“What kind of musical is this?!” asks narrator Little Sally of the new musical, Urinetown. A show in which people sing about toilets and a fee to pee, Urinetown promises vast amounts of laughter. This winner of three Tony Awards is a spoof of a traditional Broadway musical.
While the “toilet-centric” musical seems like one big joke, it contains numerous jokes that poke at Les Miserables, West Side Story, Forrest Gump and even topics such as Jewish culture, Biblical sermons and George Bush. Though called “a love letter to the American musical in the form of a grenade,” the title alone should draw audiences in immediately.
The company’s great voices make the dull musical numbers bearable to sit through. With many up-and-coming locals, the cast sings and dances in a manner that’s barely distinguishable from Broadway’s finest. What the show lacks in inspiring and catchy musical numbers it makes up in its satirical, comedic plot.
Disturbed after paying 25 cents for a public bathroom in Europe, Greg Kotis was inspired to write about a community in which people who pee in public are sent to the infamous Urinetown.
The musical’s theme – human rights to free flushing – will leave you asking during (and even after) the show, “Are you serious?” But the truth is, yes and no.
Maybe it is the fact that the narrator admits that not “too many people are going to come and see this musical” that makes this play so unbelievable, yet hilarious.
Or perhaps it is just because it is a musical based on bodily fluid. Especially if you do not usually like musicals, Urinetown is definitely worth seeing. m
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