Urinetown (December 16th, 2014)

URINETOWN

The Musical

Urinetown is a dystopian musical full of dark humour, deceptively cheerful, hopeful songs, and lots of blood. It was probably the strangest piece of theatre I've ever seen. And yet, it was really quite enjoyable. The first act was definitely more interesting and engaging than the second, and there were some moments that felt far too dialogue-heavy (and some of these were entirely irrelevant to the story as well), and the ending was shocking, bloody, and really didn't match with anything else. But overall, I very much enjoyed Urinetown and would highly recommend it. 

It's hard to pinpoint a single highlight of this show. The lyrics and dialogue were clever and humorous, the actors were incredibly skilled; all remained entirely in character despite a few actors swapping between a few characters throughout the show. I especially enjoyed the performances of Matthew Seadon-Young, who played a quirky, dreamy Bobby Strong; Rosanna Hyland, who played heartfelt, annoying-as-all-get-out Hope Cladwell; and the quirky, dark humour of Jonathan Slinger as Officer Lockstock. The set was also incredible; I imagine it would not be a good set up for those sitting towards the front of the stalls, but from the middle of the stalls I had an excellent view. The bottom half of the set was the poor peoples' area, the top was for the rich workers and owner of UGC. The set was also beautifully detailed without being overwhelming; simplistic, yet detailed and effective. I loved it! Same deal with the costuming; simple, yet effective. I hate to think how much time the wardrobe team has to spend washing those clothes though!

As for what I didn't like; the second act dragged on quite a bit. Most of what was covered in the first act was reiterated far too many times in the second. For an adult audience, this was unnecessary. Some of the jokes were also overused and tired by the middle of the second act. The lines between some different characters became a little blurred (as in some of them seemed like exactly the same character, just played by a taller or shorter person) and some could have been more in the background rather than attempting to give them their own personalities and moments (Little Becky Two-Shoes, for example. She was just hanging around in the back the whole show, and then suddenly she became an important figure with a big song and dance number? Didn't make sense). 

All I'll say about the end is that it felt like a bit of an excuse to pour as much blood as possible over as many people as possible. I think it could've ended about five minutes earlier than it did; the way it ended just felt unnecessary and too drawn out. 

Overall, I had a great time at Urinetown. It was a fun night out, and I highly recommend seeing it!