Urinetown

Urinetown
Original Cast Recording
Music	Mark Hollmann
Lyrics	Mark Hollmann Greg Kotis
Book	Greg Kotis
Productions	2001 Broadway 2004 National Tour
Awards	Tony Award for Best Book Tony Award for Best Score

Urinetown: The Musical is a satirical comedy musical, with music by Mark Hollmann, lyrics by Hollmann and Greg Kotis, and book by Kotis. It satirizes capitalism, social irresponsibility, populism, bureaucracy, corporate mismanagement, and petty small town politics. It also is a satire of the Broadway musical as a form. In reverse pantomime style, the unconventional plotline shatters audience expectations of a pleasant ending.

Productions

Urinetown debuted at the New York International Fringe Festival, was produced Off-Broadway at the American Theatre for Actors and then moved to Broadway, opening at Henry Miller's Theatre on September 20, 2001 and closed on January 18, 2004, after 25 previews and 965 performances.

It was directed by John Rando, and features music and lyrics by Mark Hollman, book and lyrics by Greg Kotis, and choreography by John Carrafa. The original cast included Hunter Foster (as Bobby Strong, later replaced by Tom Cavanagh), Jeff McCarthy (as Officer Lockstock), Nancy Opel (as Penelope Pennywise), Tony Award-winner John Cullum (as Caldwell B. Cladwell), Jennifer Laura Thompson (as Hope Cladwell), Spencer Kayden (as Little Sally) and Ken Jennings (as Old Man Strong/Hot Blades Harry). It was nominated for 10 Tony Awards and won three.

A national tour starring Christiane Noll began in San Francisco, California on June 13, 2003.^[1]

A production began performances at Chicago's Mercury Theater in March 2006 and closed in May 2006.^[2]

The characters of Little Sally and Officer Lockstock are featured in what has become a yearly tradition at the Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS annual Gypsy of the Year benefit concert, in which the characters – portrayed by actors Jennifer Cody and Don Richardson, both of whom understudied the roles in the original cast – perform a short comedy sketch making fun of current Broadway shows.^[3]

History

Greg Kotis had the idea for Urinetown while traveling in Europe. A traveling student on a budget, he encountered a pay-per-use toilet, and began writing shortly thereafter, joining with Mark Hollmann for the journey to Broadway. Initially, no production companies were interested in optioning the musical, but finally the Neo-Futurists, an experimental theatre group from Chicago, agreed to produce Urinetown for their 1999-2000 season. Kotis, his wife, and original cast member Spencer Kayden belonged to the group. Plans with the Neo-Futurists later fell through, so John Clancy of the New York Fringe Festival accepted the show into the festival. Playwright David Auburn, a friend of Kotis and Hollmann, came to see the show and immediately called production company The Araca Group. The company optioned the musical and it opened Off Broadway at the American Theatre for Actors, transferring to Broadway in September 2001. Originally planned to open on September 13, the show contained several references that, after the September 11 attacks, would no longer be politically correct. Ultimately, only one line was removed from the script, and the show opened September 20, 2001.^[4]

Synopsis

Act I

The show opens with a friendly welcome from Officer Lockstock, the narrator, assisted by the street urchin Little Sally. ("Too Much Exposition").^[5] According to Lockstock, a twenty-year drought has caused a terrible water shortage, making private toilets unthinkable. All restroom activities are done in public toilets controlled by a megacorporation^[6] called "Urine Good Company" (or UGC). To control water consumption, people have to pay to use the amenities. There are harsh laws ensuring that people pay to pee, and if they are broken, the guilty party is sent to a supposed penal colony called "Urinetown", where offenders are sent but never return.

The oppressed masses huddle in line at the poorest, filthiest urinal in town ("Urinetown"), which is run by the rigid, harshly authoritarian Penelope Pennywise and her assistant, dashing young everyman Bobby Strong. Trouble ensues when Bobby's father, Old Man Strong, cannot afford his urinal admission for the day and asks Pennywise to let him go free "just this once". After Old Man Strong's plea is dismissed ("It's a Privilege to Pee"), he urinates on the street and is soon arrested by Officers Lockstock and Barrel and escorted off to Urinetown ("It's a Privilege to Pee" [Reprise]).

Later that day, in the corporate offices of Urine Good Company, the CEO, Caldwell B. Cladwell, is discussing the new fee hikes with Senator Fipp, a politician firmly in Cladwell's pocket, when Cladwell's beautiful daughter, Hope Cladwell, arrives on the scene as the UGC's new fax/copy girl. As a way of introduction to their newest member, the UGC staff sings a paean to their chief ("Mr. Cladwell").

Officers Lockstock and Barrel discuss the journey to Urinetown and how it reduces everyone, even the toughest, to screams ("The Cop Song"). Hope enters and encounters Bobby Strong. The attraction is instant, and the two, joined by their belief in the power of the heart, sing about their hope for a new world ("Follow Your Heart").

Officer Lockstock and Little Sally discuss Urinetown. When Little Sally asks him what it is, Lockstock replies that its power lies in its mystery.

The next day, new fee hikes are announced, and Bobby concludes that the laws are wrong. Opening the doors of the urinal, despite Ms. Pennywise's protests, he begins a pee-for-free rebellion ("Look at the Sky").

At the offices of UGC, Cladwell is informed of the revolution, and when Hope is aghast at his vow to crush Bobby for his actions, Cladwell coldly instructs her (using metaphors centering on rabbits) to be the winner in life rather than the victim ("Don't Be the Bunny").

At Public Amenity #9, Cladwell, UGC staff, and police arrive to confront Bobby. Bobby discovers who Hope's father is, and, outnumbered, the rebels kidnap Hope and head to a secret hideout in the sewers ("Act One Finale").

Act II

The rebel poor are hiding with Hope in the sewers, the police and Cladwell looking for them, and Bobby hiding from the police. The rebels wonder what Urinetown is, and everyone sings about the power of the mysterious no-man's land. Little Sally eventually concludes that Urinetown is a metaphysical place where everyone is down-and-out ("What is Urinetown?").

Down in the sewers, the rebels are driven mad and are close to killing Hope in revenge for her father's crimes ("Snuff That Girl") when Bobby bursts in and reminds the rebels of their revolutionary purpose with a rousing gospel song ("Run, Freedom, Run!").

Invigorated, the poor rally around Bobby, but balk at his statement that the violent fight could take decades. Just then, Pennywise bursts into the secret hideout telling Bobby that Cladwell wants him to come to the UGC headquarters. Bobby goes, but only after being reminded by the impatient rebels that if anything happens to him, Hope will be killed. Pennywise fiercely swears that if any of the rebels harm Hope, she will have Bobby sent off to Urinetown. Bobby says goodbye to Hope, apologizes, and tells her to think of what they have ("Follow Your Heart" (Reprise)).

At the UGC headquarters, Cladwell offers Bobby a suitcase full of cash and full amnesty to the rebels as long as Hope is returned and the people agree to the new fee hikes. Bobby refuses, and demands free access for the people. Cladwell orders the cops to escort Bobby to Urinetown. Horrified, Pennywise reminds him that getting rid of Bobby dooms Hope, but he ignores her and has her arrested as well. As Pennywise escapes her captors, she, Hope, and Fipp sing of their regrets of falling for Cladwell's schemes. Meanwhile, Bobby is led to the top of the UGC building, and learns the truth – that there is no Urinetown, they just kill people ("Why Did I Listen to That Man?"). Lockstock and Barrel throw him off the building, killing him.

Little Sally returns to the hideout in a shocked daze, having just heard Bobby's last words. She then sings, along with Bobby, his last words directed to Hope. ("Tell Her I Love Her"). His last words encourage the rebels to fight for what they know is right, and that the time is always now. Just as the rebels are about to murder Hope in revenge, Pennywise enters and offers herself in her stead, proclaiming herself to be Hope's mother. The poor reel back, shocked by this unexpected plot twist.

Pennywise unties Hope, explaining that she was the one-time lover of Cladwell back during the Stink Years. Once released, Hope promptly convinces the rebels, Pennywise now among them, to let her lead the revolution. The rebels march to the office of UGC, killing Officer Barrel, Senator Fipp, and Cladwell's secretary Mrs. Millenium on the way ("We're Not Sorry").

Upon entering his office, Cladwell is captured by the rebels. Hope orders her father off to Urinetown and, after a short reconciliation^{[clarification needed]} with Pennywise ("We're Not Sorry" (Reprise)), he is thrown off the roof by the poor screaming, "I kept the water in the streets and the pee in the ground!"

With Cladwell gone, Hope assures her followers that the age of fear is over and that they can look forward to a bright new day. The Urine Good Company is renamed "The Bobby Strong Memorial Toilet Authority" and the people are henceforth allowed to pee whenever they like, as much as they like, for as long as they like, and with whomever they like ("I See A River").

However, the town's newfound urinary bliss is short-lived, as its limited water supply quickly disappears. As draconian as Cladwell's rules were, they kept the people from squandering the limited water supply; now, much of the population dies of thirst. Lockstock insinuates that Hope suffers a terrible death at the hand of the people for her actions in depleting the water supply, but adds that the remaining townsfolk will wage on, their town now quite like the imaginary "Urinetown" with which they had been threatened all of their lives.

Characters

• Officer Lockstock – The tongue-in-cheek narrator of the story. A corrupt policeman who secretly kills off guilty peers.
• Little Sally – A precocious, thoroughly irreverent and smartly funny street urchin; the narrator who always outsmarts Lockstock, and constantly questions the play's logic.
• Bobby Strong – The dashing, noble young everyman who works for Miss Pennywise at the poorest, filthiest urinal in town; the eventual protagonist and romantic hero who starts a revolution, and falls in love with Hope Cladwell along the way.
• Hope Cladwell – Cladwell's completely innocent and ravishingly beautiful daughter, torn between her love for her father and her new love for Bobby. A parody of the stereotypical Broadway ingénue.
• Caldwell B. Cladwell – The president and owner of the Urine Good Company, a miserly moneygrubber who gleefully exploits the poor with his outrageous toilet fees.
• Penelope Pennywise – The tough, jaded warden of the poorest, filthiest urinal in town. A shrewd, penny-scrounging cheapskate, Pennywise is a figure of authority and lives to maintain order at the public bathrooms. However, she has a deep, dark secret in her past that somehow involves Hope. Hollman says the character was partly inspired by that of Mr. Peachum from Weill's The Threepenny Opera, and her music resembles that of Leocadia Begbick in Weill's Rise and Fall of the City of Mahagonny.
• Officer Barrel – Lockstock's partner. He harbors a surprising secret.
• Senator Fipp – A greedy, cowardly politician in Cladwell's pocket.
• Mr. McQueen – Cladwell's sycophantic assistant/lackey. The ultimate Yes Man.
• Joseph "Old Man" Strong – Bobby's rebellious father, whose refusal to pay the fee causes him to be sent to Urinetown, ultimately launching the revolution.
• Josephine "Ma" Strong – Bobby's mother, a strong-willed old woman who is able to withstand the hard hand life has dealt her.
• Hot Blades Harry – One of the Poor, a psychopathic, violent loose cannon.
• Little Becky Two-Shoes – One of the Poor; foul-mouthed, impulsive, pregnant, and suffering from polio.
• Tiny Tom – One of the Poor, an idiotic man-child.
• Soupy Sue – One of the Poor, easily panicked.
• Robby the Stockfish – One of the Poor, the revolution's stoic enforcer.
• Billy Boy Bill – One of the Poor, typically shy.
• An Old Woman – One of the Poor.
• Mrs. Millenium – A trusted UGC employee.
• Dr. Billeaux – Head of Research and Development at UGC.
• Cladwell's Secretary
• Two UGC Executives

Due to the small size of the cast in the original Off-Broadway/Broadway production, the following doubling of actors was performed:

• Old Man Strong/Hot Blades Harry
• Tiny Tom/Dr. Billeaux
• Little Becky Two Shoes/Mrs. Millenium
• Soupy Sue/Cladwell's Secretary
• Robby the Stockfish/UGC Executive 1
• Billy Boy Bill/UGC Executive 2
• Ma Strong/Old Woman

Musical numbers

Awards and nominations

Tony Awards

Winners:

• Best Director (John Rando)
• Best Original Score (Mark Hollmann and Greg Kotis)
• Best Book of a Musical (Greg Kotis)

Nominations:

• Best Musical
• Best Actor in a Musical (John Cullum)
• Best Actress in a Musical (Nancy Opel and Jennifer Laura Thompson)
• Best Featured Actress in a Musical (Spencer Kayden)
• Best Choreography (John Carrafa)
• Best Orchestrations (Bruce Coughlin)

See also

• Politics in fiction

References

External links

Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: Urinetown

• Urinetown at the Internet Broadway Database