‘Urinetown’

The Villagers takes on this neo-Brechtian absurdist musical.

By: Stuart Duncan
   Urinetown is a neo-Brechtian absurdist musical that shocked off-Broadway in 1999, first with its title, then its content and finally by becoming a huge audience hit. It has been grabbed by The Villagers for a main stage production — certainly the first of any in central New Jersey. Director Mary Lynn Dobson has cast it stunningly, tweaked all the sensitive sections and then has seen to it that it has been polished to a gem, choreographed superbly (credit Holly Van Hise) and ergo — the best show at The Villagers in many years and the first solid sell-out in memory.
   Let’s begin with the premise of the evening: a serious drought has besieged an unnamed urban city for 20 years, crippling the sanitary conditions and bringing with it regulations for water consumption. In fact, the government has outlawed the use of private toilets meaning that the only relief comes from using the pay-per-use amenities, owned and operated by Urine Good Company (UGC for short). That firm is run by an iron-fisted, corrupt man named Caldwell B. Cladwell. So we have melodrama galore, plus a love story between a fine young man, Bobby Strong, and Cladwell’s high-minded and rather pretty daughter, Hope. Now add assorted riff-raff, a pair of storm-trooper-like troopers (with the names of Officer Lockstock and Barrel), and you have a plot that might have been invented by the creators of The Beggar’s Opera, The Cradle Will Rock, Les Miserables and West Side Story if they had sat down around a urinal and made suggestions.
   But it’s funny, very funny, and also filled with some wonderful insights. Officer Lockstock (magnificently played by Adam Fitting with a dry temperance-meeting approach and no nonsense demeanor) acts as a sort of narrator. At one point he tells Little Sally (Janet Swaim, who comes close to stealing the show while she is stealing your heart), "You’re too young to understand right now, Little Sally, but nothing can kill a show like too much exposition." And, not to be left speechless, Sally replies, "How about bad subject matter? Or a bad title? That could kill a show pretty good."
   When was the last time you heard that sort of dialogue in a musical? (Oh, well, maybe in Spamalot.) Or, for that matter, a company that could handle it with confidence. Beside the pair mentioned above, I was knocked sideways by performances from Bob Dumpert as the villain and Annie Howe as his daughter, and a whole host of ragamuffins. (Coincidentally, the original off-Broadway Little Sally opened the following evening up at Paper Mill Playhouse in Millburn, as one of the ugly stepsisters in Cinderella.)
   But the real strength of this production is in the ensemble as they joyously bounce back and forth between good guys and bad guys at the flip of Velcro. In the process they work harder than any company you’ve seen in years (kudos again to Director Dobson and Choreographer Van Hise). Meanwhile, Musical Director Mark McGee conducts from the keyboard and his usual colleagues join him: Wayne Ligas on reeds; Mark Benson on trombone and euphonium; Robert Gargiullo on bass; and James Jarvie on percussion.
   Super show. Count on having to battle for tickets. And The Villagers’ box-office staff are going to have to learn how to deal with a sell-out hit. It’s been a long while.
Urinetown continues at the Villagers Theatre, 415 DeMott Lane, Somerset, through Nov. 13. Performances: Fri.-Sat. 8 p.m., Sun. 2 p.m. Tickets cost $18. For information, call (732) 873-2710. On the Web: www.villagerstheatre.com