YSU’s ‘Urinetown’ does justice to hit

Toilet use isn’t free in this comic tale of human
bondage.

By GUY D’ASTOLFO

VINDICATOR ENTERTAINMENT WRITER

YOUNGSTOWN — “Urinetown” is exactly the kind of musical-comedy that Youngstown State University Theater does so well.

It’s an energetic send-up, with wacky characters and hilariously overblown song and dance scenes. The winner of the 2002 Tony Award for Best Musical, “Urinetown” made its Mahoning Valley premiere Thursday.

You might actually feel like you’ve seen parts of it before, and basically you have. “Urinetown” lampoons other big-name musicals, from “Les Miserables” to “Chicago,” “Big River” to “Hamlet” ... even “Fiddler on the Roof.”

The musical takes place in a drought-stricken city, where private toilets are banned, and use of the public loo is a privilege that comes with a fee. The Urine Good Company (UGC) is the government contractor that runs the “public amenities.”

The well-crafted, gritty set makes it clear that the amenity in question is on a ragged edge of the downtown. Graffiti is scrawled on the brick walls, and the skeletal city infrastructure isn’t hidden. A motley, dirty-faced mob lives here, scraping their pennies together to use the public toilet — and squeezing their legs together when they can’t come up with the cash.

Lording over the rabble is Penelope Pennywise, a UGC toilet Nazi played by Roxanne Hauldren with a lusty love of authority (and an authoritative lust). Her underling, Bobby Strong, chafes at the abuse of power and dreams of a day when people can pee for free. He starts a revolution.

Meanwhile, love blossoms between Bobby and Hope Cladwell, the bright-faced daughter of Caldwell Cladwell, who is the evil boss of UGC.

Randall S. Huffman II plays Bobby, stepping up to a lead role and belting out songs with a better-than-average voice that is true to the character’s idealistic nature. Molly Makselan plays Hope Cladwell — a role that sees her spending much of the second act bound, gagged and sitting on a toilet — while Joel Stigliano is the pinstripe-wearing Caldwell Cladwell.

The master of the madness is Officer Lockstock, the muscle who enforces Cladwell’s oppressive rule. He keeps the riffraff paying — or else sends them a one-way trip to Urinetown. And nobody comes back from Urinetown.

David Munnell plays Lockstock in a near-perfect confluence of actor and character. The tall, lanky Munnell animates Lockstock with the supernatural power of a cartoonist, and he has great comic presence.

Lockstock is also the Brechtian narrator of the play, delivering lines aimed squarely at those in the seats. Lines like, “Well, Little Sally, sometimes, in a musical, it’s better to focus on just one thing... . The audience likes it better that way.”

Little Sally, played by Nicole Dionisio, would be the cute teddy bunny-toting child, and the conscience of the rabble.

Director Frank Castronovo excels at the giant musical numbers in “Urinetown,” which utilize all 19 cast members. Airtight execution is needed to send the humor over the top, and the talented group scores every time.

A few fumbled lines (and the slightly out of sync intro song) notwithstanding, YSU’s opening night production of “Urinetown” did justice to a Broadway hit that always has to overcome audience misconceptions because of its scatological name.

Don’t flush away the chance to see it.

X “Urinetown” will be performed at 8 p.m. tonight, Friday and Saturday; and at 3 p.m. Sunday and Nov. 18, at Ford Theater in Bliss Hall on Wick Avenue, on the YSU campus. Call (330) 941-3105 for tickets.