UR-INE GOOD COMPANY WITH URINETOWN

When watching Grain Valley High School's production of URINETOWN, please be wary of toilet paper flying over your head. In a world where not everyone has the privilege to pee, a necessity such as toilet paper should not be taken for granted.

Set in a dystopian future, URINETOWN follows Bobby Strong, played by Dylan Rucinski, as he fights the oppression of the Urine Good Company. The town realizes that they may not actually be in good company, as the ability to use the restroom is taxed by the big business, and it takes more than few dance breaks to flush away this corruption.

Throughout the entire musical, the entirety of the Poor Ensemble immerses the audience in the world of URINETOWN. From the very beginning, Poor Ensemble members were interacting and talking with the audience in character. Their reactions to the scenes also perfectly fit the "tongue-in-cheek" attitude that the musical is supposed to portray. When plot twists were revealed, they all react in a unanimous "GASP!" and "Whaaat?" that portrayed the over-the-top trope that a musical called URINETOWN should. While the Poor Ensemble brought extravagant energy to the stage, the Rich Ensemble wasn't as strong in comparison to their counterpart. However, they seemed to have hit their stride with the song "Don't be the Bunny", in which their cheeky hopping around brought the audience right back into the satirical criticism of big business.

During many of the musical numbers, the lighting design went above and beyond to captivate the audience. In the song "Privilege to Pee," the entire stage was flooded in an acidic yellow light, truly fitting the theme of the song. The backdrop lighting was used frequently throughout the show to change the theme of each of the scenes. This is particularly shown during the battle between the rich and poor in Act 2. It began with a split of red and yellow down the middle, with the rich reveling in the red and the poor bathed in the yellow. As the poor advanced on the rich, the yellow on the backdrop mimicked their movements perfectly, as the yellow piece grew and the red shrank. Later, when the rich seemed to be succeeding, the red came on either side of the yellow and started to surround it, a parallel to the rich cornering the poor. All the lighting design was very intentional, even to the yellow spotlight, which was at times late or off target, but still contributed to the daz
zling lighting design. It is also worth mentioning the set design, which included many intricate details. This includes graffiti depicting "UGC SUX" (Urine Good Company Sucks) and actual pipes sticking out of the set. All of the trash littered around truly made the set into something as repulsive as a place where one cannot use the restroom.

The entire cast and crew understood the show's satirized message of the effects of big business and monopolies, and that is shown through many of the acting and technical choices. Whether bending over laughing or at a loss for words, the audience was always engaged. If you are interested in watching people need to use the restroom for about two and a half hours, and perhaps considering the show's criticism of big business, then please be sure to use the restroom before attending Grain Valley's production of URINETOWN.