You may not see much of them but their presence is certainly felt. With just two weeks until opening night, the Carroll Senior High School Orchestra, under the direction of Mr. David Lown, is prepared to establish the mood and powerfully inspire emotion during the fall production of Urinetown.

Six, hand-selected musicians will set the tone during the four performances September 22 - 25. Some have clear experience in the pit while others were chosen through an audition process.

As audience members, we appreciate how essential the orchestra is to our theatre experience. Mr. Lown sees the performances as mutually beneficial, “These students get a lot out of playing in the orchestra! They get a taste of the rigorous requirements professionals have to endure to stay employed as a professional musician. They also get to experience challenges that they don't normally encounter in their band class. Some of those challenges are following a vocalist, playing in unusual keys, and having to make split-second changes to what they're playing to compensate for unexpected events on the stage.”

It’s not just the orchestra students who enjoy the process. “I love getting to know each of these shows deeply, and seeing the incredibly talented theatre kids grow through the years,” says Lown. “It's also very rewarding to walk my orchestra through the process of sightreading, refining, perfecting and performing the music. The feeling at the end of a successful show run is like nothing else!” 

His advice for students interested in participating in future performances? Work on your sightreading! Sightreading is the most important skill to have if a student wants to be successful performing a Broadway show. The second-most important skill is knowledge of scales in all 12 keys. 

Mr. Lown has had the opportunity to participate in several Carroll Theatre productions, so we asked What will audiences be most surprised about and enjoy with Urinetown?  “The show has a self-referential and self-deprecating humor which I think audiences will really like. I think this will end up being one of the funniest shows we've put on in a long time.”

Cue The Orchestra

Cameron Barth - alto saxophone, soprano saxophone

Andrew Butemeyer - bass clarinet, clarinet

Austin Woolsey - trombone, bass trombone

Kyle Hassien - keyboard

Ian Votaw - bass

Michael Breuer - percussion

Tickets for Urinetown – The Musical are available through www.DragonDrama.net