Urinetown review
Urinetown Review - Broadway musical
Despite the dubious name, which only at the very beginning prevented the show to win the stages of Broadway, ‘Urinetown’ perfectly reflects the essence of satire and parody of the modern capitalist society. Name and meaning breaks taboos on what in polite circles is not accepted to talk of. The story and song compositions are constructed in a way so each song concludes a parody of the genre of musicals in general, or the melody has a reference to other famous shows. This what makes this performance special, independent, giving it a unique banter, burlesque, charm and flavor.It's not just a comedy, it's a political satire too. There is a place for simple blackish humor and fine English one and even sardonic, from which literally start to have goose bumps and it becomes sad and terrible for the general future of Mankind, leading reckless mode of consumption existence.
The authors were able to build the action so that the full buffoonery apparent at first has not rolled into the full circus. Development of the plot is perceived quite naturally, it is very similar to the surrounding reality. In addition, the sad events of the second act, growing as a snowball, only force to think deeper about everything happening at our planet. As a result, the creators did completely non-standard, smart and wading to the core spectacle, the whole point of which is understandable and recognizable. It is somewhat similar to ‘In Time’ with Justin Timberlake, the same dystopia world, where the most precious resource is time, and every person had limited time to live. It is a matter of trade and stealing and it is also a currency. Very similar stories, indeed. And in the end there is no place for a happy ending, which is also rarely found in Broadway – that is the distinction from ‘In Time’.
From a music point of view, the play is even more unusual. Sometimes there is a well-arranged music and vocal compositions with complex melodies, with choral singing and the performance with canons, to which you immediately want to sing along. Frequently heard scores with minimal orchestration. Their lyrics and meaning are of paramount importance; sound design deliberately simple and sounds like an accompaniment or even a cacophonous jumble of sounds, just shading or highlighting the essence of what is happening.
The fact that almost immediately after the release of the satirical show, a complete audio version was also released, speaks of its high popularity among the audience. Theatrical gives you the opportunity not only to relax and laugh, but to think about very serious issues. Due to the fact that the musical does not take too many characters, the scenery is simple and unpretentious, it is often produced on school and student scenes. So the musical still exists today.
Last Update:July, 25th 2016