‘Urinetown’ Review: More Than Toilet Humor

Last night, however, that conceit did not bother me at all. Perhaps Teddy Bergman’s exuberant production somehow softened the approach, or perhaps I felt less defensive about it.

Most important, I was struck by the craftsmanship that holds “Urinetown” together. When the score does not nod toward the Hollywood of the 1930s, it winks at the Berlin of the 1920s musicalized by Kurt Weill and Bertolt Brecht, or glances at the Paris of the 1830s as immortalized by “Les Misérables.” And of course the title brings to mind Steeltown, the setting of Marc Blitzstein’s agitprop play with music “The Cradle Will Rock,” from 1937. Like that city, “Urinetown isn’t so much a place as it is a metaphysical place,” as Little Sally puts it.

Yet musically this never feels like a patchwork showing its seams. Rather, “Urinetown” now comes across as a sui generis oddity that is more than the sum of its parts. Contributing to this re-evaluation is the Encores! orchestra, under Mary-Mitchell Campbell’s direction, as it is slightly bigger than the Broadway one (nine players as opposed to five) and beautifully fills up Bruce Coughlin’s expanded orchestrations.

But what really has changed, of course, is the context in which we watch “Urinetown.” “Gosh, I never realized large, monopolizing corporations could be such a force for good in the world,” Hope says early on, before she falls for Bobby and they both become radicalized by the injustice that surrounds them. The show anticipated a society in which our movements, including the most intimate ones, are nickeled and dimed for profit. The humiliation — or worse — awaiting those who lack the cash to use a shared bathroom hits harder. Too bad for those who are not winners in a cutthroat world.

“Don’t be the bunny,” Cladwell sings, explaining his worldview. “Don’t be the dope. Don’t be the loser.”

Admittedly, Act 2 does not have the nerve to follow through on the story’s darkest turns, even if the show does kill off a major character. Still, the return of “Urinetown” proves that the show was more than a flush in the pan.

Urinetown
Through Feb. 16 at New York City Center, Manhattan; nycitycenter.org. Running time: 2 hours 30 minutes.