Nashoba Tech Students Film 'Urinetown', Tickets To Go On Sale

WESTFORD, MA — With pandemic protocols shutting down any hope of this year's live musical on stage at Nashoba Valley Technical High School, the Theatre Guild picked up their cameras and took action, shooting a movie instead.

After months of rehearsing, acting and filming, the guild's production of "Urinetown: The Musical" is now in the editing stage, with tickets to stream the video set to go on sale Feb. 22. It will be streamed online March 13, and March 14.

The original musical premiered in 2001, with music by Mark Hollmann, lyrics by Hollmann and Greg Kotis, who got the idea for the show while traveling in Europe and encountering a pay toilet.

The story —of an organization that's in charge of regulating water consumption and has a monopoly on toilets, requiring people to pay to use them— satirizes a number of things, from capitalism, bureaucracy to the legal system and social irresponsibility.

"It's a dark comedy," said Emily Smith, Nashoba Tech’s Theatre Arts instructor.

Smith said that as a technical high school with state-of-the-art equipment, Nashoba Tech was positioned to produce a movie.

“We have the ability to do it, and we have the equipment,” she said. “It took a lot of equipment, a lot of time and the ability to edit a musical. It was a big project for us.”

Senior Brian McCall, who is hoping to study film at Emerson College next fall, stepped up to direct the film, which was a natural fit for him.

“This is a great opportunity for experimenting and experiencing the field,” said Brian. “It’s been a ride. Acting has been fun, but my main focus has always been behind the camera.”

Brian said one of the more challenging aspects was having the actors lip-synching their songs while filming, then recording them later. He and his technical assistants, including music director Betsy Fiedler and dancing director Bryan Landgren, are now editing the singing parts into the film.

“This is the part I thrive on most,” he said. “I’m looking forward to editing. It’s full of challenges.”

Smith said Brian said they chose to film in Boxborough because it offered distanced spaces for filming amid the pandemic.

“We are very fortunate that the town of Boxborough provided us with several shooting locations, including the police station and town offices,” Smith said. “They opened their arms to us so we were able to shoot on location.”

Other students involved in the production include: production manager junior Mikayla Barrett of Boxborough, storyboard artist seniors Ryan Jaeger of Dunstable and Rebecca Loureiro of Chelmsford.

Students who are performing in front of the camera include: freshman Wendy Barrett of Boxborough, juniors Jennelle Dillard of Littleton, Jeremy Dolan of Ayer, Nykol Fischer of Townsend, Alexander Johnson of Littleton, Sabrina Lewis of Ayer, Maxwell Mazgelis of Westford, freshmen Connor McCall of Pepperell, Cadence Mueller of Shirley, Emily Rasmus of Littleton, sophomore Vanessa Newbold of Littleton, junior Elsa Vig of Billerica and senior Sarah Wilson of Chelmsford; as well as 2019 graduate Adam Kubasti of Chelmsford.

Some staff members are also acted in the movie, including Eric Stevenson, Stacy Stevens, Bruce Sullivan and Ryan Wood.

Tickets to stream for Nashoba Tech’s production of “Urinetown” go on sale Monday, Feb. 22. Go to nashobatech.net for ticket info.