Mighty Goliath Productions Takes Risks to Bring Urinetown: The Musical to Life

(Avon Lake, OH)- Mighty Goliath is deep into production of their next show, the Tony award winning musical, URINETOWN: THE MUSICAL. Rehearsals started back in October, and once a week the cast, crew, and orchestra get together on Friday to rehearse. Mighty Goliath Productions is unique in a few ways. One way is the commitment of the cast and crew. Unlike many other community theatre groups, Mighty Goliath is comprised entirely of volunteers. Not a single person takes a salary or money for their time and efforts put into creating the show. Another way Mighty Goliath Productions is unique is their mission. They are a non-profit that donates the profits of their shows to Avon Lake's City Schools. Their money has gone to fund the Performing Arts Center, Drama Club, Orchestra, Band, and Choir programs.

This partnership with Avon Lake Schools was founded in 1959, when it was organized as a PTA group at Avon Lake's Eastview Elementary. It has since grown into a destination for theatre goers all across the Cleveland area. Mighty Goliath Productions has attracted some of Cleveland's most talented actors and actresses, musicians, and directors along with many families.

A hallmark of a Mighty Goliath Production is the large ensemble musicals. To be in the chorus you don't need to try out, simply show up and commit to the once a week rehearsal. This has allowed entire families to take the stage together. Children as young as 6 months old have been on stage in a Mighty Goliath Productions.

This year many see Mighty Goliath Productions as taking a large risk in producing URINETOWN: THE MUSICAL. Why? Because of the name. URINETOWN: THE MUSICAL may be the worst name of a musical in the history of musicals; but that is the joke. For the first time in its 57 year history, Mighty Goliath is going to have the orchestra right on stage. There will be scaffolding, platforms on the prosceniums, special lighting, and the action will be put so much closer to the audience, it is sure to delight any casual theatre goer.

URINETOWN: THE MUSICAL debuted on Broadway in 2001 after Greg Kotis was traveling Europe and came across a pay-per-use toilet. He teamed up with Mike Hollman and together they brought this musical to Broadway.

URINETOWN: THE MUSICAL is a journey through a world where toilets aren't free and you have to pay to use the "public amenity". The show is filled with symbolism about overreaching government, corrupt public institutions, and corrupt government officials, and lobbyists. It also poke a lot of fun of Broadway musicals in the process. Not only does it explore really tough themes like water conservation, but it is done with laughter and absurdity.

URINETOWN: THE MUSICAL presented by Mighty Goliath Productions runs February 19, 20, 26, and 27 at 7:30pm and a matinee show on February 21 at 2:00pm. All performances are at the Avon Lake Performing Arts Center 175 Avon Belden Rd; Avon Lake, Ohio 44012. The Mighty Goliath box office phone number is 440-508-MGP1 (6471).

About Mighty Goliath Productions:

Mighty Goliath Productions is an independent 501(c)(3) non-profit fundraising organization the benefits the performing arts programs for Avon Lake City Schools. Our impact enriches the cultural life of the community. We focus on our unique ability to provide a professional, fun, philanthropic theatrical experience for our volunteers and audiences alike. for more information visit www.mightygoliath.com

Meet the Cast: Kevin Cline

Kevin Cline (Mr. McQueen)-is excited to be making his debut at Might Goliath Productions with this amazing cast and crew! He was last seen inBig Fish (Amos Calloway) at True North, where he also appeared in The Pajama Game (Vernon Hines), Jesus Christ Superstar (Priest 3) and A Christmas Story: The Musical (Santa). He has also appeared in The Addams Family (Uncle Fester) at Broadview Heights Spotlights, and Suessical: The Musical (Horton) at Brecksville Little Theater. He wants to thank his family and friends for their unending support.

You can still share a stage with Kevin and many more talented performers. The deadline to join is November 20, 2015. Rehearsals are Fridays 7:00-11:00pm at Learwood Middle School 340 Lear Rd Avon Lake, Ohio 44012. For questions please call 440-508-MGP1. 

Meet the Cast: Natalie Fischer

Natalie Fischer (Ms. Millennium) – Natalie is a Junior at Elyria Catholic HS and it’s her 10th show with Mighty Goliath. Favorite Mighty Goliath roles include: Little Girl in Ragtime, Duffy u/s in Annie, Charlotte in Oliver and the purple Bird Girl in Seussical the Musical. Natalie has been seen in many shows/performances with Truenorth Cultural Arts, Lorain Community Music Theatre, Hathaway Brown Theatre Institute, Lorain Palace Theatre and Chinon, France. This past summer she was lucky to be cast as Mark’s Mom in the School Edition of Rent at Hathaway Brown Theatre Institute which received wonderful reviews. Natalie’s dream is to become a director, performer or writer on the Broadway or Off-Broadway stage in NYC. She’d like to thank her family and friends who continue to support her, Barbara for her vocal training and friendship and to Douglas for giving me the chance to work on this production. Break-a-Leg to the Cast and Crew!

You can still join the ensemble for this year's production and share a stage with Natalie and many other talented performers. The deadline to join is November 20, 2015. Rehearsals are Fridays 7:00-11:00pm at Learwood Middle School, 340 Lear Rd Avon Lake, Ohio 44012. Call 440-508-MGP1 with any questions. 

Meet the Cast: Jenny Petticord

This is Jenny’s fourth show with MGP, having joined on for Oklahoma and participated in the shows since then.  She’s grateful to MGP for the chance to perform with her daughter, Marisa, and for the motivation to get out of the house on those cold, wintery Friday nights when she would otherwise curl up into an introverted, grouchy blob. She’s thrilled to have this featured role, her first since high school, thirty-uhh, cough, cough—years ago.  Jenny is an ESL teacher and Wilson Reading instructor for Westlake City Schools.  She enjoys wogging (walking + jogging), yoga, reading and sailing when she’s not at work.  Jenny is married to Dan and has two children, Danny and the afore-mentioned Marisa. Thank you, Dan and kids, for encouraging me to audition (i.e. calling me a chicken).

You too can share the stage with Jenny by joining us in the chorus. You can join by coming to the first rehearsals starting TOMORROW! October 30, 2015 at 7:00pm. Rehearsals will start at Learwood Middle School 340 Lear Rd Avon Lake, Ohio 44012. The last night to join the chorus is November 20, 2015.

Meet the Cast: Timothy Richard Parks

Timothy Richard Parks is incredibly excited to be a character in Mighty Goliath Productions performance of Urinetown for his third year with this group. He is glad to have this chance to work with such an amazing group and with such delightful people. Most recently he has played George Dawson in Carrie: The Musical at Sandstone Summer Theatre and J. Patrick Hopkins in American Enterprise at Lorain County Community College. He would like to thank Douglas Bailey and SarahLynne Bailey for allowing him the privilege of being in this show. 

Welcome back to Mighty Goliath Productions Tim; we're so glad to have you. 

You can share a stage with Timothy Parks too, just need to come to our first rehearsal the Friday October 30, 2015 at Learwood Middle School 340 Lear Rd. Avon Lake, Ohio 44012 

Rehearsal starts promptly at 7:00pm. 

November 20, 2015 is the last day you can join this year's production. 

Chorus Auditions

Now that I have your attention.

Mighty Goliath Productions has never held auditions for the chorus and we aren't going to start now. But there is some information you need to know.

When do we start rehearsing? October 30, 2015 

Where do we rehearse? Learwood Middle School 340 Lear Rd Avon Lake, Ohio 44012 to start

How often do we rehearse? Once a week, on Friday with the exception of tech Saturday and tech week.

How long does rehearsal go? We rehearse until 11pm which is when we need to exit the buildings.

When is the last chance I can join the chorus? November 20 is the last night you can join us.

You will get a full schedule when you join us. This will get us started. We can't wait to see you. If you have any questions, please email us at auditions [at] mightygoliath [dot] com.

October will be here before you know it. Are you ready? Because we are.

What's the show about?

We've got a few awesome things happening. First of all we launched our new Facebook page in the wee hours of Tuesday morning. In less than 24 hours we are rocking 200+ likes. Thank you so much for all the support. Our Facebook page will serve to get fast moving information out there. If you haven't 'Liked' it yet point your browser to facebook.com/mightygoliathproductions.

Speaking about the Facebook page we've seen a lot of you sharing the event for our auditions. If you aren't hip to the details, check the post just before this. People are talking about which 32 bars of music to sing and what joke to tell. We can't wait to see what you have planned. But there is a question that we have picked up on.

What is Urinetown the Musical! really about?

Urinetown is a lot of musicals into one. On the surface it is about a dystopian-future where a 20 year drought has ravaged the country and you can't use your own personal toilet. You have to pay for the privilege to pee essentially. If you don't pay up, the government sends you to a place called Urinetown.

To say this musical is about water conservation and being kind to our Planet, you'd be right on. But it isn't just about that. It also makes fun of government over reach. It also satirized the legal system, corporate mismanagement, populist movements, and yes, even Broadway musicals. This is a comedy, our goal is to get you to pee your pants (that wasn't an accident by the way) from laughing so hard.

The music has a little bit of everything Broadway has done...ever. There are tunes that would sound right at home in Fiddler on the Roof, Evita, and Les Misérables. The main character is Bobby Strong, which was at one point the most sought after roles on Broadway, so to say the Broadway establishment has given this play their large rubber stamp of approval is an understatement. Urinetown the Musical!won the Tony hat trick for best Book of a Musical, Best Original Score, and Best Direction of a Musical in 2002.

We are excited to see how Douglas F Bailey II, or Doug as we like to call him, is going to stage this whole show. We know he has some really neat ideas that Mighty Goliath has NEVER done before. Reminds me of when we sunk the Titanic live on stage 10 years ago.

So follow along, we are excited you are here.

Audition Announcement

auditions@mightygoliath.com

Tweeters beware

Lots of cool things have been going on over the summer. Urinetown the Musical! is our new show. We are ramping up a lot of awesome new things. One of which is our new twitter handle, @mightygoliathAL.

If you're a twitter junkie like me, we'd love to see you there. We will be posting audition dates, photos, contests, and much much more over there so drop on by and say hi. Use the hashtag #MGPUrinetown to welcome Mighty Goliath to the 21st century!

Coming Soon: Auditions

Want to audition for Mighty Goliath's Production of Urinetown? 

Get ready to polish off your 36 bars of audition music. 

Work out your best material so you can tell us a funny joke. 

Stay tuned because audition details are dropping soon.