No "Urinetown" allowed in title

ERIE, Pa. (AP) _ One might call it the play that dare not speak its name.

A Roman Catholic high school must try to sell tickets to its upcoming school play without referring to its title _ ''Urinetown: The Musical'' _ because the local bishop objects to it.

Erie Catholic Bishop Donald W. Trautman does not object to the play itself _ an absurd send-up of Broadway musicals _ and received no complaints about it. Instead, the bishop was concerned about the play's title being linked with Cathedral Prep, a high school in the city, said Monsignor Tom McSweeney, spokesman for the diocese.

''His only objection was to the title, not to the show itself,'' McSweeney told the Erie Times-News.

But altering the name of the show would violate its copyright. So the play's producer and director, the Rev. Michael DeMartinis, said he must try to sell tickets to the show _ which runs Dec. 7-10 _ without using the play's title on tickets, posters and programs.

DeMartinis, a Hermitage, Pa. native, said the title of the show will become immediately clear to the audience.

''They'll know what the play is without a doubt within the first 10 seconds,'' DeMartinis said. That's because the lyrics, ''This is Urinetown,'' ''You're at Urinetown,'' and ''Here we are in Urinetown'' are featured in the show's opening number.

DeMartinis said the play's subject matter is not shocking and it was nominated for a Tony Award in 2002. The play is about a town that outlaws private toilets due to a drought, with the result that people must use pay toilets controlled by a private corporation.