I had little background knowledge about what this musical would be about when I walked into the theater. I bought the ticket on a whim, but I was really excited to check out a production put on by the UIC Theater department. There was communal electricity when I stepped into the black box theater before the performance.  In the world of student theater, Urinetown may be an unconventional choice, but in the hands of this student theater, it was nothing short of a triumph.

URINETOWN: The Musical doesn’t fit into a single category. It is full of dark themes of warning for the future and power struggles but it is also hilarious at the same time somehow. It is set in a dystopian society far in the future where there has been a severe drought and things like private bathrooms have been banned. The rich, who decide these policies, still have private bathrooms. They also make the rules on how much it costs to use the public facilities. 

The show starts off in that environment but shortly into Act One the poor revolt against the oppressive system that charges them for basic human function. Despite the storyline only getting more chaotic from there, the satirical genius that was scattered throughout the script had the entire audience in laughter at one point or another in almost every scene.

The first thing I noticed on the stage was there was barely any set and I was interested to find out what the cast would do with that. It was a humble set design but with the use of props and lighting I was proven wrong, and it did not take away from the show at all. 

The musical starts out with an immediate third party narration from two characters in the show, Officer Lockstock and Little Sally; they relay a warning to the audience about the story they are about to dive into. 

From the opening number, I knew that this was gonna be a great show. Despite the limitations of a limited budget, the cast threw themselves into their roles and I forgot that I was in a student theater almost immediately.

Officer Lockstock, played by Oliver Smith, and Little Sally, played by Amy Guynn, did a fantastic job. They were able to break out of the story to break the fourth wall for narration throughout the course of the show seamlessly. Their performances in the show were great as well, and they were cast perfectly. 

But the stars of the show were Bobby Strong, played by Tim Graves, and Hope Cladwell, played by Destinee Owens. They led the show with brilliant talent. They sang their hearts out throughout the entire show and their dynamic on stage was captivating.