The first homegrown staging of “Urinetown” by any Colorado theater is playing in a venue 156th the size of the theater that once housed the most enjoyable national touring production of the past five years.
But just because the Lake Dillon Theatre Company’s robust staging is being done at a fraction of the size and scale of the Buell Theater does not mean audience expectations should be proportionally fractionalized.
This eminently likable staging harks back to “Urinetown’s” first mounting in an 80-seat Fringe Festival playhouse. It’s right at home in Dillon’s cozy 50-seat theater, where thanks to a mostly superb cast of 14 and a live band of four, not a single seat to date has gone unsold.
“Urinetown” was inspired by writer Greg Kotis’ 1995 backpacking trip through Luxembourg, when he really had to, er, avail himself – but all he could find was a pay toilet, and he didn’t have 70 cents on him. Suddenly, finding a safe, free place to go became his biological and creative mission.
Voila! “Urinetown” imagines a corrupt, drought-ravaged land where water is at such a premium, private bathrooms are outlawed, and anyone caught using anything other than a Urine Good Company pay toilet is sent to the penal colony known as “Urinetown,” from which no one has returned alive.
But there is so much more going on here.
“Urinetown” is a laugh-out-loud homage to Bertolt Brecht and the era of presentational social protest. This self-aware sendup is jammed with insider references and a score that aligns almost perfectly with classics. (Example: “Do You Hear the People Sing?” from “Les Miserables” becomes “Look at the Sky”).
Our narrator, Officer Lockstock (whose sidekick is – wait for it – Officer Barrel) has several clever asides with charming smarty-pants Little Sally. When he explains that “Nothing can kill a show like too much exposition,” she retorts: “How about bad subject matter? Or a bad title, even? That could kill a show pretty good.”
Whatever director Christopher Alleman’s production loses in spectacle it gains in intimacy, which also makes it difficult to mask its few weaknesses.
But what it does well, it does really well, starting with Catherine Zeta-Jones knockoff Briana McDonald as Hope, the corporate villain’s daughter who joins Bobby Strong (Joshua Blanchard) in leading the uprising of rebel poor. Brian Hutchinson and Leslie Randle Chapman are impeccable commentators, and Janelle Kato makes for a belting Pennywise. The chorus is sprinkled with diamonds such as choreographer Juliana Black, though a few support characters are a bit out of their league.
The staging is supported by Jacob Welch’s lighting, Sharon Goetz’s ragtime costumes and Jared Grohs’ economical set design. Music director Richard Shore gets the most out of his singers from lovely ballads (“Follow Your Heart”) to the showstopping “Run Freedom Run,” though vocal balance is a frequent issue.
The significant drawback is that despite the cast’s talent, it does not have a firm grasp on how to communicate all of the book’s subtle ironies and asides. Some of the best jokes fall flat. The cast has energy to spare but not the confident comic bombast that only comes with years of experience. The wink from onstage is not always fully registering with the audience.
Then again, if any audience gets everything here, they’re touched in the head. At the end, the cast shouts “Hail Malthus!” Huh? It’s an obscure reference to economist Thomas Robert Malthus’ 1798 prediction that some percentage of humanity always will live in misery.
In a cleverly subversive epilogue, Lockstock reminds us, “I told you this is not a happy musical.” No. Just a hilarious one. Dillon’s is not perfect but has great moments that make it worth recommending. “An appalling idea,” it calls itself, “- fully realized.”
Theater critic John Moore can be reached at 303-820-1056 or jmoore@denverpost.com.
*** | “Urinetown”
MUSICAL|Lake Dillon Theatre Company, 176 Lake Dillon Drive|Written by Greg Kotis and Mark Hollman|Directed by Christopher Alleman|Starring Brian Hutchinson, Briana McDonald and Joshua Blanchard|THROUGH MARCH 12|7:30 p.m. Fridays-Saturdays, 6:30 p.m. Sundays|2 hours, 10 minutes|$18-$22|970-513-9386 or lakedillontheatre.org
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“PLAY SHOWCASE FESTIVAL” This inaugural series of 17 staged readings was organized by area playwright David McClinton and the late Karl Kopp and plays today through Sunday at the Brooks Center Arts in the Historic First Divine Science Church, 1400 Williams St. The event starts at 8 p.m. today with McClinton’s “Sisters In Blood.” At 9 a.m. Saturday: Edith Weiss’ “Followed”; Susan Hickey’s “If this Had Been a Real Emergency”; Weiss’ “Shakespeare in Shorts”; Thom- as O’Meinen’s “If You’re a Cat, Say Meow”; McClinton’s “Casey Stengel at the Bat”; and David Wurtzbach’s “The Duncan Monologues.” At 1 p.m. Saturday: Mohan Ashtakala’s “Karna’s Dilemma”; Kopp’s “Fur” and “Coronado”; and Heather VeStrand’s “Channel 15.” At 6 p.m. Saturday: Kelly McMahan’s “Isme”; JD Mason’s “One Day! I Saw a Black King.” At noon Sunday: Donald Webster’s “Dog Thief Dreams”; Sheldon Friedman’s “Day By Day”; and Scott Gibson’s “Six Sour Rasberries.” $5 per session. For info, email BrooksCenterArts@Yahoo.com.
“GUYS ON ICE” The Aurora Fox’s musical spends a day in the life of three Wisconsin fishing buddies who break out into songs such as “Ode to a Snowmobile Suit” and “Fish Is the Miracle Food.” Starring John Arp, Mark Middlebrooks and Stephen Burge. 7:30 p.m. Fridays-Saturdays, 2 p.m. Sundays through March 26 at 9900 E. Colfax Ave. Tickets $18-$22 (303-739-1970).
-John Moore
