TISCH DRAMA STAGE: Urinetown

Urinetown

By Greg Kotis
Composed by Mark Hollmann
Directed by Carlos Armesto & theatreC
Co-Directed by Attilio Rigotti

Urinetown is a rough, raunchy, quirky, comic musical about greed, power, love, ambition, greed, corporations, and greed (did I say greed?). Gleefully poking fun at its own genre, the show is a complete, delicious satire on the American notion of individualism and optimism in the face of utter doom. 

It's been 20 years since the fall of society. There’s a water shortage. Urine Good Company runs the government (through bribes, of course), and has instituted a major rule: everyone needs to pay to pee. If they don’t have the money, they will have to suffer. If they break the law, they are sent to Urinetown for the rest of their days. The story tracks the seeds of uprising against a tyrannical power, surrounded by a love story that makes fun of itself, subverting the nature of Broadway musicals themselves.

Inspired by Brecht and Kurt Weill works, the TISCH DRAMA STAGE production of Urinetown will be presented via livestream in the same vein as the NBC and Fox Live Musicals, with some performers telecast from the studio, and others coming in through Zoom. The musical's world will evoke the quirky sensibility of Terry Gilliam’s Brazil and the darker tones of The City of Lost Children, presenting a world of the past that was stopped in its development, and struggling to evolve in an ad-hoc, ramshackle manner. The sound of the piece will be reminiscent of “retro pop,” the source of inspiration coming from Caravan Palace.