Flushing corruption: 'Urinetown' is about greed, love, revolution, and toilets

The unlikely title is off-putting and musical numbers like "It's a Privilege to Pee," may give some theater goers pause, but don't let that deter you from seeing "Urinetown: The Musical," the latest off-beat musical comedy presented by the Brewery Arts Center summer theater.

In fact, "Urinetown" may have more to say to Nevadans than the average Broadway fare. The musical is set sometime in the future when a 20-year drought has forced strict regulation of the city's water supply. Private toilets are outlawed and beleaguered citizens must pay to use the facilities owned and operated by the corrupt Urine Good Company. Rebellion soon ensues.

The BAC production of this Tony Award-winning musical starts tonight and runs Thursday through Sunday for the next two weeks, with a single performance each night at 7:30 p.m. at BAC's outdoor amphitheater. Tickets are $10 for seniors, students and BAC members, and $12.50 for general admission. An additional $1.50 processing fee benefits the Carson City Arts & Cultural Coalition.

The two-hour musical is both an homage and a send-up of the work of Bertolt Brecht and Kurt Weill. Like their "Threepenny Opera," which parodied traditional opera, "Urinetown" spoofs well-worn Broadway musicals including "Fiddler on the Roof," "West Side Story," and "Les Miserables."

"It is high melodrama and high slapstick," said Karen Chandler, the show's director and artistic director of Brewery Arts Center Performing Arts Collaborative, or BACPAC.

In typical Brechtian fashion, said Chandler, it's not easy to pick a villain from among the corporate thugs, corrupt politicians and downtrodden masses.

"There's a message that speaks to a world where people ignore their natural resources," said Chandler. "The bad guys are saving the water. So who is the villain?"

It also meets Chandler and BACPAC's commitment to bring more quirky musical fare to Carson City audiences.

"It's what I call 'The Little Shoppe of Horrors' market," said Chandler.

And despite the off-color title, the show is family friendly, said Chandler. "It's tricky subject matter, but there is no bad language. Not a single four-letter word is uttered."

The production features a 17-member cast, including Hal DuBiel as Mr. McQueen, and a five-piece orchestra led by pianist and music director Susan Sonnemaker. Andie Anderson, company manager, is the show's choreographer.

This season BACPAC is replacing The Proscenium Players as the BAC's year-round theater group. In September, the group will be presenting Eric Bogosian's "Pounding Nails in the Floor with My Forehead," a one-man show starring Jim Godwin. "Dracula, the Musical," a musical based on the horror classic, is set to celebrate Halloween season in November.

In February, the popular "Nunsense" is returning to BAC after a seven-year hiatus with the latest in the series, "Nunsensations." And in April, BACPAC is performing "The Laramie Project," a play chronicling the media exploitation of the 1998 murder of Matthew Shepard. A portion of the proceeds from that production will benefit a local group fighting hate crimes, said Chandler.