It’s the title that turns off so many potential audience members from seeing it while the tolerances most have for streaming television, R-rated films, and video games seems to be acceptable. However, this is a musical, and heaven forbid a musical, with jazz hands and all, deals with issues plaguing our nation in a way that is fun, accessible and all-too-relevant. The premise of Urinetown is simple: citizens are charged to pee, and the citizens don’t like that; the corporate benefactors don’t mind the financial padding of their wallets. What makes this Tony-winning (Book, Score, Direction) title smart is how it takes a condition we all share: the need to relieve oneself, and puts in a situation we’re all plagued with: paying for amenities most people feel should be free. What elevates this show is the lesson learned at the end ensures no side of the political aisle is safe. Under the assured direction of David Mister, the message of Urinetown is kept intact, delivering what the musical requires to compel while also entertain South Bay audiences.
(Doug Brook (Officer Lockstock) and Jackson Velez (Office Barrel); Photo credit: Dave Lepori)
Doug Brook leads the show as Officer Lockstock, who doubles as the narrator. Brook’s expositional charisma is well-calibrated and cadenced in the titular opening number, and given a wildly fun rap-esque turn in “Cop Song,” alongside an equally amusing Jackson Velez as Officer Barrel. Andrew Cope is a superb Bobby Strong, not missing any notes of comedy, leading man gravitas, and vocal heights in his stunning turns at “Look at the Sky” and a rousing “Run, Freedom, Run!” Cope's chemistry opposite Michelle Vera’s Hope Cladwell is easy to root, easily established, and an intriguing plot point that is never given shirt shrift. Vera’s vocals are tops in “Follow Your Heart” alongside Cope, and are excellent in leading the finale, “I See a River.”
(Michelle Vera (Hope) and Andrew Cope (Bobby); Photo credit: Dave Lepori)
Michael Rhone is a supporting standout as Caldwell B. Cladwell, the corrupt head of Urine Good Company, the corporation benefiting from the poor’s payments to pee. Rhone’s leading of “Mr. Cladwell” and especially “Don’t Be the Bunny” allow for his comic timing to marry the despicable social commentary the role in with despicable deliciousness. Angela Jeffries is stellar as Penelope Pennywise, providing dynamite timing and vocals in “It’s a Privilege to Pee.” Lizzie Izyumin does well as Little Sally, the other pseudo-narrator opposite Lockstock, while being embedded into the featured cast effectively. Her duet along with Cope in “Tell Her I Love Her” is tender, hilarious, and altogether a warm embrace of subdued emotion, as the number calls for.
(L to R: Don Nguyen (Mr. McQueen), Michael Rhone (Cladwell), and Clara Walker (Senator Fipp); Photo credit: Dave Lepori)
What makes a Urinetown a treat is how well both acts are balanced with its music and driving of the plot; all which come from the work of the featured cast, with Dana Cordelia Morgan, Juliet Green, and Don Nguyen serving their demanding numbers prominently as Little Becky Two Shoes, Josephine “Ma” Strong, and Mr. McQueen, respectively. Jennifer Cuevas’s choreography pairs well with Mister’s direction, leaving no reference-to-other-musicals unturned, as the musical requires and invites. Cuevas’s dancers do justice in “Cop Song," “Snuff That Girl,” and the aforementioned outstanding “Run, Freedom, Run!” Walter M. Mayes’s vocal direction brings out strong solos and dynamic power which amount to wonderfully constructed walls of sound in the company numbers. R. Kelly Matchett-Morris’s costume design is a visual party of separating the poor from the rich, complemented splendidly by Y. Sharon Peng’s excellently eccentric and detailed hair and makeup design for the entire cast.
(Company of Urinetown; Photo credit: Dave Lepori)
Urinetown debuted on Broadway in September 20, 2001 (how about that timing, amiright?) and played through January 2004. A show like that doesn’t run that long if there isn’t a reason and, unfortunately, the show continues to prove itself at being devastatingly accurate in commenting on our political landscape, capitalistic tendencies, and human nature; it just so does in a jazz-hand friendly, wildly enjoyable musical. So count your pennies, drink your water, and head to South Bay Musical Theatre’s Urinetown to see this relieve yourself of reality for a bit and enjoy this most-excellent production!
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