When was the last time you walked out of a musical you’d never seen before humming the music? Or spontaneously clapped to the rhythm while the cast broke into a kick line or Russian dance. And what show has made you feel patriotic while, at the same time, reminded you just how much you have to pee?
Urinetown has another weekend of shows at Uptown Players at the Kalita Humphreys and if you want a pee-in-your-pants good time, git over there to see it.
The cast is incredible — vocally, dancefully and actfully. OK, so I’m making up my own words, but they’re inspired by the creatively crafted show about a time when fascism crept into American life.
Oddly, the Broadway opening was scheduled for September 11, 2001 and was delayed about two weeks because of the event. Once it opened, it ran almost 1,000 performances and then has rarely been heard from again.
But it’s the perfect show for the Trump era. There’s a charge for everything in Urinetown, including using the mandatory pay toilets since private plumbing has been made illegal. And who’s profiting from that? You know someone must be. Why, it’s the UDC — Urine Good Company.
But there are people resisting the, um, movement. And they’re hiding in Secret Hideout.
Is it silly? Of course it is. But don’t worry. Just when it seems everything’s gotten too silly to go on, there’s The Finale to Act I — a perfect Urinetown takeoff of the first act finale in Les Mis. Sort of the French Revolution if they were fighting for the right to pee without pay.
Officer Lockstock — the narrator — warns us that this isn’t a musical with a happy ending. So once a cast member is thrown off the roof of the UDC building, after a long, final blood curling scream, don’t expect them to return. Just expect a good new show tune.
Now if you haven’t seen Urinetown, none of what I just wrote made sense. Just know that this send up of capitalism, incompetence, social irresponsiblity, local politics and musical theater is a lot of singable fun.
David Lugo as Officer Lockstock moves the story along quite nicely and gets his guy in the end. Max J. Swarner is a wonderful Bobby Strong, leading the fight against paying to pee. Emery Gray as Hope Cladwell, daughter of UDC scoundrel Caldwell Cladwell, doesn’t get her guy in the end but at least she’s not thrown off daddy’s roof. Or is she?
The music by Greg Kotis and Mark Hollmann just keeps going with one showstopper after another. Unfortunately, they haven’t had another show on Broadway since. They won Tonys for best musical score and best book of a musical in 2002.
Urinetown is an odd choice for Uptown Players that usually features gay-themed musicals and plays, but it’s a perfect choice. Several male characters get their guy in the finale but that’s just part of the fun.
If you’re in the mood for a great musical score, a story you’ve never seen on stage before and a cast that delivers, go see it.
The show runs through July 19.
— David Taffet