Urinetown (Performance Review)
Originally written for the issue published February 26, 2009.
It’s hard not to be a little offset after hearing the words “Urinetown: The Musical”. While musicals are generally enjoyable, the notion of a vulgar musical evokes a rather bitter taste thanks to the recent “Jerry Springer: The Opera” debacle. While enough time has passed to once again be open-minded towards the concept, it’s still too soon for me to be optimistic. Imagine my surprise then when Urinetown turns out to be a completely self-aware satire that is thoroughly enjoyable yet entirely benign.
A twenty year drought has led to a terrible water shortage, which causes great concern over water consumption. As a result, a mega-corporation called Urine Good Company (UGC) steps in to regulate the bathroom habits of the population. Private lavatories are a thing of the past, and everyone must now use public amenities and pay to pee for the sake of mediating water usage. Unfortunately for the population, the UGC runs a fairly dictatorial ship, and it isn’t long before the citizen’s rebel against the UGC’s iron rule.
The rabble’s revolt is apprehensively led by charming everyman Bobby Strong, a strapping young lad whose father was hauled off to the mysterious Urinetown for breaking the seal in the middle of the street. No one knows exactly what Urinetown is, except that people who are sent there are never to be heard from again. Bobby Strong eventually falls for the beautiful Hope Cladwell, daughter of the oppressive Caldwell B. Cladwell, who is president of the UGC. Hope, on the other hand, is torn between her love for her father and her growing feelings for Bobby.
Urinetown is narrated by the combined efforts of the corrupt Officer Lockstock and street urchin Little Sally. The two admirably perform narrative duties as well as offering the audience everything from amusing asides, minor plot predictions, and even pointers on how to write effectively for the stage. They also frequently debate the direction of the plot and the merits (if any) of naming your production “Urinetown”. The production’s best moments are when the play steps out of itself to directly engage with what the audience is thinking, and often these moments belong to the banter between these two characters.
Don’t interpret this as meaning that the play itself is substandard. While admittedly the story itself isn’t anything too remarkable, save for a few novel narrative choices, the presentation more than compensates for this. Urinetown boasts some excellent song and dance pieces, notably Act One’s “Mr. Cladwell” that formerly introduces the audience to the principle antagonist. It’s this number’s light-hearted tongue in cheek self-awareness that simultaneously sets the mood for the evening and assuages any lingering doubt that you made the wrong plans.
If nothing else, the individual moments are what make Urinetown a solid performance. Between the comedic powerhouse of Officer Lockstock and Little Sally, the generally successful lampooning of mainstream Broadway, and the cynical ending that manages to retain an ecological message, Urinetown is a biting musical that rises above the sum of its parts to the tune of a jaunty piano.
Comments are closed.