Urinetown: The Musical

Minnesota–Heritage Theater Company of Maplewood is the first theatre group in the Twin Cities licensed to perform the breakthrough Broadway Tony Award-winning musical, Urinetown: The Musical. Do not let the name fool you, there is nothing offensive in this town, just pleasing parodies.

In a mad attempt to regulate water consumption after a twenty year drought, the government has outlawed the use of private toilets. The citizenry must use public, pay-for-use amenities, regulated by a large monopolizing corporation called “Urine Good Company “, which forces the poor citizens to pay ever-escalating fees for one of humanity’s most basic needs. Anyone who refuses to pay is immediately and without question hauled off to Urinetown. But, what (or where) the heck is Urinetown? Nobody knows, for those who are sent there are never heard from again. The privilege to pee is expensive, draining and dangerous.

Bobby, an idealistic dreamer from the wrong side of the tracks and Hope, the CEO’s plucky daughter, want to save the suffering public. Will the revolution succeed? Can true love be found in Urinetown? All these questions and more are answered.

Lying somewhere between Beggar’s Opera and West Side Story, Urinetown is a cleverly written and politically-incorrect saga of corrupt big business and ironically, good intentions gone awry. No part of America’s recent musical theatre history is spared satiric skewering. This musical is filled with wickedly modern wit, satire, and tongue-in-cheek musical parodies of Wicked, Chicago, West Side Story, Guys and Dolls, A Chorus Line, Les Miserables, Fiddler on the Roof and more that will have you snickering all the way home.

Featuring book and lyrics by Greg Kotis and music and lyrics by Mark Hollmann, Urinetown is a brilliantly funny and engaging satire of musical theatre traditions with the edge of a Brecht cabaret. It is a spoof that is also sincere, a fringe hit that captured mainstream audiences, and an edgy stylistic romp with some provoking underlying ideas.