'Urinetown' makes a splash

Some musicals announce their subject right there in the title. "The Phantom of the Opera" has both a phantom and an opera. Imagine going to see "Cats" and seeing no cats! You'd feel cheated. And of course there's "Urinetown," which--wait, what?

The musical, onstage at Circle Theatre Grand Rapids through Sept. 21, is about a city in which people have to pay for "the privilege to pee." It's a ridiculous premise, as the show well knows; "Urinetown" is unafraid of going meta, something made clear by the title of the second song: "Too Much Exposition." In it, Officer Lockstock (yes, there's an Officer Barrel, too), tells us what we can expect. "It's a place you'll hear people referring to a lot," he says. "A place you won't see until Act II, and then...well, let's just say it's filled with symbolism and things like that."

Wry commentary coupled with a silly premise would seem to place us squarely in the realm where "Monty Python's Spamalot," another defiantly silly show, sits. But there's an undercurrent of anxiety in "Too Much Exposition's" melody, and, somehow, pathos in the line of poor people waiting for a pay toilet. And there's something like sorrow in the face of Officer Lockstock (TJ Clark), the sorrow of a man trying to convince himself that what he's doing is right.

That push-pull between irony and sincerity runs through the entire show. It's there in Hope Cladwell (Hannah Jarvis), the beautiful daughter of Caldwell Cladwell (Bud Thompson), owner of Urine Good Company, an organization ostensibly dedicated to safeguarding the dwindling water supply but compromised by the profit motive. You get the feeling that Hope never questioned anything in her life before meeting Bobby Strong (Starshawn Cook), a young man who finally decides that, no, you know what, people shouldn't have to pay to go to the bathroom. His defiance will change not only Hope's mind but all the world the two of them have ever known.

It's difficult, if not impossible, for a musical to evoke revolutionary fervor without calling to mind "Les Miserables." "Urinetown" doesn't try to avoid the comparison. Instead, it winkingly references that show, as it does several others. You don't need to be a musical theater devotee to enjoy "Urinetown," but you'll get more out of it if you are. 

As always, it's a pleasure to watch Bud Thompson, a man so clearly decent that some of that decency shines even through callous Caldwell. Hannah Jarvis manages to parody ingenues while effectively portraying one. Bobby Strong's charisma comes through most clearly when Starshawn Cook sings; he has a handsome and resonant voice, which helps the audience forget, at times, that they're seeing the number one musical about going number one.

For some audience members, the show may grate; it can feel like a conversation with someone whose habit of irony has become a mask. Do you mean any of what you're saying? Those willing to look past that tendency will find that the show, indeed, means what it's saying: that climate change is real and present, that pragmatism may be a safer path than idealism, and that, in the end, none of us is truly innocent. Never mind the winks. "Urinetown" has a heart after all, and it's deeply troubled.