How a student production of 'Urinetown' is embracing the power of Zoom

When COVID-19 first struck and 2020 turned sour, everyone suffered. But it was students who were hit with some of the toughest blows.

Suddenly, kids weren’t able to go to prom or walk across the stage to receive their diplomas. They were stuck on Zoom all day and separated from their friends. They felt isolated and afraid that they were missing out on moments they would never get back.

And for theatre students, that pain was especially harsh. The musicals and plays which they put so much of their effort and passion into were no longer safe. Performing on stage for an adoring crowd of family and friends was supposed to be the highlight of their high school experience, but now it felt unreachable.

With all of this frustration and confusion, there’s a reason it’s so utterly refreshing to come across a company that is not only moving forward with virtual student productions but embracing the medium and opening up the possibilities of what a virtual show can look like.

KJK Productions is one such company. With programs for elementary, middle, and high schoolers, this educational organization based in New York state is moving into new territory with their upcoming production of Urinetown, featuring a talented group of students from Edgemont High School.

In a normal year, KJK Productions would work with high school students to present a full-length musical for a live audience, their goal is to create a safe and encouraging space, and to feature all of their students’ strengths. Of course, these days, an in-person project like that would be impossible.

Instead, this daring creative team decided to jump headfirst into the world of Zoom to create a unique virtual version of Urinetown. Using green screens, ring lights, new microphones, and some serious editing, this is not your average “zoomsical”.

Jacquie Militano, the Director, Video Producer, and Editor on the project, is the brains behind this virtual endeavor. Having worked with KJK Productions for about 14 years, she found herself uniquely qualified to tackle the challenge. This is because she is not only an experienced theatre professional but a video editor with her own production company, Q.U. Productions Co.

I was recently able to speak with Jacquie and some of the student performers involved in the project to learn more about what makes this version of Urinetown so special.

Let’s start with why Urinetown was their show of choice. While Jacquie initially hoped they would be able to do an outdoor production of Into the Woods, the discovery that the show would likely have to be entirely virtual caused a need to pivot.

“We kind of went down the path of like, ‘What feels topical but is fun?’” Jacquie continued. “And I kept saying to the cast, it’s not ironic that we’re doing a show that addresses environmental issues and public health crises, social inequalities and political division.”

And the satire and parody that makes up the show seemed especially fitting, allowing for the cast and creative team to play with the medium of Zoom and lean into the absurdity of it all.

“We were able to say, if we are parodying musicals, then we can make this all part of the punchline, like what we’re all going through right now,” elaborated Jacquie. “We can let the audience in on it because there’s a narrator who keeps talking to the audience and making funny jokes about how musicals as an art form are kind of absurd.”

For instance, right at the start of the show, when said narrator, Officer Lockstock strolls on screen, it is obvious that the actor is standing in front of a green screen using his computer to access Zoom. In fact, it’s entirely purposeful that we as an audience notice this. He then snaps his fingers, and the world of the show appears behind him.

This is just one way they’ve been able to play with the virtual aspect of this production. With Music Director Ricky Romano, Choreographer and Assistant Director Anthony de Marte, Voice Over Consultant Stephanie Pam Roberts, Jacquie, and a group of students eager to try something new and perform together again, the possibilities opened up.

“In advance, I had created a bunch of graphic assets, different Zoom backgrounds, and stuff like that,” said Jacquie. “I had made a full shot list with a spreadsheet of something like 400 shots  for the show.”

They were able to draw from the world of film to put together a rehearsal and filming schedule that would support the production. Then, they were able to capture the production on camera, moment to moment, and move into editing. It was in the intense editing process that Jacquie used her skills to manipulate each scene to make it appear as though the students were all in one space together rather than in their separate Zoom boxes.

“I want it to not look like Zoom but I also want it to look like Zoom,” described Jacquie. “We’ve made every moment of gallery view intentional. Those are the moments when there’s intense structure in the show or parts where we’re dealing with those political and class divisions.”

Each student was sent green screen fabric, a microphone, and a ring light in order to make this production happen. And if a performer was only able to film from the waist up due to the constraints of their location, Jacquie manipulated the shots in editing to make it seem as though that person was standing behind another person or even a fence.

As Jacquie put it, “I always say you have to find ways to play outside of the box and think outside of the box from inside this box, inside your Zoom square box.”

The sound was also a unique challenge for a virtual musical. Luckily, because the production is not being presented live, the performers were able to record their singing separately, and then Music Director Ricky Romano took each track and mixed and edited them together to form the music of the show. Then students could sing along to their own tracks as they recorded each of their scenes.

This unique process of problem-solving and virtual manipulation led to a fascinating challenge for the creative team and a fantastic learning opportunity for the students.

“We were able to explore a whole new world of acting to the camera, something we as theatre students don’t often get to do because we usually act towards an audience on a stage,” explained Izabelle Korman, the actress playing Hope Caldwell. “The camera was able to pick up more subtle things that wouldn’t read on stage, so we were definitely able to explore a new level of depth to our show.”

Jacquie added, “We were playing a lot with levels. If you’re up or down or further away or closer to your camera, what does that mean? If you’re right here in your camera, that is telling a different story than if you’re further away. What does that spatial relationship mean?”

In this way, students were not only able to enjoy the musical theatre aspect of the show but were also presented with the unique opportunity to dive into the world of film.

“Now I know terms like ‘shot list’, ‘two shot’, ‘midshot’, and more. I have learned how to make the most of being on screen, and how to use the screen to your advantage to capture more expression,” said Olivia Reduto, the actress playing Penelope Pennywise. “And it was great to be able to have the opportunity to film things over if there was a mistake the first time, or if we just wanted to try something new!”

Lucas Sun, the actor playing Bobby Strong, continued, “We did not have to worry about doing scenes one way or the other for a final performance. We had the freedom to approach a scene in many different ways and we were able to save the scenes for editing. I guess it was a bit like filming a movie.”

And it’s clear that this experience has given students the chance to feel the creativity and joy of performing once again, despite the strange circumstances.

“In the beginning, it was clear that all of us felt a bit out of our element as we performed over Zoom, but by the end of it, all of us had embraced the change in environment and were giving it our all on the screen,” said Richard Yan, the actor playing Officer Barrel.

Though virtual productions will never feel the same as an in-person show, Jacquie, Anthony, Ricky, and the rest of the team did their best to create an environment filled with learning, support, and joy. They used breakout rooms to recreate the fun of spending time together backstage, started dance parties at the start of each rehearsal, and even surveyed the performers on a regular basis to make sure they were enjoying themselves and learning from the process.

They were also able to schedule a private screening of the final product for the cast to enjoy together in their high school auditorium. Though socially distanced and fully masked, the students will still be able to enjoy their hard work and celebrate each other’s accomplishments in the same space.

“This whole situation sucks, but at the end of the day I’m hoping a year from now or two years from now, they’ll look back at it like it was an interesting experience that we all went through together and that we found a way to create that was very different,” Jacquie hoped. “Every day that I’m editing them, and watching scenes, they impress me. They really gave it their all.”

Urinetown will be available for viewing for 48 hours beginning on Saturday, April 10th. Tickets are available at https://www.showtix4u.com/event-details/50500.