Chona (a pseudonym for Rebecca Perez-Ochoa), La Factoria chronicles the dreams and faith of women employed in mundane jobs at a place of employment – a factory whose product is never mentioned – who gather in a lunchroom to eat and talk. It’s a kind of existential situation that calls to mind Sartre’s No Exit or Beckett’s Waiting for Godot but on a more modest scale and infinity funnier than those more serious plays. La Factoria is indigenous remember, hand made, homegrown.

The main character Chona (Ms. Perez-Ochoa) starts the show and boosts it along like a stage manager. A flamboyant hyper-feminine ball of energy whose job, which she doesn’t seem to take seriously, is “yanitor.” She minces across the stage taking tiny steps with hips swaying pushing her elaborately decorated janitor’s cart, stopping now and then to give the audience an open mouthed take expressing a myriad of subtle emotions – wonder, shock, coyness and more. I kept thinking, where does this character come from? Of whom does she remind me? Then I thought, “Iris Chacon!” The Puerto Rican fireball, the perpetual motion singer/dancer popular in Latino circles in the late 70s and perhaps best known for her astoundingly curvaceous backside. When channel surfing in my New York City apartment back then, the sight of Iris Chacon on my 17” Sony Trinitron would always make me pause hoping for a glimpse of her magnificent posterior, a moment when the dog gene took over. Of course, I could be wrong about all of this.

Ms. Perez-Ochoa has also concocted a Spanish accent for Chona unlike anything I have ever heard. It’s extreme parody of a stereotypical accent in which she put an “s” at the end of almost every word. Chona’s dream is to become a stand up comedian and in sequences away from the lunchroom she delivers her act with absolute conviction and impeccable timing.

Chona inspires the other women in play to discover their dreams and find the faith that can make those desires come true, including an outrageously white-bread factory manager (Ms. Perez-Ochoa in another over-the-top impersonation). The characters are all based on their real selves: Carla Torres as Vicky, Patricia Villegas as Patti, Carmen Carrasco as Carmen, Alma Diaz as Almita, Rebecca Hernandez as Rebecca and Pa Chang as China. In several scenes away from the lunchroom, we get to see those dreams being realized.

La Factoria will be around for a while, I think. If you hear of it playing, see it. The performers are fine, confident and totally comfortable in their roles. The show has a short run March 12, 13, & 14 at Salinas High School, 726 South Main St. in Salinas.

Opening in February

Great stuff happening in February. Here are a few key events. Ballet San José presents Prokofiev’s Romeo and Juliet with choreography by BSJ’s artistic Director Dennis Nahat Feb 27 – Mar 7 at San Jose’s Center for the Performing Arts…El Teatro Campesino opens its 2010 season with a revivals of the commedia dell’arte play Los Olivos Pits directed by San Francisco Mime Troupe founder R.G. Davis and Luis Valdez’ Los Vendidos directed by Kinan Valdez playing Feb 12 – Mar 14 (See page 26 for more details) … Mozart’s The Marriage of Figaro produced by Opera San José runs February 6 – 21 at the California Theatre in Downtown San Jose…Pintello Comedy Theater continues the funny business with There Goes the Bride Feb 26 – Mar 20 at the Grange Hall in Gilroy…and it’s always great to see a Tom Stoppard play and San Jose Stage Company offers up his Rock ‘n’ Roll Feb 10 – Mar 7 in its cozy venue at the corner of First and William in Downtown San Jose.

For details on these shows and many more plus upcoming auditions turn to OnStage.

See you at intermission.

Paul Myrvold has been a member of Actors' Equity since 1973 and has been writing and reviewing theatre and cinema for twenty years.  His most recent acting credits include narrating and playing Ebenezer Scrooge in a radio drama version of A Christmas Carol in the World Theatre at CSU Monterey Bay, taking the role of aging radical writer/director Tommy Macklin in Jeff Carter's La Honda and his eighth production as Quixote/Cervantes in Man of La Mancha, both at Pacific Repertory Theatre .Email him at editor@outandaboutmagazine.com