The Monmouth College theater department presented the satirical musical “Urinetown” on April 3-6 at Wells Theater. The unusual combination of satire and singing is not an easy task for an amateur theater group, but the Crimson Masque actors performed “Urinetown” with tremendous spirit and success.

According to freshman actor Sara Sochnuk, the play sold out Friday and Saturday night, as well as Sunday afternoon. The audience of MC students, parents and local theater buffs responded with great enthusiasm, and Sochnuk said she was happy with all the support shown for the production. “The support from the audience was great,” Sochnuk said. “The support means a lot to all of us. We wouldn’t have performed as great of a show without the support from the audience and wouldn’t have been as successful as we were.”

The story of how “Urinetown” came to be is almost as humorous as the musical itself, as a poor student named Greg Kotis came up with the idea while he was traveling on a meager budget in Europe. After he reluctantly spent some of his precious Euros to use a “public” toilet in Paris, Kotis began formulating ideas for the play. 

The result was “Urinetown,” which is set in a town suffering a long-term drought that has resulted in all toilets being owned and operated on a “fee” basis by a monopoly known as “Urine Good Company” (UGC). 

All residents must pay a fee to pee, so to speak, and public urination outside the private “amenities” is strictly prohibited and punishable by death. The play’s unusual theme proved difficult to sell to Broadway producers, but the play eventually caught on as an independent production and has gained substantial notoriety.

Kotis wrote his play to poke fun at capitalism and a governmental system controlled by big-business (sound familiar?). The hero of the story, Bobby Strong, played by freshman Andrew Watson, sets out to save the world from this corrupt system and its suppression of the common man. Along the way, he falls in love with Hope Caldwell (played by freshman Amanda White), the daughter of the abominable CEO of UGC. The narrator, Officer Lockstock, performed with sinister ease by freshman Nick Munson, doubles as a nasty police officer and brings a combination of mean-spiritedness and humor to his role.

Performing the musical with elaborate costumes and make-up and simple props, the MC students were able to embody the desperation and pathos of the citizens of Urinetown, and they captured the satirical spirit of the play with tremendous success.

The humorous slides that were projected behind the stage during the story helped to engage the audience, and often evoked laughter when the story being played on stage was anything but funny.

In addition to Watson, White and Munson, some of the other notable roles were played by  junior Lindsay Jackson (McQueen), sophomore Tynan Sinks (Hot Blades Harry) annd freshmen Jon Snowdon (Caldwell B. Cladwell), Matt Weber (Officer Barrel) and Brittany Alston (Pennywise).

Every main character sang at some point during the production and many had solos. Snowdon and White, playing father and daughter, had several successful duets, and White’s vocal renditions were particularly impressive.

The chorus was an essential backdrop to the action since they represented the common people, the real victims of Urinetown’s perverse system of law and order.

 There were also some astonishing dance numbers, given the confines of the Wells Theater stage.

The musical borrowed heavily from some well-known Broadway musicals, including production numbers and themes reminiscent of “West Side Story” (tragic love story), “Les Miserables” (corrupt justice system, complete with a tattered French flag) and many others.  

The cast put in a lot of hard work in preparation for the production, and those involved were very happy with the final result.

“I was extremely happy with how the show turned out,” Sinks said. “I think Urinetown was a great show for the Monmouth community to see, and I am proud that I was a part of it.”

The talent, spirit and enthusiasm of the students involved in the production was undeniable, and it bodes well for the growing theater department at Monmouth College, which has put on five productions during this academic school year alone, and will undoubtedly continue presenting many more successful plays in years to come. As long as there is a demand for good theater, Crimson Masque will continue to deliver.

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