“What kind of a musical is this?” wails Little Sally (Kaylee Annable), a distraught orphan who appears onstage as a cross between Annie and Raggedy Ann in the musical, Urinetown. At first, it seems that the downtrodden townspeople have risen to reclaim their right to pee without paying a price by overrunning the locked public restrooms controlled by an evil corporation, the Urine Be Good Company. But then things start to turn sour. “Well, reminds the show’s narrator, a crooked cop name Officer Lockstock, (Rick Pendzich), this isn’t a happy musical. Social satire and comedy combine in equal measures in Urinetown . The story takes place in a Gotham-like city, where a 20-year drought has led to government-enforced control of public toilets (private toilets became a thing of past many years ago). The police (toadies for the corporation that owns the toilets) keeps the peace as people scrounge for pennies to pay for the right to pee. At one toilet facility, a heartless matron, Mrs. Pennywise (Amber Smith), shoos away the old, the infirm and anyone else who doesn’t have enough cash to use the toilets.
In the Skylight Music Theater production, the show is played mainly for laughs, overshadowing the show’s real social issues: corporate control, environmental conservation, corruption and the growing divide between rich and poor. Director Ray Jivoff veers toward the comic aspects of the show as if by nature – he is very familiar with directing comedies. Some of the show’s jokes are overplayed (such as the ones involving a character named Mr. McQueen), while others are outright funny. Choosing a “favorite” scene in this niche musical is difficult, but the cast makes a strong statement with its song, “Don’t Be the Bunny.” The tune begins after the talented Steven M. Koehler as the Urine Good Company CEO admonishes his recently graduated daughter, Hope (Rachael Zientek), that it is their duty to stomp on the poor and squelch the revolution. “Don’t Be the Bunny” begins with Koehler exposing a pink-nosed bunny slipper on the top of his desk. He sings while moving his leg (with slipper attached) across the desk in a hopping bunny fashion. Soon, all his minions (various office workers, plus a corrupt senator (Doug Jareki), are hopping about the stage, while singing the song. It builds in musical showtune fashion to a resounding finale. Of all the show’s characters, Bobby Strong (Lucas Pastrana) and Hope attract the most interest. They find love amid the rubble of a city in chaos, eventually ending in a sewer where the kidnapped Hope is held for ransom. They didn’t figure on the hardness of the old man’s heart—he is willing to sacrifice Hope to squelch the rebellion. Thankfully, another character inexplicably offers to trade her life for Hope’s. The future is not so bright for Bobby, who is caught by the Keystone-type cops and carried off to Urinetown. Most of the characters are played as little more than caricatures, so even Bobby’s final words of love to Hope (as overheard by Little Sally) don’t pack much of a wallop.
The set is somewhat of a hodgepodge of industrial items, backed by a cartoon-like skyline in the background. Without enough water to go around, there are no trees or grass, of course. Lighting by Brandon Kirkham kicks things up a notch. The costumes go a long way towards turning the Skylight stage into a futuristic, punk environment (credit to Karin Simonson Kopische). In terms of delineating the character, these are some of the best outfits seen onstage this season. What makes Urinetown such fun to watch is its send-up of musicals and other Broadway hits. The choreography (by Ryan Cappleman) pays homage to some classic musicals, such as Les Miserables, West Side Story, and Fiddler on the Roof. In fact, the men’s dance at the wedding in Fiddler is mimicked here, with toilet plungers replacing the wine bottles in Fiddler. At the end of one musical number, all the actors inexplicably shout out “Shipoopee” (a tribute to the song made famous in The Music Man). The dialogue carries traces of phrases used in Company. Some of the overall themes (especially those expressed by Mrs. Pennywise) are straight out of Bertolt Brecht’s The Threepenny Opera. Amber Smith’s acting abilities and singing voice are some of the show’s highlights in her portrayal of Pennywise. Wearing gaunt-looking makeup, Smith embodies the harsh realities faced by the people. Aside from her stature as a government worker, she could pass for the bedraggled-looking residents who line up daily at her public toilet. The voices here are uniformly strong, with special mention going to the lovers, Bobby and Hope. The small but effective orchestra is directed by David Bonofiglio. According to Rick Pendzich, who does a masterful job as the narrator, life soon takes a nosedive. When Hope’s father dies, so, too, does the rest of the town’s now-liberated water supply. The public toilet where the revolution began is renamed the Bobby Strong Memorial Toilet Authority. Like Little Sally, the audience hopes to see some progress in the wake of all the killings in the revolution. Well, that will have to wait for a happier musical.
