Every year at NHS the drama department hosts a variety of plays and an end of the year musical. This year, however, due to the auditorium being under construction, they have had to make some adjustments to their typical plans. The musical will take place at Bethel College on Jun. 4-6.

The musical they have decided to put on this year is Urinetown, a comical musical. In total, there are 30 people participating in the cast and 45 participating in the crew.

“Urinetown is one of the funniest shows I’ve ever seen. It’s a comedy about a world where there’s an awful drought, so people are taxed to use the bathroom in an effort to conserve water. This leads to a revolution started by the main character, Bobby Strong,” drama teacher Jessica Heidrick said.

Since Urinetown will be taking place off campus, the crew team and cast members have had to make some adjustments in their preparations in order to have the show at the specific location.

“Our set crew team leader and designer, Natalie Kuhn, has been working really hard. We had to consider how easy everything would be to move while still making enough levels for actors and keeping with the themes of the show. The tech theatre class went over to measure the stage and check out the facility in order to alter our designs as necessary before we started. The space at Bethel is quite different from ours. We had to make some adjustments with what we had in mind, for sure, but the students have been absolutely wonderful about it. They’ve proven very adaptable,” Heidrick said.

The cast and crew has been rehearsing every night after school since auditions in early April. Although the musical will not be taking place on campus the cast is remaining at NHS to rehearse. The cast is required to wear masks during rehearsals, however, during the actual performance they do not have to wear masks while on stage, only while they are behind stage. 

“There have been a few changes but luckily nothing that seems too major. We now have to wear masks during all rehearsals which can be difficult when you’re singing and makes it hard to focus on what expression you have on your face. Probably the biggest thing was figuring out where we were going to perform this show since the auditorium is being renovated. We were able to get permission to use the theatre at Bethel but it may be a bit of a struggle to move our entire set there,” senior Frances Robu said.

The cast, crew and director are all hoping to move the set in one day. The set will be taken apart and then put back together once at Bethel College. This will allow for easier transportation. 

“Fortunately, we’ve had several people volunteer to bring trucks and help us move the set. We built it here first in order to practice with it, then we’ll tear most of it down in order to transport it and set it up hopefully, all in one day,” Heidrick said.

Although the cast and crew have had to make quite a few adjustments they are all excited to be able to have the musical this year considering the circumstances, according to Robu.

“My favorite part has probably just been getting to spend time with the cast. I’ve been remote this year and I only come into school once a day for drama class so it has been nice getting to see everyone and it makes things feel a bit more normal,” Robu said.