{"id":3181,"date":"2025-02-06T19:30:45","date_gmt":"2025-02-06T19:30:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ventil.rs\/blog\/life-style\/urinetown-review-more-than-toilet-humor\/"},"modified":"2025-02-06T19:30:45","modified_gmt":"2025-02-06T19:30:45","slug":"urinetown-review-more-than-toilet-humor","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ventil.rs\/blog\/life-style\/urinetown-review-more-than-toilet-humor\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018Urinetown\u2019 Review: More Than Toilet Humor"},"content":{"rendered":"


\n<\/p>\n

\n

Last night, however, that conceit did not bother me at all. Perhaps Teddy Bergman\u2019s exuberant production somehow softened the approach, or perhaps I felt less defensive about it.<\/p>\n

Most important, I was struck by the craftsmanship that holds \u201cUrinetown\u201d 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 \u201cLes Mis\u00e9rables.\u201d And of course the title brings to mind Steeltown, the setting of Marc Blitzstein\u2019s agitprop play with music \u201cThe Cradle Will Rock,\u201d<\/a> from 1937. Like that city, \u201cUrinetown isn\u2019t so much a place as it is a metaphysical place,\u201d as Little Sally puts it.<\/p>\n

Yet musically this never feels like a patchwork showing its seams. Rather, \u201cUrinetown\u201d 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\u2019s direction, as it is slightly bigger than the Broadway one (nine players as opposed to five) and beautifully fills up Bruce Coughlin\u2019s expanded orchestrations.<\/p>\n

But what really has changed, of course, is the context in which we watch \u201cUrinetown.\u201d \u201cGosh, I never realized large, monopolizing corporations could be such a force for good in the world,\u201d 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 \u2014 or worse \u2014 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.<\/p>\n

\u201cDon\u2019t be the bunny,\u201d Cladwell sings, explaining his worldview. \u201cDon\u2019t be the dope. Don\u2019t be the loser.\u201d<\/p>\n

Admittedly, Act 2 does not have the nerve to follow through on the story\u2019s darkest turns, even if the show does kill off a major character. Still, the return of \u201cUrinetown\u201d proves that the show was more than a flush in the pan.<\/p>\n

Urinetown<\/strong>
Through Feb. 16 at New York City Center, Manhattan; nycitycenter.org<\/a>. Running time: 2 hours 30 minutes.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n


\n
Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Last night, however, that conceit did not bother me at all. Perhaps Teddy Bergman\u2019s exuberant production somehow softened the approach, or perhaps I felt less defensive about it. Most important, I was struck by the craftsmanship that holds \u201cUrinetown\u201d together. When the score does not nod toward the Hollywood of the 1930s, it winks at…<\/p>\n

Read More “\u2018Urinetown\u2019 Review: More Than Toilet Humor”<\/span> »<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":3182,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/static01.nyt.com\/images\/2025\/02\/06\/multimedia\/06urinetown-review-kcbf\/06urinetown-review-kcbf-facebookJumbo.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3181","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-life-style"],"yoast_head":"\n\u2018Urinetown\u2019 Review: More Than Toilet Humor - Breaking News<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/ventil.rs\/blog\/life-style\/urinetown-review-more-than-toilet-humor\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"\u2018Urinetown\u2019 Review: More Than Toilet Humor\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Last night, however, that conceit did not bother me at all. Perhaps Teddy Bergman\u2019s exuberant production somehow softened the approach, or perhaps I felt less defensive about it. Most important, I was struck by the craftsmanship that holds \u201cUrinetown\u201d together. When the score does not nod toward the Hollywood of the 1930s, it winks at...Read More “\u2018Urinetown\u2019 Review: More Than Toilet Humor” »\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/ventil.rs\/blog\/life-style\/urinetown-review-more-than-toilet-humor\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Breaking News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2025-02-06T19:30:45+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/static01.nyt.com\/images\/2025\/02\/06\/multimedia\/06urinetown-review-kcbf\/06urinetown-review-kcbf-facebookJumbo.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:image\" content=\"https:\/\/static01.nyt.com\/images\/2025\/02\/06\/multimedia\/06urinetown-review-kcbf\/06urinetown-review-kcbf-facebookJumbo.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/ventil.rs\/blog\/life-style\/urinetown-review-more-than-toilet-humor\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/ventil.rs\/blog\/life-style\/urinetown-review-more-than-toilet-humor\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Admin\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/ventil.rs\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/8b364f5cc7fbc8705a888e63db8c026a\"},\"headline\":\"\u2018Urinetown\u2019 Review: More Than Toilet Humor\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-02-06T19:30:45+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-02-06T19:30:45+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/ventil.rs\/blog\/life-style\/urinetown-review-more-than-toilet-humor\/\"},\"wordCount\":383,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/ventil.rs\/blog\/#organization\"},\"articleSection\":[\"Life Style\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/ventil.rs\/blog\/life-style\/urinetown-review-more-than-toilet-humor\/#respond\"]}],\"copyrightYear\":\"2025\",\"copyrightHolder\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/ventil.rs\/blog\/#organization\"}},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/ventil.rs\/blog\/life-style\/urinetown-review-more-than-toilet-humor\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/ventil.rs\/blog\/life-style\/urinetown-review-more-than-toilet-humor\/\",\"name\":\"\u2018Urinetown\u2019 Review: More Than Toilet Humor - Breaking News\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/ventil.rs\/blog\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2025-02-06T19:30:45+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-02-06T19:30:45+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/ventil.rs\/blog\/life-style\/urinetown-review-more-than-toilet-humor\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/ventil.rs\/blog\/life-style\/urinetown-review-more-than-toilet-humor\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/ventil.rs\/blog\/life-style\/urinetown-review-more-than-toilet-humor\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/ventil.rs\/blog\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"\u2018Urinetown\u2019 Review: More Than Toilet Humor\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/ventil.rs\/blog\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/ventil.rs\/blog\/\",\"name\":\"Breaking News\",\"description\":\"\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/ventil.rs\/blog\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/ventil.rs\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/ventil.rs\/blog\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Breaking News\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/ventil.rs\/blog\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/ventil.rs\/blog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/ventil.rs\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/ventilshop-2362x591-1.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/ventil.rs\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/ventilshop-2362x591-1.png\",\"width\":1445,\"height\":591,\"caption\":\"Breaking News\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/ventil.rs\/blog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"}},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/ventil.rs\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/8b364f5cc7fbc8705a888e63db8c026a\",\"name\":\"Admin\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/ventil.rs\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/e3dd0b52c93ce674a00a0dbe8383290fdc661c12a7e48e5953f790da3887973d?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/e3dd0b52c93ce674a00a0dbe8383290fdc661c12a7e48e5953f790da3887973d?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Admin\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/ventil.rs\/blog\"],\"url\":\"https:\/\/ventil.rs\/blog\/author\/admin\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"\u2018Urinetown\u2019 Review: More Than Toilet Humor - Breaking News","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/ventil.rs\/blog\/life-style\/urinetown-review-more-than-toilet-humor\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"\u2018Urinetown\u2019 Review: More Than Toilet Humor","og_description":"Last night, however, that conceit did not bother me at all. Perhaps Teddy Bergman\u2019s exuberant production somehow softened the approach, or perhaps I felt less defensive about it. Most important, I was struck by the craftsmanship that holds \u201cUrinetown\u201d together. When the score does not nod toward the Hollywood of the 1930s, it winks at...Read More “\u2018Urinetown\u2019 Review: More Than Toilet Humor” »","og_url":"https:\/\/ventil.rs\/blog\/life-style\/urinetown-review-more-than-toilet-humor\/","og_site_name":"Breaking News","article_published_time":"2025-02-06T19:30:45+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"https:\/\/static01.nyt.com\/images\/2025\/02\/06\/multimedia\/06urinetown-review-kcbf\/06urinetown-review-kcbf-facebookJumbo.jpg"}],"author":"Admin","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_image":"https:\/\/static01.nyt.com\/images\/2025\/02\/06\/multimedia\/06urinetown-review-kcbf\/06urinetown-review-kcbf-facebookJumbo.jpg","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Admin","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/ventil.rs\/blog\/life-style\/urinetown-review-more-than-toilet-humor\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/ventil.rs\/blog\/life-style\/urinetown-review-more-than-toilet-humor\/"},"author":{"name":"Admin","@id":"https:\/\/ventil.rs\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/8b364f5cc7fbc8705a888e63db8c026a"},"headline":"\u2018Urinetown\u2019 Review: More Than Toilet Humor","datePublished":"2025-02-06T19:30:45+00:00","dateModified":"2025-02-06T19:30:45+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/ventil.rs\/blog\/life-style\/urinetown-review-more-than-toilet-humor\/"},"wordCount":383,"commentCount":0,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/ventil.rs\/blog\/#organization"},"articleSection":["Life Style"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/ventil.rs\/blog\/life-style\/urinetown-review-more-than-toilet-humor\/#respond"]}],"copyrightYear":"2025","copyrightHolder":{"@id":"https:\/\/ventil.rs\/blog\/#organization"}},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/ventil.rs\/blog\/life-style\/urinetown-review-more-than-toilet-humor\/","url":"https:\/\/ventil.rs\/blog\/life-style\/urinetown-review-more-than-toilet-humor\/","name":"\u2018Urinetown\u2019 Review: More Than Toilet Humor - Breaking News","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/ventil.rs\/blog\/#website"},"datePublished":"2025-02-06T19:30:45+00:00","dateModified":"2025-02-06T19:30:45+00:00","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/ventil.rs\/blog\/life-style\/urinetown-review-more-than-toilet-humor\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/ventil.rs\/blog\/life-style\/urinetown-review-more-than-toilet-humor\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/ventil.rs\/blog\/life-style\/urinetown-review-more-than-toilet-humor\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/ventil.rs\/blog\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"\u2018Urinetown\u2019 Review: More Than Toilet Humor"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/ventil.rs\/blog\/#website","url":"https:\/\/ventil.rs\/blog\/","name":"Breaking News","description":"","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/ventil.rs\/blog\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/ventil.rs\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/ventil.rs\/blog\/#organization","name":"Breaking News","url":"https:\/\/ventil.rs\/blog\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/ventil.rs\/blog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/ventil.rs\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/ventilshop-2362x591-1.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/ventil.rs\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/ventilshop-2362x591-1.png","width":1445,"height":591,"caption":"Breaking News"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/ventil.rs\/blog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"}},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/ventil.rs\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/8b364f5cc7fbc8705a888e63db8c026a","name":"Admin","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/ventil.rs\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/e3dd0b52c93ce674a00a0dbe8383290fdc661c12a7e48e5953f790da3887973d?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/e3dd0b52c93ce674a00a0dbe8383290fdc661c12a7e48e5953f790da3887973d?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Admin"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/ventil.rs\/blog"],"url":"https:\/\/ventil.rs\/blog\/author\/admin\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ventil.rs\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3181","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ventil.rs\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ventil.rs\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ventil.rs\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ventil.rs\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3181"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/ventil.rs\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3181\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ventil.rs\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3182"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ventil.rs\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3181"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ventil.rs\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3181"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ventil.rs\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3181"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}