NEWS RELEASE

Contact: David West (west@nsula.edu )
News Bureau
Northwestern State University
Natchitoches, LA 71497
(318) 357-6466

3/20/2006

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

NATCHITOCHES -The first couple of rehearsals for the Northwestern Theatre's production of Urinetown were a bit strange for Jeff and Katie Springmann. The brother and sister from Slidell found themselves playing father and daughter in the Tony-Award winning musical, which opens March 22.

One of the most uproariously funny musicals in recent years, Urinetown is a hilarious tale of greed, corruption, love, and revolution in a time when water is worth its weight in gold. In a Gotham-like city, a terrible water shortage, caused by a 20-year draught, has led to a government-enforced ban on private toilets. The citizens must use public amenities, regulated by a single malevolent company that profits by charging admission for one of humanity's most basic needs.

"The rehearsals were kind of weird at first," said Jeff Springmann. "But we do have a natural chemistry and that makes it easier to work on stage."

"The rest of the casts were making jokes about it," said Katie Springmann. "The roles are different, but we are used to doing shows together. We have been doing them since high school."

Jeff's character, Caldwell Cladwell, owns all the toilets in the community. A young man named Bobby, played by Casey Barrett of Lake Charles, plans a revolution to bring Cladwell's monopoly to an end.

"My character is the villain. He will do whatever it takes to make money," said Jeff Springmann. "He thinks his way is the right way and tries to stop the uprising."

Katie Springmann's character, Hope Cladwell, complicates the plot.

"She is away at college and her father plans to have a job waiting for her," said Katie Springmann. "She is not exactly a deep thinker. She meets Bobby and it is love at first sight. Bobby starts the rebellion and she is torn between following her father and following her heart."

A friend convinced Jeff Springmann to attend NSU, but Katie didn't want to follow her brother at the university.

"I didn't want to come here because I wanted to give him his space," she said. "But I came here and fell in love with it. I wanted to study technical theatre and there were good opportunities here."

Jeff Springmann is also enthusiastic about Northwestern's theatre program.

"I like everything about the program. It's like we are a great big family here," he said.

Urinetown was nominated for an impressive 10 Tony Awards, winning for Best Book, Score, and direction. It also won the Drama Desk and Outer Critics Circle Awards for Best Musical.

For ticket information, call (318) 357-5744.

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