May 2, 2013
This Friday and Saturday the cast and crew of Urinetown: The Musical will take the stage and we hope you will join us. For those of you looking at the title saying, “Yuck! Why would I go to see THAT?”, read on. The original Broadway producers give an exceptional answer to this question. I hope it entices you to come see our talented students this weekend!
-Melinda Moore, Spring Musical Director
The following letter was originally published in StageNOTESTM, an educational resource for theatre students.
“Urinetown?! They’re kidding, right?”
“Why would I want to go to a show with a title like that?” “Why would I bring my students to see it?”
Okay-the title. Let’s talk about the title.
Social satire has a long tradition of startling readers and audiences and shaking them loose from their traditional ways of thinking. From Aristophanes’ Lysistrata to Saturday Night Live, satire has always broken the boundaries of public taste in order to make a point. Think of Jonathan Swift, who in his classic essay “A Modest Proposal,” suggested that the children of the poor be eaten, neatly solving the problems of famine and population control.
Urinetown: The Musical draws on that tradition. If you don’t know anything about it,you might not know what to expect. But unlike so many other pieces of entertainment one encounters these days – movies, television, even some books and plays – Urinetown has something to say about the world we live in. Not only that, it’s both entertaining and educational.
Urinetown challenges your expectations. It has a self-awareness that makes you think about what you’re watching. It draws on historical tradition – Brecht, Weill, Blitztein – and yet it pushes forward into new territory.
But most important (for any audience of students): it’s funny, really funny!
Urinetown: The Musical has wit, it has intelligence – and it also has an enjoy- able surplus of vaudeville gags, physical comedy and low-brow humor. Want to get students doing more than sitting passively in their seats? Get them laughing, get them groaning, get them thinking. Take them to Urinetown.
