Theater Review Part Deux: Urinetown

by John Garcia of John Garcia's The Column

Urinetown has a unique and very special place in my heart when it comes to musical theater. Wait, did that come out right? Let's try again. There are really just two major reasons why I feel this way about this hysterical musical that centers around paying a fee to tinkle, lost love, and to let freedom run.

First: I have seen many musicals on Broadway in my lifetime and still to this day, Urinetown: The Musical is by far the funniest damn musical I have ever seen. Sure since then I've seen on Broadway Spamalot, The Producers, Spelling Bee, and Avenue Q, and those musicals had me guffawing loudly when I saw them -- but not like Urinetown. I had never laughed that hard (for over two solid hours) in a theater on Broadway, and not since. The lyrics, book, direction, and those tour de force comedic performances of the entire original cast made it so magical and downright hilarious. My face ached when I walked out of the Henry Miller Theater that cold winter day in New York.

Second, I saw the production in October 2001, less than two months after the horrific events that became September 11. I wanted to show my support to New York and Broadway by not allowing the terrorists scare me into not traveling. I (along with several other Texans) went down to Ground Zero, where it all looked exactly as I had seen on TV. They had yet to make any dents in the cleaning up process. I even have a picture of the remains of the outer frame of the World Trade Center that everyone saw on TV.

I felt deep in my heart that I wanted to laugh and enjoy myself at a Broadway house. You could honestly feel that original cast lift the spirits and energy of everyone in that theater. It was so cathartic not to cry or feel the depression of what had occurred just across the city. But instead laugh so hard that you had to cross your legs tightly because you knew you were going to burst your bladder from laughing so hard.

Urinetown would continue to deliver the laughs for a total of 965 performances, closing on Broadway on January 18, 2004. Sadly it lost the Tony Award for Best Musical to the less than deserving Thoroughly Modern Millie.

Grapevine's Runway Theatre has taken the challenge of mounting this production. While it does have its share of flaws, they are to be applauded loudly for giving their audience a spanking new musical instead of presenting the typical, old warhorse, decaying musical that has been mounted and produced countless times around the metroplex.

Terri Hagar Scherer's direction is charming and the staging is quite good, although it could use more levels and "pretty picture windows". There are some pace issues that at times severely drag down the scene work. Also some scene changes tended to be a bit long for the audience to sit there in the dark. But with a few more performances under their belts this problem should smooth itself out.

The choreography by Nan Gammon & Ms. Scherer is visually vibrant, exciting, and immensely entertaining. Some cast members do struggle here and there with the complicated choreography, but they sell it with delightful enthusiasm. The choreography makes many of the musical numbers shine and glow. I find it extremely satisfying that they challenged their actors to dance within complicated numbers instead of subsiding into lackluster, basic dance steps. The best-choreographed and performed number of the evening by far was "Snuff That Girl".

However, the major problem with the production is that many of the "inside" jokes and comedic subtext was either missing or not fully explored on the stage.

Urinetown's creators Mark Hollmann & Greg Kotis have said in many interviews that when they created Urinetown Off-Broadway, it was to poke fun at musical theater, Broadway, and its history. It used endless references and visual takes from so many past musicals that anyone who loves musical theater would truly get the humor. They threw in everything from Sweeney Todd, to West Side Story, to Chicago, to Les Miserables and many others into the piece. That's what made the show so, so hilarious -- it was all that "inside" humor.

Runway's production lacks a lot of the "inside" humor. Several within the cast seem to be missing that "tongue and cheek" quality and underlying theme within their performances & characterizations. Others seem to be too obvious in that they are telegraphing to the audience ("You catch my wink towards you, right audience?"), or they are completely in the dark on how to make that style of the rich, layered humor hit its mark. Instead the stage has a mixture of acting styles that seem to miss the mark for many of the jokes, gaffes, and comedic subtext.

This is not your typical musical for it requires very pristine and precise comedic timing, pace, and delivery to make the jokes hit payola. So while Runway's cast is uneven in accomplishing this, you must give them kudos for challenging themselves and its theater. Because even with its missteps, this production still succeeds.

Tim Georgeff's musical direction was toe-tapping pleasurable from the first note to the finale. While there were only three musicians total in the pit, they sounded more like an eight piece orchestra. Georgeff kept his band at perfect tempo and pace with the cast.

Visually, the production glitters and shines as brightly as the Chrysler building. The scenic design is a multi-level, decaying city of metal, chain, and pipe. The "main wall" of white tile is painted and colored in disgusting hues to resemble a gross urinal center. Even the entrance into the theater is designed like you're going through the pipes of Urinetown's water system….they even painted a yellow streak on the floor! You do get a sense that these designers had wicked fun in creating the city. Ellen Mizener, Chris Robinson, and Hugh Scherer designed this decadent set to perfection.

Michael Winters lighting design works magical wonders in creating visually enhancing moments throughout the evening. This may be an intimate space, but that does not limit Winters whatsoever. Using an array of colors (apple green, pink, even a swirl of red) at his disposal, he bathes the set in wacky, fun color. Winters also designed pools of light to bring intimacy to various scenes on stage when needed. His design here is outstanding.

Finally, we have Patsy Daussat's festive costuming of the Urinetown citizens. She has the poor wear ripped, tattered costumes in hues of browns and crèmes, while she dresses the wealthy in richer tones and fancy suits.

Within the large company there are some solid performances, but alas there are a few that are just not up to par with the rest of its cast.

Providing audience pleasing performances with engaging stage presence include Chris Robinson as "Bobby Strong" (although I did miss the naïve qualities that the role demands); Nelson Wilson as "Tiny Tom"; Sherry Etzel as "Little Becky Two Shoes"; Andrew Burns as "Mr. McQueen"; and Noelle Salter as "Josephine `Old Ma' Strong". Each of these performers gave the evening some of the best laughs of the night.

As "Officer Lockstock" (who also serves as the narrator for the evening), Brian Brissman started off lacking the comedic subtext and delivery the role demands. The actor seemed to stay stuck in a predictable pattern, thereby not achieving the laughs the role demands. But after a few scenes the actor settled into the role, found the comedic tone/delivery the role demanded and knocked a home run with his characterization. Using a suave demeanor and semi-fatherly figure, Brissman brought the role of the backstabbing cop to hilarious results.

Alas there were some problematic performances within the large company. Karri Atchley struggled vocally with the demanding role of "Penny Pennywise", but also seemed not to grasp firmly the humor written within the role. The transitions from operatic to belt within her vocal range were not smooth. Phil Nixon sorely lacked the bombastic aura that is needed for the role of "Caldwell B. Cladwell". The actor struggled with lines and seemed to look uncomfortable and stiff on stage. He (like Atchley) did not explore nor seem to comprehend the rich comedic subtext that is written within their roles. Finally, Tom DeWester as "Hot Blades Harry" tried way too hard to sound exactly as the original cast recording in his delivery and vocal inflections within his characterization.

The outstanding, scene-stealing performances within the production were delivered by Jad B. Saxton as "Little Sally" and Blake Rodgers as "Officer Barrel". These two actors locked firmly into their comedic subtext and never once wavered. Saxton and Rodgers remained fully committed to the comedy and succeeded in delivering the best acting work of the night.

But the performance that stole my heart was that of Rachel Joy Robertson as "Hope Caldwell". Ms. Robertson easily has the best singing voice within the large cast. A vibrant, gorgeous, lilting soprano voice that sounded crystal clean & pure. Like a soft orchid blowing in the wind, her voice rested with ease on a firm, solid vibrato. Each of her solo songs were sparkling crystals that floated over the audience. With cascading brown curls framing her lovely face, the young actress bright the right amount of innocence and sass to the role of being the daughter of the mean ole CEO. Ms. Robertson was adorable from beginning to end.

A resounding round of applause must also go to the energetic ensemble that played a myriad of roles throughout the evening. Their energy never once dimmed and you could see that they were enjoying themselves on stage with their lively disposition.

Finally, I honestly don't know what to make of the curtain call dance thing. This choreographed bit came after curtain call in which the cast did this strange homage to Fiddler on the Roof. Or was it a mini-Urinetown meg-a-mix? It was perplexing and really is not needed.

Runway's production of Urinetown is problematical at times, but for a community theater to raise its artistic bar by mounting a unique piece like this deserves your attendance and support. Instead of producing yet another "seen that a thousand times now" musical, they have pushed themselves artistically in producing a fresher, newer musical. I personally would much prefer to see a theater company stretch its artistic wings with newer, difficult material than do the same, dreaded shows that we've all seen so many times before in the past. Bravo Runway! Bravo!

Urinetown plays through October 14, 2007. Call 817-488-4842 for reservationsm or make them online.

GRADE: B-