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Urinetown

Produced by LaSalle School of the Arts

Reviewed by Kenneth Lyen

INTRODUCTION

Flushed with international success,  this toilet musical is now making a big splash in Singapore’s LaSalle College of the Arts. Perhaps the producers should have a warning that watching this musical can make one laugh so much that you are in danger of wetting yourself! Inconveniently, I visited the public convenience during the interval, and again after the show. Luckily I did not have to pay to pee.

PLOT

I really enjoy a good satire, especially one with multiple layers of jabbing. Urinetown fulfils that role. This absurdist melodramatic has become a bit of a cult musical. The story takes place in a parallel universe where a mythical town suffers a prolonged drought resulting in severe water shortage.

 

Penelope Pennywise:  Twenty years we've had the drought

                                        And our reservoirs have all dried up

                                        I take my baths now in a coffee cup

                                        I boil what's left of it for tea

                                        And it's a privilege to pee

To save water, private toilets are banned, and everybody must use public toilets that they are forced to pay. The toilets are managed, or rather mismanaged, by a corrupt private corporation that exploits their absolute authority in order to generate revenues for themselves.

Penelope Pennywise:  The politicians in their wisdom saw

                                       That there should be a law

                                       The politicians taxed the toilets

                                       And made illegal

                                       Public urination and defecation

Lack of public toilets has resulted in long queues and citizens line up for many hours to discharge their personal waste. Some cannot afford the charges, including the father of the musical’s hero. He could not hold his pee and illegally urinated on the streets whereupon he was seized by the police and sent to Urinetown.

The heroine of the musical is Hope Cladwell. Her father, Caldwell Cladwell shows himself to be a despicable rascal, one who cares more about himself and how to generate a personal fortune at the expense of the poor. He displays his total lack of integrity in the song to his daughter,  “Don’t be a Bunny”. The song starts off seeming rather cute, but suddenly degenerates and reveals his callous philosophy that forms the basis of his corporate behavior.

 

Caldwell Cladwell:        A little bunny in the meadow

                                       Is nibbling grass without a care

                                       He's so delightful as he hops for you

                                       You say, "Hi, bunny"


                                       And he stops for you

                                       You pull your trigger

                                       And he drops for you

                                       Goodbye, bunny-boo

                                       Hello, rabbit stew!

 

Later Caldwell shows that he is capable of allowing his own daughter to die, in order to preserve his corporate empire.

In contrast, Bobby Strong, the hero, has compassion for the common people, and he wants to abolish the fee to pee. He leads a revolution to overthrow the regime and to repeal the law on toilet charges. In the meantime he meets and immediately falls in love with Hope Cladwell, They sing a love duet.

 

Bobby Strong & Hope Cladwell: Love is kind and considerate

                                                       Love is peaceful and fair

                                                       Love can creep up so suddenly

                                                       When you least think of it

                                                       Your love is there

Soon Bobby finds out that Hope is the daughter of Caldwell, the unscrupulous owner of the toilet management corporation. When he starts the revolution, Caldwell sends his lackey police to invite Bobby to meet him for talks. When they meet, Caldwell tries to bribe Bobby, unsuccessfully. Once Bobby refuses to accept the bribe, he is taken away by the police to Urinetown, where he is thrown off a skyscraper. Before he dies, amazingly, he lives long enough to sing a last song.

 

Bobby Strong:                                Tell all the people

                                                         Tell them the time is always now

                                                         Tell them to fight for

                                                         What they know is right

When Hope Cladwell hears Bobby’s dying words, she makes an about turn, and decides to fight her father, and she becomes the leader of the rebellion. They successfully topple the father’s urine corporation. But as they sing the inspirational gospel-sounding finale song, “I See a River”, the exposition takes a depressing turn:

 

                Officer Lockstock:

                    Of course, it wasn't long before the water turned silty, brackish and then disappeared altogether. As cruel                            as Caldwell B. Cladwell was, his measures effectively regulated water consumption, sparing the town                            the same fate as the phantom Urinetown. Hope chose to ignore the warning signs, however,                                          preferring to bask in the people's love for as long as it lasted.

                Little Sally:

                    What kind of musical is this?! The good guys finally take over and then
                    everything starts falling apart.


                Officer Lockstock: Like I said, Little Sally. This isn't a happy musical.

WHAT IS URINETOWN?

 

This question is asked several times during the musical.

 

Officer Lockstock; It's kind of a mythical place, you understand. A bad place. A place you won't see until Act Two. And then...? Well, let's just say it's filled with symbolism and things like that. 

 

Later you learn that Urinetown is a euphemism for being killed.

 

ORIGINALITY

One of the ways that musicals try to become more original, is to become self-referential, to look inward. This is shown in Urinetown right from the very start:

 

                Officer Lockstock: Little Sally… nothing can kill a show like too much exposition.

 

                Little Sally: How about bad subject matter?

 

                Officer Lockstock: Well …

 

                Little Sally: Or a bad title, even? That could kill a show pretty good.

 

 Towards the end of the musical, Officer Lockstock and Little Sally have a dialogue that goes like this:

 

                Little Sally: I don't think too many people are going to come and see this musical.

 

                Officer Lockstock: Why do you say that, Little Sally? Don't you think people want to be told that their way                    of life is unsustainable?

The other way of trying to become original is to break down the fourth wall. The actors talk directly to the audience. This takes place several times in Urinetown.

STYLE

It takes a certain personal attitude to appreciate the jokes enunciated in Urinetown. For example, some may laugh others might groan when they hear pee-related puns such as “We, we never fail” or the chorus “You’re in Urinetown.”

 

Kotis’ dialogue is packed with hysterically literal responses to metaphors and common turns of phrase. “What an unexpected surprise,” for example, leading to the retort, “Is there any other kind?”

REFERENCES TO OTHER MUSICALS

Urinetown makes several references to other well-known musicals including:

                Les Miserables: where the rebels wave a flag in the background and march on the spot.

                Titanic: where Bobby Strong embraces his girlfriend Hope Cladwell from behind

 

There are other musical and dance references, including The Boyfriend, Dames at Sea, Little Mary Sunshine, West Side Story, Guys & Dolls, Fiddler on the Roof, Cabaret, Annie, and Chicago. This is very clever.

UNDERLYING MESSAGE

Urinetown spoofs many things, including corporate and political corruption, social disintegration, and the fallout from our mismanaged environment. There are comments on social injustice, organized rebellion, and even terrorism. Because there is a cartoon superficiality in its tenor, the more serious moral dilemmas and ethical issues are conveyed in a mocking, campy style. Unfortunately, this irreverence might obscure the gravity of the message embedded in Urinetown.

 

THE MUSIC

Much of the music is not the hummable Andrew Lloyd Webber genre, but it is serviceable. There are two mock-gospel songs, “Run, Freedom, Run”, and the penultimate inspirational song “I See a River”.

 

Hope Cladwell:                              I see a river flowing for freedom

                                                        I see a river just in view

                                                        I see a river flowing for freedom

                                                        I see a river straight and true

 

TARGET AUDIENCE

Urinetown is an entertaining commentary on many aspects of modern society, including unethical corporate behavior, ruthless adherence to the letter of the law, mistreatment of the environment, and even on how to write a musical. It is an offbeat, unconventional, intelligent musical. This approach may not appeal to everyone, especially those schooled in the traditional musical. But for those who are receptive to this genre, it is absolutely brilliant!

LASALLE PRODUCTION

What make LaSalle’s production of Urinetown so remarkable are the professional display of the triple threat of singing, acting, and dancing. The performers are absolutely wonderful and they carry the show. Kudos is given to the director George Torbay, the incredibly well-synchronised and original choreography of David Sirianni, and the musical direction of Joanne Ho. All this would not have been possible without the hard work and creativity of the phenomenal producer, Dayal Singh.

 

This is a performance that I thoroughly enjoyed and shall remember for a very long time. Congratulations LaSalle!

 

Kenneth Lyen

20 April 2018

CREDITS

 

ORIGINATORS

Music and Lyrics:                                 Mark Hollman

Book and Lyrics:                                  Greg Kotis.

 

PRODUCTION AND CREATIVE TEAM

Producer:                                             Dayal Singh

Director:                                               George Torbay

Choreographer:                                   David Sirianni

Musical Director:                                 Joanne Ho

 

LEVEL 3 STUDENTS CAST

Claris Tan                                             Little Sally

Felix Lim                                               Hot Blades Harry

Hana Rosli                                            Soupy Sue

Michelle Ler Jin Yi                                Hope Cladwell

Penny Chan Yuen Khuan                     Penelope Pennywise

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