In Urinetown (the musical, not the place), water has become so scarce that private restrooms have disappeared and everyday people need to pay a fee to use what are called “public amenities.” These toilets, owned by business tycoon Caldwell B. Cladwell (Jason Riley) and his “Urine Good Company,” line the pockets of Cladwell and his rich cronies Senator Fipp (Jay Vollmer), Mr. McQueen (Carl Schwartz), and Mrs. Millenium (Izzy Hinkal) while emptying the purses of the city’s poor.
Meanwhile, at Penelope Pennywise’s (Valerie Lerch) Amenity Number Nine, Assistant Custodian Bobby Strong (Jason Kinsey) is faced with a moral dilemma after his father Old Man Strong (Juan Espana) is carted off to the fabled Urinetown as a punishment for violating the law. When he meets Cladwell’s daughter Hope (Jessica Kinsey), he realizes that he has to follow his heart, pitting him against Cladwell and the fat cats at the top of the food chain. As a revolution brews and threatens to spill over, our narrators Officer Lockstock (Brian Cobb) and Little Sally (Jenna Compton) help the audience navigate the difficult moral and metaphysical conundrums that pop up when those on the bottom challenge those in power. A satire of big business, human sustainability, and musical theatre as a whole, Urinetown is sure to make audiences laugh and think a little more deeply about our place in this world.
The show also features the talents of Rachel Dillon, Jacob Eskildsen, Mildred Espana, Eileen Farrar, Meredith Hanley, Hailey Hassos, Massan Jensen, Johanna Leisenring, and Kali Sutherland.
Directed by Daniel Martens, Urinetown: The Musical will be staged August 9-11 in the Penn Yan Academy Auditorium. Friday and Saturday shows will begin at 7PM, with a Sunday matinee at 2PM. Tickets, which can be purchased at the door or online at pytco.org/shows, are $12 for adults and $10 for students and seniors. Come out and support local theatre!
