URINE FOR A GOOD TIME
Stage and Cinema has received the first six minutes of a virtual production of URINETOWN The Musical that looks more-than-intriguing. MSD Productions clearly has a full-EQUITY, pitch-perfect cast on hand — selected from around the country — and the vocals are superior quality. But what’s this?! One Night Only? Sunday, August 1, 2021 at 8:30pm ET, 5:30pm PT. Well, better set your reminder now. Watch here for free.
Urinetown is, among many blessings, a cleverly cautionary reflection on the kind of radicalism that redoubles its fervor once it forgets its goal. When Urinetown opened up Off-Broadway in 2001, then splashed all over Broadway just after 9/11, the show was rightfully hailed as a Brechtian revamp of musical theater.
About an overpopulated, under-hydrated world in which private toilets are outlawed, this agitpoop musical is a simultaneous assault on fascist economics and on mindless revolution. It’s supposed to be a black comedy, and IS very funny, but composer and co-lyricist (with librettist Greg Kotis) Mark Hollmann admonishes in the published script that the jokes aren’t funny if you wink.
Improbably however, this presentational meta-musical isn’t just a Lés Miz or a Rent with laughs — it’s a love story between rabble-rouser Bobby Strong and Hope Cladwell, daughter of the corporation that owns the pipes and services the sewers. These mismatched and star-crossed mates get caught up in a revolt that begins at Amenity #9, the filthiest “comfort station” in town, and features a kidnapping, a not-so-secret hideout, a blood sacrifice, and revelations straight out of Gilbert and Sullivan.
Can these crusaders who literally and anthemically follow their hearts stand up to corporate bullies and proclaim the innocence of their rage? Find out!
Directed by Marcus S. Daniel
Musically Directed by Heather Edwards
Assistant Directed by Romel De Silva
To donate: https://gofund.me/94dc2a41
