The cast of Urinetown, on stage through July 19 at Uptown Players
RICH LOPEZ | Staff writer
Rich@DallasVoice.com
First, to clarify: No, Urinetown is not a niche gear night with a headlining DJ at the Dallas Eagle.
Second: Yes, it is a musical with a distinct flair — especially now. The premise of Urinetown the Musical is hitting way too close to home these days, with its themes of governmental control, corporate greed and human dignity in the balance. We can turn on the news at any given time and hear any — and all — of that.
But Uptown Players’ Producer and Co-founder Jeff Rane and Urinetown Director Penny Ayn Maas are counting on those parallels as well as the show’s irreverent message of hope, all on display in the Uptown’s newest production, to bring in an audience.
“When it premiered 25 years ago, it was considered more a farce and now, it just speaks to these contemporary issues we’re all dealing with in this divided country,” Rane said of Urinetown The Musical, which opens Friday, July 10, at the Kalita Humphreys Theater and runs through July 19.
Written by Mark Hollmann and Greg Kotis, the show began its stage journey at the New York Fringe Festival, inspired by Kotis’ encounter with a pay toilet while traveling in Europe. Today, the show speaks louder than it was likely intended to all those years ago.
“Whether it’s rising costs, endless fees or the feeling that the system isn’t always working for everyday people, Urinetown finds humor in those frustrations,” Rane stated upon the show’s announcement. “Most importantly, it’s incredibly funny. Sometimes we all need an excuse to laugh, and Urinetown delivers that in a big way.”
The musical is set in a drought-stricken future where private toilets have been outlawed, citizens must pay to use public restrooms controlled by the powerful Urine Good Company. When a hero named Bobby Strong decides enough is enough, he ignites a rebellion that challenges those in power and the cost of simply being human.
On paper, Urinetown may seem a curious choice for Uptown Players. It’s not the gayest show for a theater that is hard-focused on telling LGBTQ+ stories.
But Rane would argue that it does indeed speak to the community.
“There is a monologue that talks about the dawning of a new age of compassion which alludes to queer rights, and that’s how the cast has played it,” he said. “It has those themes that relate to the community of embracing differences and supporting each through compassion.”
Themes, these days, that relate to everyone.
But this Urinetown does have its Uptown Players flair, according to its director. At the encouragement of Rane and with the help of the cast, Maas found relationships within the story that could be naturally interpreted as having a queer bent.
“We started with the lock, stock and barrel of the show, then we augmented the story with these queer undertones,” the director said. “The cast found these moments within the show that felt genuine to the idea, and it worked without being anything overt.”
In this Urinetown, audiences can see a spectrum of representation from queer to nonbinary and even a secret crush.
Maas echoed Rane in finding the relevance of the show to today’s world. But she also stressed the joy and irreverence of the musical.
“I think it’s meant to make you think about greed and power with some depth, but it’s also this piece of meta theater,” she said. “It pokes fun at Broadway, and we have these numbers that reference famous musicals, which adds a fun layer.”
Perhaps in its initial run Urinetown might have felt more like a musical with an environmental message. In today’s world, though, it has a different golden hue.
“It probably felt so far-fetched when they wrote it back in 2001,” Maas said. “Now, so much of it is true.”
Rane added,” The show talks about hope despite what the characters go through and what we’re all going through. But it also allows us to laugh at the plot still with its positive message.”
In short, it sounds like urine for a good time.
For tickets, visit UptownPlayers.org.