What IS “Urinetown”? For a “full” synopsis, flip to the end of this packet. Simply put, Urinetown is a sidesplitting sendup of greed, love, revolution (and musicals!), in a time when water is worth its weight in gold. It is a comedy musical that premiered in 2001, that satirizes the legal system, capitalism, social irresponsibility, populism, bureaucracy, corporate mismanagement, and municipal politics. The show also parodies musicals such as The Threepenny Opera, The Cradle Will Rock and Les Misérables, and the Broadway musical itself. Winner of three Tony Awards, three Outer Critics Circle Awards, two Lucille Lortel Awards and two Obie Awards, Urinetown is an hilarious musical satire of the legal system, capitalism, social irresponsibility, populism, bureaucracy, corporate mismanagement, municipal politics and musical theatre itself! Hilariously funny and touchingly honest, Urinetown provides a fresh perspective on one of America's greatest art forms. The characters of Bobby Strong and Hope Cladwell were included on New York Theatre Monthly's list of "The 100 Greatest Roles in Musical Theatre". In a Gotham-like city, a terrible water shortage, caused by a 20-year drought, has led to a government-enforced ban on private toilets. The citizens must use public amenities, regulated by a single malevolent company that profits by charging admission for one of humanity's most basic needs. Amid the people, a hero decides that he's had enough and plans a revolution to lead them all to freedom! Inspired by the works of Bertolt Brecht and Kurt Weill, Urinetown is an irreverently humorous satire in which no one is safe from scrutiny. Praised for reinvigorating the very notion of what a musical could be, Urinetown catapults the "comedic romp" into the new millennium with its outrageous perspective, wickedly modern wit and sustained ability to produce gales of unbridled laughter. This ensemble-based production is rated PG-13. Musical Numbers Overture Too Much Exposition (Lockstock & Ensemble) Urinetown (Ensemble) It's a Privilege to Pee (Pennywise & “The Poor” Ensemble) Mr. Cladwell (Cladwell, Hope, McQueen, Dr. Billeaux & “The Rich” Ensemble) Cop Song (Lockstock, Barrel & Ensemble) Follow Your Heart (Hope & Bobby) Look at the Sky (Bobby & “The Poor” Ensemble) Don't Be the Bunny (Cladwell, McQueen, Fipp, “The Rich”/UGC Staff) Act One Finale (All with Features) What is Urinetown? (All with Features) Snuff That Girl (Hot Blades Harry, Little Becky Two-Shoes, Tiny Tom, Soupy Sue, Robby, Billy Boy & “The Poor”) Run, Freedom, Run (Bobby & “The Poor”) Follow Your Heart Reprise (Hope) Why Did I Listen to That Man? (Penny, Fipp, Lockstock & Barrel, Hope & Bobby) Tell Her I Love Her (Little Sally & Bobby) We’re Not Sorry (Pretty much Everyone) We're Not Sorry Reprise (Cladwell & Penny) I See a River (Hope, Little Becky, Josephine, Ghosts of the Dead & “The Poor”) Character Breakdown Officer Lockstock The tongue-in-cheek narrator of our story, he is a corrupt policeman who secretly kills off the guilty offenders. Bold, brash, and larger than life in many ways. Gender: male; Age: 35 to 55 Vocal range top: A4; Vocal range bottom: A2 Officer Barrel Lockstock's patrol partner. A thuggish and aggressive policeman. Gender: male; Age: 30 to 50 Vocal range top: F4; Vocal range bottom: G2 Penelope Pennywise The tough, jaded warden of the poorest, filthiest town urinal. She is Cladwell's one-time lover and mother to Hope who eventually softens her temper. Gender: female; Age: 30 to 45 Vocal range top: C6; Vocal range bottom: A3 Bobby Strong The dashing, rebellious everyman who works for Miss Pennywise at the poorest, filthiest town urinal. He becomes an unsuspecting protagonist and romantic hero when he starts a revolution and falls in love with Hope Cladwell. Gender: male; Age: 20 to 30 Vocal range top: C5; Vocal range bottom: A2 Little Sally A precocious and irreverent street urchin. She serves as a quasi-narrator who often questions Lockstock and the play's logic. Gender: female; Age: 20 to 40 Vocal range top: E5; Vocal range bottom: A3 Caldwell B. Cladwell The evil president and owner of the Urine Good Company. He is a miserly money-grubber who gleefully exploits the poor. Gender: male; Age: 50 to 65 Vocal range top: G4; Vocal range bottom: A2 Hope Cladwell Cladwell's ravishingly beautiful daughter, torn between her father and her new love for Bobby. She begins as an innocent, naive angel but becomes vengeful and determined after being exposed to her father's evil. Gender: female; Age: 20 to 30 Vocal range top: A5; Vocal range bottom: A3 Mr. McQueen Cladwell's sycophantic lackey. A servile assistant. Gender: male; Age: 30 to 45 Vocal range top: -1; Vocal range bottom: B2 Senator Fipp A greedy politician in Cladwell's pocket. A bumbling coward. Gender: male; Age: 40 to 55 Vocal range top: F4; Vocal range bottom: C#3 Joseph "Old Man" Strong Bobby's rebellious father. His refusal to pay the fee sends him to Urinetown, ultimately launching the revolution. Gender: male; Age: 50 to 65 Optional Doubling as HOT BLADES HARRY. Hot Blades Harry One of the Poor, he is a psychopath and can become a violent loose cannon. May very well speak constantly with either an invisible friend… or a sock puppet. Gender: male Age: 45 to 60 Vocal range top: F4; Vocal range bottom: A2 Optional Doubling as JOSEPH "OLD MAN" STRONG. Tiny Tom One of the Poor, he is an idiotic man-child. Gender: male; Age: 30 to 50 Vocal range top: A3; Vocal range bottom: D3 Optional Doubling as DR. BILLEAUX. Dr. Billeaux Head of Research and Development at UGC. Gender: male; Age: 30 to 50 Vocal range top: A3; Vocal range bottom: E3 Optional Doubling as TINY TOM. Soupy Sue One of the Poor, she is excitable and easily panicked. Gender: female; Age: 25 to 40 Vocal range top: B4; Vocal range bottom: Bb3 Optional Doubling as CLADWELL'S SECRETARY. Little Becky Two-shoes One of the Poor. She is foul-mouthed, impulsive, and accusatory. Gender: female; Age: 20 to 40 Vocal range top: F5; Vocal range bottom: Bb3 Optional Doubling as MRS. MILLENIUM. Josephine "Ma" Strong Bobby's mother and Joseph's wife. A strong-willed woman with a bite, able to withstand the hard hand life has dealt her. Gender: female; Age: 55 to 65 Vocal range top: D5; Vocal range bottom: Bb3 Optional Doubling as OLD WOMAN. Ensemble Possibilities Robby the Stockfish (featured vocalist) / Business Man #1 (Can Double) Billy Boy Bill (featured vocalist) / Business Man #2 (Can Double) Mrs. Millenium (Can Double) Old Woman (Can Double) Girl Cop (featured vocalist) Boy Cop 1 (featured vocalist) Boy Cop 2 (featured vocalist) UGC Staff Members (Suits) Additional “Rich” Additional “Poor” Estimated Cast Size: Minimum 20; Maximum 40 Full Synopsis Act One We begin at the poorest, filthiest urinal in town. Officer Lockstock, a policeman, enters and surveys the scene. He greets the audience. Penelope Pennywise and Bobby Strong enter, discussing the Old So-and-so who was recently carted off to Urinetown. Lockstock tells the audience that Urinetown, itself, is a mythical place that they won't see until Act II, but Urinetown, the musical, is starting now. Little Sally enters and she and Lockstock discuss the dangers of too much exposition in a show. They then proceed to explain that there is a water shortage and public bathrooms have been replaced by private toilets. The fee to use these public bathrooms is controlled by a private company, the Urine Good Company, that keeps prices high. Since using the bushes is illegal, Little Sally counts her pennies in hopes of using the urinal ("Urinetown"). An ingénue type named Hope enters, looking for the Urine Good Company. Bobby directs her towards the gleaming tower on a distant hill. They have a moment. Bobby's pa, Old Man Strong, doesn't have enough money for the fee. He begs Bobby to let him go for free. Penny, however, will have none of it. After 20 years of drought, everyone has to make sacrifices ("It's a Privilege to Pee"). Old Man Strong can't take it anymore and intends to use a wall to relieve himself. Lockstock and his partner, Barrel, remind him that breaking the Public Health Act is an exiling offense, and Old Man Strong is dragged off to Urinetown ("It's a Privilege to Pee – Lockstock's Reprise"). The scene moves to the executive offices of the Urine Good Company. Caldwell B. Cladwell, the president of the UGC and resident villain, is in a meeting. Cladwell is convinced that new fee hikes will breeze through the legislature, while Senator Fipp thinks that there will be unrest if it does. Hope enters. It turns out that she is Cladwell's daughter, back from university. She is also her father's new fax/copy girl. Cladwell insists that she say a few words, so she makes a speech that praises the company. Cladwell interjects and his fellow execs praise him ("Mr. Cladwell"). Later that evening, Officers Lockstock and Barrel run into Little Sally counting her pennies. Lockstock gives her a coin and ushers her home. When she leaves, the officers discuss being exiled to Urinetown and reminisce about other Urinetown victims ("Cop Song"). Hope enters after a long day of faxing and copying and runs into Bobby, who is still smarting from the removal of his father. Bobby is feeling cold and empty because he didn't help his father, and Hope suggests that he listen to his heart. He doesn't realize that he has a heart, nor does he know how to listen to it. She teaches him ("Follow Your Heart").