Photos: First Look at New Line Theatre's URINETOWN

Set in 2027, Mark Hollmann and Greg Kotis' URINETOWN is an hilariously subversive fable of greed, corruption, love, revolution, and urination, in a time when water is worth its weight in gold and there's no such thing as a free pee. Set in a near-future dystopian Gotham, a severe 20-year drought has led to a government-enforced ban on private toilets. The citizens are forced to use public "amenities" now, regulated by a single malevolent company that profits by charging admission for one of humanity's most basic needs. In this nightmare world, the punishment for an unauthorized pee is a trip to the dreaded Urinetown. But from the ruins of Democracy and courtesy flushes, there rises an unlikely hero who decides he's held it long enough, and he launches a People's Revolution to lead them all to urinary freedom!

Inspired by the outrageous political theatre of Bertolt Brecht and Kurt Weill, and (very) loosely based on the writings of late eighteenth-century political and economic theorist Thomas Malthus, URINETOWN is a gloriously silly, irreverently truthful satire from which no target is safe, a perverse, comic love letter to The Threepenny Opera, mixed with a funhouse mirror image of Fritz Lang's famous film Metropolis. This is a show that catapulted musical comedy into the new millennium with its rule-shattering tear through the traditions and conventions of musical theatre, leaving nothing but laughter and a big puddle in its wake.

And that's just Act I.

Bruce Weber in The New York Times said, "There simply is no show I've seen that gives such a sense that the creators and performers are always on the same page of an elaborate, high-spirited joke, that they are the proud members of a cabal that knows what it takes to make the world a better place and that they are thrilled to share what they know."

The show was nominated for 9 Tony Awards (winning Best Book and Best Score), 9 Drama Desk Awards, 7 Obie Awards (winning Best Musical), 5 Outer Critics Circle Awards (winning Best Musical), and a Drama League Award for Best Musical.

New Line first produced Urinetown in 2007. Hollmann and Kotis also wrote the rock musical Yeast Nation, which New Line produced in 2018. New Line is the only professional company that has produced both shows, which Kotis promises are only two-thirds of an ecological disaster trilogy.

The New Line cast includes Kent Coffel (Officer Lockstock), Jennelle Gilreath (Little Sally), Kevin Corpuz (Bobby Strong), Melissa Felps (Hope Cladwell), Sarah Gene Dowling (Pennywise), Todd Schaefer (Mr. Cladwell), Marshall Jennings (Officer Barrel), Mara Bollini, Colin Dowd, Zachary Allen Farmer, Clayton Humburg, Grace Langford, Ian McCreary, Chris Moore, Christopher Strawhun, and Jessica Winingham.

The New Line production will be directed by Scott Miller and Chris Kernan, with choreography by Kernan, costume design by Sarah Porter, scenic design by Todd Schaefer, lighting design by Kenneth Zinkl, and sound design by Ryan Day.

Produced by arrangement with Music Theatre International, New York.

URINETOWN runs June 2-25, 2022, Thursdays, Fridays, and Saturdays, all at 8:00 p.m., at the Marcelle Theater, 3310 Samuel Shepard Drive, three blocks east of Grand, in the Grand Center Arts District. June 2 is a preview.

Tickets are $25 for adults and $20 for students/seniors on Thursdays; and $30 for adults and $25 for students/seniors on Fridays and Saturdays. To charge tickets by phone, call MetroTix at 314-534-1111 or visit the Fox Theatre box office or the MetroTix website.

COVID-19 POLICY

The Kranzberg Arts Foundation has ended all Covid restrictions.

DISCOUNTS

HIGH SCHOOL DISCOUNT: Any high school student with a valid school ID can get a $10 ticket for any performance, with the code word, posted only on New Line's Facebook page.

COLLEGE FREE SEATS: Ten free seats for every performance, open to any college student with a valid student ID.

EDUCATORS DISCOUNT: New Line offers all currently employed educators half price tickets on any Thursday night, with work ID or other proof of employment.

MILITARY DISCOUNT: New Line offers all active duty military personnel half price tickets on any Thursday night, with ID or other proof of active duty status.

All offers not valid in connection with other discounts or offers, available only at the door, and subject to availability.