The Build

The Get In / Out

The Finished Product

Unbelievably it is already a week since the last performance of Urinetown! It has gone by in a complete blur, mainly due to sheer exhaustion – but also because when you have worked for months on a show and had the adrenaline fuelled highs of an epic show week, the days that follow are always a complete anticlimax!

We ended show week with a fantastic after show party, at which we also celebrated Ms Gediking’s milestone birthday. After our silly and sensible awards I stayed for a bit of a boogie but then sloped off as it was already 3am (we didn’t get started until after the get out at the Theatre) as I had work the next day. I have it on good authority that some of our more youthful/hard core members were up until 6am!

As fun as my job is, it was a real struggle last Sunday to put one foot in front of the other and convince my team that I was functioning on an acceptable level and could hold it together for 8 hours! It is also quite weird suddenly having your evenings free and not constantly thinking about the last bits of costume, props, make up that you need to find, or lines that you need to learn. However the biggest part of ‘post show blues’ is caused by missing all of those grubby (in the case of this show) faces that you have seen at least twice a week for the past 4 months.

I know it gets thrown out there a lot, but there really is a ‘family feel’ to SMP, there might be an occasional hiccup, but on the whole we would support any of our group no matter what they are going through and defend them to the end. You may think that such feelings of closeness would make us an insular group, but the enthusiasm and warmth with which we always welcome new members and our retention rate tells me otherwise. Our newest recruits for Urinetown were fantastic, both on and off stage and are now well loved members of the group – we hope they will stay for panto or return next Summer.

That moves me on nicely! Luckily for those of us missing everyone we were due to hand our costumes back on Wednesday and vote on what our next Summer show would be. It was lovely to see company members from Urinetown and other members of the SMP family turnout for a catch up and the all important vote. As much as I would love the ability to tell you what has been decided for Summer 2017, you will have to keep your eyes open for a future post to find out!

Finally, without going too deep into the world of politics, It has also been interesting these past few days to see the essence of Urinetown being acted out in the Britsh political arena. I just hope that being given the power to decide our own destiny, and democracy therefore causing the country to go against the status quo, that it isn’t our undoing as it was for the residents of Urinetown!

WHAAT! Urinetown the musical’s has ended and if you didn’t manage to get a ticket you missed out on a whopper of a show!

Show week has been a crazy ride of adrenalin and backstage antics as show weeks always are, but this show is big and when I say big I mean BIG.

I have to say it’s been a bumpy ride for me to reach this point and the love and understanding from the production team and the group has been immense- in particular my rock Andy.

I could wax lyrical about the show but you only need to look at the reaction from the audience!

“WOW!!!! That is all ”

“The show looked and sounded fabulous”

“What a talented cast, amazing choreography and superb direction and music.”

“Brilliant show and brilliant cast.”

We’ll remember this show for a lifetime. Babies being born (much love to the little ones) and last minute role changes being just a couple of reasons. I’m sure I speak for all the cast when I send all my love to Phil.

But the biggest thing I’m going to remember from this show isn’t the amazing songs and dances, not the fabulous set and costumes, not even the amazing talent of the all the group (all true) but the immense feeling of family SMP has. Everyone has pulled together like some sparkly machine- front of house, on stage and back stage all going above and beyond to create this strange yet magical show.

To the ‘newbies’, well you can’t call yourself that anymore- it’s amazing how you’ve fitted right in and feel so much part of the group. To the ‘oldies’ you guys are the reasons I keep coming back to SMP.

Last night meant the get out and after show party- a few well deserved shandies were on the cards for the cast and crew!

I love you all (new and old) it’s been phenomenal!

Last night, SMP’s Urinetown (the musical!) flooded onto the stage at the Millfield theatre with more energy than you could shake a mop at!

Our audience were absolutely brilliant & incredibly forgiving of our ‘interactions’ with them; when finding characters asleep in their seat, being ushered out of the toilet or being begged for ‘a penny to pee’ – they were quintessentially British in their reaction… Well mostly, anyway! Apparently Bagsy Barbra got smacked with programme!

My twin, Daisy & I kept trying to get food or water from people – we managed to have a sip of someone’s lemonade & distracted a couple of people to sneak some of their popcorn into our pockets…yum! However, it wasn’t long before Officers Lockstock & Barrell caught up with us. Don’t worry though, we managed to run away and hide…phew!

We did try to sneak in to use the Millfield amenities a couple of time… But that bossy ol’ Miss Pennywise was busy guarding them. Even when we thought the coast was clear she’d soon find us & chase us away (plunger in hand!)…

This production submerges the audience into a delightful dystopian satire of ambition, greed and love. It is saturated with comedy, choreographic genius that really packs a punch & a cast overflowing with talent. By this point in the blogs you shouldn’t need any more convincing of why you should come and see this show. You should have already booked. And if you haven’t… just look at the audience’s feedback from last night:

So do it…book now…just do it…go on…you’re reading this, stop reading… And book…don’t miss out!

Finally, Thank you again to our awesome production team! This show is an absolute credit to you all. I was already a fan of Urinetown – but your passion, determination and commitment has burst every imagination I had of what this show could be. It is, by far, the best production I have ever been a part of. I am incredibly proud of you all and our fabulous SMP family x

You can still book here at www.millfieldtheatre.co.uk

This week in Urinetown we had our Technical Rehearsal (on Monday evening) followed swiftly by our dress rehearsal (on Tuesday evening). These both went relatively pain-free and rather smoothly. This can only be put down to the sheer hard-work and team mentality our entire cast and crew have had from the start of the rehearsal process. Personally, I have never felt quite so honoured to be a part of a show. From every member of the cast, to the wonderful crew and technician team, to our gorgeous props ladies, to the people responsible for the costumes and the set, EVERYONE has just brought their A game.

Monday night’s tech saw us really getting our teeth into the intricacies of our set and the way it all works – I won’t say much more – if you want to see it for yourself (and trust me you really do) get down to the Millfield and bag yourself some tickets while you still can!!

We managed to get through almost the whole show at our tech rehearsal – something pretty much unheard of in the theatre world – but again this can only be down to the level of professionalism being shown by everybody involved.

Tuesday night’s dress rehearsal really brought into reality the fact that we are opening to our very first audience this evening! HOW EXCITING! Other than an issue with a floppy police hat (I have a LOT of hair) once again the dress rehearsal went without any trouble. We had some wonderful photographs taken of our dress rehearsal which you can catch making the rounds on Facebook this week!

MORAL OF THE STORY: We are in the best possible position in readiness for opening night. Our audiences are in for a real treat – just make sure YOU are among them!

Will not coming to see Urinetown be the biggest mistake of your life….I’m not saying yes….I’m not saying no either…

You can still book tickets at www.millfieldtheatre.co.uk

Here’s some sneaky pics of our set.

Hello and welcome to URINETOWN.. Not the place of course, but the blog.

My name is Michael and I have been handed the blogging baton from our smallest and most divaish cast member Archie the bunny.

Yesterday saw the beginning of ‘Show Week’ starting off with our company and crew ‘Get In’ – This day is pretty much self explanatory as to where the cast, crew, band, costumes and of course the set are all moved into the theatre.

The start to the day was an early one, some of the cast went down to the theatre to meet the crew and lend a hand in off loading the lights, set and stage.

The atmosphere in the theatre that morning was euphoric. As the morning went on and the biscuit tin dwindled, the excitement between the cast and crew grew and grew. We could all see the set coming to life.

Then came the time where the cast had to leave the theatre and the set building in the capable hands of our crew, lead by our fantastic stage manager Alex Snow. But the while the hard work back at the theatre continued, the cast met for our last ‘Run through’ before hitting the stage.

We were all put through our paces by the ever gloriously delightful Jo Bakhurst our outstanding Choreographer.

We also had an extra little surprise waiting for us at the rehearsal in the form of a little bundle of joy! The cast finally got to meet the future generation of SMP – baby Jasper McWilliams, accompanied by glowing Mummy Joanna McWilliams.

Once the run through was completed the cast were shipped off back to the theatre to check out if the hard work from our crew had paid off – and I can assure you all, it most certain had!!

The set looks incredible! We had some time to run a few of the dances to check for spacing and tighten up a few little loose ends.

The cast put in such high energy after such a long day which certainly paid off as by the end of the night, it literally had Jo Bakhurst in tears!!

It’s such a pleasure to be working with an amazingly talented bunch of creative people, and even more fulfilling to be able to see our amazing director/leading man Warren McWilliams’ vision for this show being brought into reality. And at last the good people of Urinetown finally get to see their town for the first time, and for what it has always been. URINETOWN.

You can still book tickets at www.millfieldtheatre.co.uk

So Urinetown The Musical! It’s a terrible name! But then what’s in a name??… I remember Urine Town coming to the West End 2 years ago and immediately being put off by the name. So I didn’t go to see it. BIG MISTAKE! And boy do I regret it now. It’s a little gem of a musical! Pre the auditions I brought the book and the CD to have a proper look and I’m so glad I did. After reading it I thought wow! this is going to be a great show, I SO want to be in it! It’s funny, clever and the music is glorious and heart lifting, the characters are engaging but the story had a dark undertone that sends a message of fear and control to the Urine-towners. Behold! -This is not your usual musical.

This is my maiden voyage with SMP and I’m so glad I took the plunge. It’s been said but I’ll say it again. You couldn’t meet a lovelier group of people. Really. So I am a character called Sally Shocking Hair. Can you guess my USP? I’m quite timid and easily scared but as the show progresses I gain strength from the rebellion and my fellow comrades as we fight with Bobby for the privilege to pee!

Last week we have been doing singing and dancing recaps and brushing up on those crazy beautiful harmonies. They sound amazing when we get in spot on –with the help of Mike our musically amazing Musical Director.  We brushed up a few of the songs including Run Freedom Run, a (great toe tapper), the harmonies in the Bunny song – I’m a bunny! (wah, wah, WAH) and The Cop Song which has a great routine.

Sunday was Band Call day, which was VERY exciting. We sang through the entirety of the musical but this time LIVE with the actual band that will be playing with us on the night. The live band were brilliant and it was great to hear what we sound like with them i.e. Awesome! Yeah ok I’m biased J

I’m in constant awe of my fellow comrades all of whom are amazingly talented and are seasoned SMP’ers and have been doing it for many a year but also new SMP’ers who are equally skilled and bring such energy. Personally I’m loving the dance routines but I have no professional training (as our fab and very patient choreographer Jo will know as she grits her teeth and corrects my positioning for the umpteenth time) but I’m trying hard to keep up! The team behind this production go above and beyond the realms of commitment to the show and there is an incredible energy around it. Warren McWilliams our legend of a director keeps us going with lots of fun and positivity (I won’t mention the bunny kidnappings!)

My parting advice to you is to take a punt on this show. It’s a special one and needs to be seen by more people. You won’t be disappointed.

Book your tickets HERE

Find out what our cast and director think of the show and why you should come and see it.

You can book your tickets at www.millfieldtheatre.co.uk

Big thanks go to Ben Hewis for doing the video for us!

Here’s the cast looking their best!

Hello all fellow Urinetown blog readers! If you came looking for a quick summary of the on-goings of this week’s Urinetown rehearsals, and a few pee jokes, well, urine luck.

My name is Jack McGinn (Billy boy Bill and Mr Xerox) and this is my first SMPee show. I have helped out backstage and front of house for the past two shows, Bugsy Malone and Sleeping Beauty, but this time I finally took the plunge(r) into the deep end and decided to audition for Urinetown.

I had never even heard of the show but after going to the read through and hearing about what the creative team had planned I knew it had the potential of being a weelly terrific show.

So here we are, 16 weeks into the process and only 2 weeks from the show and I can tell you, my first impression wasn’t wrong. This week especially reaffirmed to me how immense this show is and will be.

Monday’s rehearsal was mainly just song and dance recaps, while Wednesday’s rehearsal saw us do a very good run of Act 2, so good that at one point it brought a tear to our Choreographer Jo’s eye (for good reasons, not bad ones). Speaking of Jo, I would personally just like to give a massive thank you to her, Warren and Mike for the outrageous amount of work they have put into this show, it really is paying off.

This week also saw yours truly celebrate his birthday, something my fellow cast members did not seem to forget as they serenaded me just before we finished up on Wednesday. I am very grateful to all of them.

So yeah that was this week in the Urinetown HQ, and I hope you’ve enjoyed reading this as much as I have being a part of the show. They truly are a wonderful group of peeple. If you haven’t booked tickets yet then Urine the right place as here is the link. http://www.enfield.gov.uk/millfield/

I think that’s enough puns for the day but seriously guys, go and spend a few pennies and come see a fantastic show.

Signing off,

Jack

P.S: Why can’t you hear a Pterodactyl going to the bathroom? The P is silent

Hello there! Welcome to this week’s Urinetown blog. My name’s Kathryn W and I play Miranda Mire, an ensemble member and an ex-librarian who prefers the company of books to people. I’m also sort of a newbie at SMP. I helped out with props backstage two years ago during their production of West Side Story, but this year decided to go for a part.

I’m really enjoying my time spent at rehearsals and getting into my character. I haven’t done anything like this since being at school, which is, a fair while ago, ahem. Anyway, I was very nervous auditioning for the show, especially after hearing how much talent I’d be up against (these people don’t mess about!), but I was very happy to get the call to say I’d got in!

It has been hard work learning all the dances and harmonies, our Director, Choreographer and MD demand the best we can do, and deserve it for a show this good. The more I’ve listened, seen and become a part of this show, the more I love it. It’s dark, funny, touching, twisted and actually makes you ask yourself some questions.  As for my fellow cast members, I have a huge honour performing with some very talented, extremely hard-working and supremely wonderful people.

On Monday we ran through the whole of Act 1, making notes at the end. As our resident ‘cake Queen’ Tina was poorly that day I stepped up to bring cake to the masses, fortunately a success.

Wednesday it was time to go through the whole of Act 2, again making notes on our performances just to get them that much better for all you lovely people who I’m sure already have tickets.

On Saturday some of our group met up and did some flyering around the local areas, to spread the message of peeeeee – North London, you can’t escape!

On Sunday we had a run through of the entire show, complete with costumes. We were also joined by our Stage Managing team and Set Designer, who tells us all the set is looking fab! It sure is going to be a feast for the eyes and ears of anyone lucky enough to come and see it.

Sunday also meant my birthday which I enjoyed spending with my fellow SMP-eers. It really does feel like an adoptive family being part of this group. On a personal note I would just like to thank Warren, Jo and Mike for giving me this opportunity. I’m not only part of what is shaping up to be a fantastic show, but not many people know how much being included has helped me personally. I can’t thank you all enough for, basically, changing my life.

So, if you want to know whether Miranda Mire survives ‘Urinetown-the musical’, you’ll have to come and see for yourself! Don’t miss out, get your ticket whilst there’s still time!

You can book you tickets here

Hi, I’m Mike Benyon and I’m musical director for Urinetown. I’ve been with SMP since joining as a keyboard player for our 1993 production of Alice in Wonderland. I’ve musically directed countless musicals, pantomimes, cabarets and talent shows and have even trodden the boards for a few, while my biggest challenge was taking on the dual role of director and musical director for our 2006 production of Much Ado Ron Ron.
Well, that was my biggest challenge…until now! Having seen the wonderful recent West End production of Urinetown at St James Theatre and the Apollo Theatre I’d hoped that it wouldn’t be too long before amateur rights become available for the show. This happened much quicker than expected. With the incredibly talented pair of Warren McWilliams on board as director and Jo Bakhurst as Choreographer it took very little (actually none) convincing for me to join the production team.
As I’m sure you will appreciate, having being involved with so many shows over the years it gets more and more important to find the next big challenge. It does reach a point where it is no longer enough just to be involved. There is the need to be part of something really special, something that will simply take people’s breath away. When Urinetown came along I knew I had found that challenge.
SMP have always had great casts. Like the top football teams, however, great teams come and go. I have seen the talents at SMP ebb and flow over the years. What was apparent with Urinetown was that we needed the best cast ever. However, as the auditions approached in February it became apparent that while we had some great people, we did not have enough of them! What happened next was a revelation. There were obviously a lot of people who had seen the recent West End production and were desperate to be part of the show.
The ‘newbies’ as they are affectionately known, have been a revelation. They are not only very talented but all have a very professional attitude. They are also extremely nice people which may sound a bit twee, but in a group that has always prided itself on being friendly and welcoming this has been very important. As a result, we have a company that very dedicated and committed to producing the best show ever.
What makes it so important that we have a great cast is that this show is completely full on for every single member of the show. Many traditional musicals are essentially a star vehicle for just a few members of the cast with the chorus coming on to do a few big numbers at various points in the show. In Urinetown the chorus are involved in almost all of the numbers. Not only that, they all have to learn some of the most incredibly rich but complex harmonies ever written for a musical! It would have been an easy option to simplify some of these harmonies or even to get the cast just to sing the tune. Far from it, the cast have worked amazingly hard not only to learn these harmonies but to spend their own time working on them. The result has been some of the best singing we have ever heard at SMP.
Well, it’s now less than a month to opening night. Last week’s rehearsals were very much about re-capping and covering the final scenes and songs before we start doing runs this week. So while all you lovely people have been spending the couple of Sundays in the garden with your barbeques and ice creams, we have been working hard to get the show into tip-top shape.
I am looking forward also to getting our amazing musicians together. This year’s show includes SMP regulars Chris “Chunk” Wall on drums and percussion and Steve Rogers on bass. It also includes the wonderful Erika Gundesen, Flick Chilton and James Goodwin from the Guildhall School of Music and Drama.
Well, Urinetown is a wonderful show as anyone who saw the recent West End production will agree. With our talented and dedicated cast and production team and superb musicians I’m sure it will be a show that will live long in the memory of anyone who comes to see it. If you haven’t already, get your tickets now! Tickets available here

Hi all,

How time flies when you’re having fun!

I’m Tina, also known as the Cake Angel or the Queen of Cakes, I’m new to SMP and this week is my turn for the Urinetown blog!!

I can’t believe that its week 12 of rehearsals already! I’ve had the absolute pleasure and honour of meeting and working with some amazingly talented people! I have been welcomed with open arms and I have a feeling that I will never leave! Sorry guys you’re stuck with me!

I am playing Minky Warden, who is a down and out housewife, Mrs Millennium, a staff member of the Urine Good Company, and Julie Cassidy, who was in the wrong place at the wrong time. I’m enjoying mixing it up with the different characters, it’s definitely keeping me on my toes for one thing!

This show is like nothing I’ve ever done before and I am loving it! The music is so well written and played beautifully by our MD Mike. Jo is like a breath of fresh air as our choreographer, in my many years in the same role, within another group, not once have I ever had to say do the otter! And then along comes Warren our director, is his lime green crocs making us all feel comfortable with talking and singing about pee on stage. These three are just amazing at what they do and their passion and Buzz for the show is truly infectious!

This past week has been a mad, crazy, busy kind of a week.

There have been a couple of birthdays this week so I was on hand with cake to feed the masses but that was just me!

Guided by our leader Warren, Monday was blocking through dialogue for both acts, while upstairs Mike stole bodies to sing through some numbers. The evening went so quickly and I know its because we’re all enjoying ourselves and working hard to make this the best show possible. Everybody was on hand to line up to pee and if we weren’t lining up we were singing about it!!

Wednesday was flash mob day! We’ve been rehearsing a slightly altered end of act one to surprise the audience at the Dugdale Centre for the last few weeks and Wednesday was the day. When we arrived, we all slipped into our costumes and had a quick quiet sing through (except our lovely Marion- sing out girl-soprano power! ) before heading downstairs during the first act to run it through in the space we had. Then all too soon, the butterflies started, the adrenalin started pumping and there we were only doing a bleeding flash mob! Then just as suddenly as it started, that was it, we were finished and it was time to go home. I know I’m biased but it really did sound and look amazing – imagine what it would be like on stage!!!!

This is just a snippet so please click on the link and have a look at the whole thing

, and feel free to share it, we want Urinetown to go viral!! https://www.wordpress.smptheatre.co.uk/our-urinetown-flashmob/

Onto our first Sunday rehearsal! It was the hottest day this year so far and everyone was looking and feeling great! Debbie and Wendy bought along ice lollies -best idea ever girls! The suns out lets go play shouts our lovely Jo B!

However, my aching muscles can tell you that was exactly what we didn’t do! Sunday was recap day, us poor people concentrated on recapping previous dances, Run Freedom Run, Snuff that Girl, plus others, while the rich went through some numbers with Mike in the other room. Once we had recapped dances till we could recap no more, and we were all glistening with a thin layer of sweat, we went over the dialogue blocking with Warren before being released into the heat of the early evening.

I am loving every second of this show and I cannot recommend this show highly enough, it will make you laugh, cry and all the bits in between! You will not regret it I can promise you that!! You can book your tickets here. 

The number shows the point the where the people rise up under the leadership of our hero Bobby Strong and stage a revolution against the wicked Caldwell B. Cladwell and his corrupt company the UGC.

Do the people succeed? Does Bobby get the girl? Does anyone make it through the show alive? The only way to find out is by coming to see Urinetown at the Millfield Theatre 15th – 18th June 2016

You can book your tickets at http://www.millfieldtheatre.co.uk or by calling the box office on 020 8807 6680

Huge thanks to David Short for letting us steal his interval and to Paul Everitt for letting us perform at the Dugdale. Thanks to Greg for filming it too!

Alright folks, line up and have your money ready! You know the drill. What? What’s that you say? Ya ain’t gonna pay? Ha! I’m tellin’ ya you’ve got to come see this incredible show and ya ARE gonna pay. No-one gets in for free. It would be dreamy if ya could, but that’s not how it all works. You want to come see the show, we’re gonna take your dough. Get your heads out of the clouds!

Welcome back to the Urinetown blog. I’m Inês and though I am new to these SMP parts, I am already in a position of great authority in the part of Penelope Pennywise, which I feel quite privileged to be playing. That’s MISS Pennywise to you.

Penny is a tough cookie and she runs the only ‘Amenity’ in her part of town. That means she is in charge of making sure people pay the proper fee to pee, and that they don’t pee freely as they please. She used to be quite a catch in her day, but these days she’s a bit rough around the edges. Penny has to lay down the law, but she has a couple of secret soft spots that you may find out about during the show!

From the start of joining this show, I got a great feeling about the group and the people in it. At this point I can say that my instincts were proved absolutely right and I love working with SMP. Every single person is friendly, supportive and hard-working, and we have an amazing time at every rehearsal. I couldn’t have chosen a better show to be a part of, or a better group of people to do it with! We are guided every week by our excellent director Warren McWilliams, who despite having a tendency to randomly trip on chairs and fall over in rehearsals, runs a tight ship and keeps us in good spirits with his generosity and understanding.

This past week we tackled a big song and dance number that involves our leading lady being potentially snuffed, or at least getting her hair in a muddle. The routine was once again expertly created by our wonderful choreographer, Jo Bakhurst, who I think is doing a brilliant job! Every routine is very entertaining and has little quirky surprises for our audience. This particular song has an entire clicking section which is hard for our cast, but they are handling it so well. Lucky thing I’m not clicking in it, I am terrible at it!

Yes, the bunnies have been increasingly agitated and there’s no knowing what they’ll do next. But us rich people will be getting back at them in no time and our leading man may soon discover what Urinetown really is, through secret trapdoors and crash mats too! In this part of the show, I get to try some stage combat, which is really exciting.

In our second rehearsal of the week we reached the final song that needed rehearsing. In it we all become rivers and harmonise like angels, through the patience and musical prowess of our lovely MD Mike Benton as you can hear. Well some of the cast are in heaven by that point in the story, so it all makes perfect sense.

I hope you will find enough pennies in your pockets to pay the fee to come see our show. We are truly having a blast putting it together and we hope to share the good vibes and utter hilarity with you! Book tickets here:

See you there!

Dear Reader

Welcome back to Urinetown!:) My name is Bernadett, a newbie at Saint Monica’s Players and I am presenting the weekly blog for last week. In the past 11 weeks I had the pleasure of working with very talented and enthusiastic people. SMP is a great community and a truly welcoming one. We have a cake angel in the group whose mission is to bake cakes for everyone’s birthday. She is incredible. These rehearsals are always joyful to the heart but thanks to our cake angel they are a real pleasure to our tummy as well.

I am playing Ally Upandatem (ensemble), an ex-nurse who is kind, positive and likes helping other people. Urinetown is a funny place though and you can never tell what effect it makes on people. Could Ally stay the same person she is now or will she change for the better or worse? I love this musical for being amazingly complex and giving all of its people a real journey of character development.

Being part of this show, I have learnt many useful things for everyday life too, like how to queue for the toilet, how to skip the line unnoticeably, how important is to fight for things I believe in and to accept the inevitable consequences of our acts. They are always there…

Last week we focused on staging three numbers: Privilege To Pee, Look At The Sky and We’re Not Sorry. They all represent very important stages of the show. Thanks to the brilliant trio, Warren (director), Jo (choreographer), Mike (musical director) the end product of these numbers will be amazing. Without their enthusiasm and talent, the show would not be the same. They work very hard and have us working hard too but do it in a way that makes the hard work FUN!:)

Book your ticket here now. It would be lovely to see you in the audience!

Hi there, Urinetown welcomes you… but be careful, be very careful for you never know what awaits you just around the corner… It definitely won’t be a random bloke peeing on the pavement – I can tell you that much – that sort of behaviour does not bode well in Urinetown!

My name is Anna and I have joined SMP for their wonderful production of Urinetown – The Musical in an ensemble part of Suzy Whatsherface: a very poor but rather slutty lady (Suzy, that is, not myself!) who was recently bereaved of a dear husband and who did not lose any time in starting a quest for a new one!

SMP is an absolutely wonderful and incredibly talented bunch of people who are making an absolutely sterling job of staging the the best sounding, looking and dancelicious Urinetown production ever.  It is never an easy thing to come in to a long-established theatre company as a greenie but, – and I think I am speaking for all the newbies here, – it was a breeze this time around!  I always feel welcome and a part of the gang and our rehearsals on Mondays and Wednesdays are the two evenings I always look forward to and enjoy enormously.

Well, now that the paid bit of the blog is over, it is time to talk about what we did during the two rehearsals we had this week.  Monday was a recap of all the dance numbers we have managed to put together so far with the help of our amazing choreography director Jo Bakhurst (who should be commended not only for the fantastic dance numbers she has set for us so far but also for the courageous way she has been fighting off some of the crazier ‘dance’ suggestions from our director, Warren McWilliams).  As it turned out, we have done quite a few numbers which, of course, we all handled like pros and which all looked nearly perfect… there was even a couple of times when Jo did not have to pull her hair out in despair… In fact, the dancing looked so good that a young gentleman passing by the rehearsal venue felt inclined to pop in and enquire as to what show we were putting on; at which point he was, of course, laden with a cart-load of leaflets and sworn in to bring himself and all of his distant and not so distant relatives to the show! Force of positive advertising at its purest!  He might have also been promised a wife from an unwed portion of our members, I am not sure…

After the action-packed Monday, Wednesday was dedicated to learning a new musical number ‘We’re Not Sorry’ with the help of the wonderfully talented MD Mike Benyon.  Urinetown has some incredible musical numbers with the most complicated harmonies and Mike, somehow, always manages to make us all sound like Pavarottis in our own right.  This song was no exception and by the end of the two hour rehearsal we really had that number down and all perfect.  We always do other musical number recaps if we have any leftover time at the end of the rehearsal sessions; and, after us singing through the recap of the Act 1 closing number – Mike, Jo, Warren and our own local superwoman and organiser (and self-confessed ‘pregnapeach’) Joanna was in floods of tears  from the sheer amazedness of it… Ok, so I might have gotten a bit carried away with the tears situation but the numbers did sound truly great!

Time to finish all the waffling with a little preview of what we have to look forward to in the rehearsals this week; and I am quoting Jo here, – ‘We will be working on Richs’ bits’; I don’t know about you, but it sounds pretty promising to me!

Book your tickets now – you will not be disappointed: the show will be totally amazing

You can book your tickets here

Well hello there, everyone, and welcome to this week’s blog. My name is Ellie and I’ll be guiding you through what we’ve been up to this week during rehearsals for our production of ‘Urinetown’. This is my third show with SMP and I’m lucky enough to be playing the part of Hope Cladwell. Urinetown is such a great musical – it’s clever, it’s funny and the music is incredible – and Hope is such a fun part to play. She goes on such a journey during the show and I can honestly say I’ve never played a part quite like it!

I’m enjoying rehearsals for this show so much – there is always a great atmosphere and it is such a treat to work with so many lovely, talented people. It doesn’t hurt, of course, that we’ve got such a dedicated and creative production team to guide us through the process. Having said that, a few poor, unsuspecting members of the cast have found themselves victim to our director Warren’s evil, but ingenious, method of getting us to learn some of the trickier lyrics in the show by holding dear personal possessions ransom.

Monday’s rehearsal saw the lovely Kathryn’s turn to take the test in order to save her cuddly piggy and, thank goodness, she passed with flying colours. Speaking of flying, our wonderful Little Sally – played by beautiful newbie Jenny – saw herself being thrown repeatedly into the air as our choreographer extraordinaire Jo B set the opening number of Act 2, ‘What Is Urinetown?, a brilliantly upbeat number involving the whole cast. Thankfully Jenny was safely caught every time and the number is looking really fantastic. We also got treats – yay! – from Warren as, in a highly unusual turn of events, he himself has fallen victim to a mystery black mailer who has kidnapped a rather important toy bunny from the props department and has demanded treats for the whole cast in order for it to be returned. According to Warren’s cherub wife Jo, he has been tearing his hair out trying to identify the culprit, especially as two more ransom notes arrived through the post this week….

After all that leaping, throwing, catching, blackmailing and eating on Monday, Wednesday saw us recapping all the songs we have learnt so far from the show with our excellent MD Mikey B. I personally was blown away by how good everything sounds, and I cannot wait to hear it by the time show week rolls around in June! So make sure you get your tickets, because this is a show you absolutely do not want to miss.

You can book your tickets here

Well, hello there and welcome to Urinetown! It might not look like much but it’s home-Well for two evenings a week anyway!

This week, the blog mantle has been passed on to me- Joe Krajewski. I play the character of Bobby Strong. It’s a great role to play and like many characters in the show, I get to go on a bit of a journey of self-discovery before finding my way to Urinetown. But what is Urinetown? Well if you don’t already know, then you will just have to come and see it- and if you do already know, then you know what an awesome show it is!

I have been a member of SMP for about 22 years now. I joined as a teenager and I am always pulled back. Work means that I can’t always commit to shows but (as I already mentioned) it is a bit like home and I can’t ever stay away for too long. The people are the heart of the SMP family and whether we are pirouetting together in Pantoville; waging war on one another in West Side or singing in unison in Urinetown, we give it our all and we do it surrounded by friends, encouragement and LOTS of laughter! I am so glad to be back for this show.

We have all been working tremendously hard and things are already looking and sounding wonderful, so this week our benevolent director gave us Monday off.

Wednesday evening saw us all refreshed and ready to start. As ever, there were lots of things going on. Upstairs, Warren our director was working on some scenes with ‘The Rich’; downstairs, our MD Mike was teaching us ‘Tell Her I love Her’ and then also ‘It’s a Privilege to Pee’ ; finally, our amazing wardrobe mistresses (Faye and Ellie) were upstairs helping to make cast members look the part. Audiences are always really impressed by SMP shows but one of the regular comments is just how brilliant the costumes look.

I have been really impressed with the number of new and talented members that have joined us for this show. They truly are triple threats and I love watching them in rehearsals. This was the first time that I had heard the beautiful Inês Marcelo Curto (who plays Penny). She certainly did not disappoint with her powerhouse of a voice during ‘It’s a Privilege to Pee’. I was lucky enough to be singing a duet with the lovely Jenny Storey (who plays Little Sally) and was equally blown away by her brilliance- luckily for everyone else, I only sing a few lines in the song! The chorus has been absolutely brilliant through rehearsals. I can honestly say that these are some of the hardest and most varied harmonies that I have ever heard in a show. Mike is doing a stellar job teaching them and the cast really are doing him proud. I can’t wait until we start running it- though perhaps I should learn my lines first!

Don’t miss out. You can order your tickets here.