Urinetown

[simonelwell123]

Posted: 2/15/06 at 5:25pm

can anyone help me out. what musicals does Urinetown actual base itself on. and at what points. as in which songs are based on what!

[Horton]

Posted: 2/15/06 at 5:50pm

I do not believe that Urinetown bases itself on one show, but rather it bases itself on the classical genre of musical theatre. It is really a a parady of all that type of musical. For Instance "Follow Your Heart" i belive, pokes fun at classical love. "Run Freedom, Run" I think mimmics The Wiz. Etc. It is very special how Lockstock breaks 4th Wall and all that kind of ****.

[simonelwell123]

Posted: 2/15/06 at 6:24pm

don't think i explained myself properly, i know it's a parady of musical theatre in general with strong Kurt Weill influences, but each song has a relevance to a specific musical, sometimes more. even the staging i believe is intended to mimic other musical such as the bottle dance in fiddler. i'm working on a few songs from Urinetown, but being in England i can't go to see it to help me out. but thanks anyway

[dotmarie]

Posted: 2/15/06 at 6:28pm

"Follow Your Heart" resembles the balcony scene from West Side Story.

Bobby's revolution at the end of Act I is a mimic of Les Mis.

hmmm...trying to think of more..

[Ourtime992]

Posted: 2/15/06 at 6:30pm

here are a couple of examples: in the Broadway production, Look at the Sky contained a parody of the One Day More choreography in which the cast members marched forward until some fell right off the front of the stage. Snuff That Girl was choreographed to spoof Cool, what with the finger snapping, jumping, and onomatopoeia sounds.

[Smaxie]

Posted: 2/15/06 at 8:42pm

The show's basic premise is a riff on Brecht/Weill's The Rise and Fall of the City of Mahagonny (an unnamed city on the brink of catastrophe), crossed with The Cradle Will Rock (the poor downtrodden rising up against the evils of capitalism).

The character names in Urinetown also are a riff on the character names in The Cradle Will Rock. Mr. Mister / Mr. Cladwell ... Larry Foreman / Bobby Strong.

Musically, the show starts off with songs that bear either musical, thematic or structural similarities to the score of The Threepenny Opera. The Overture is almost a note for note homage to the Overture to Threepenny Opera. "Urinetown" resembles "Moritat". "Privilege to Pee" is "Peachum's Morning Prayer". "Cop Song" is "Cannon Song".

"Follow Your Heart" does resemble the balcony scene from West Side Story, but musically, sounds more like an homage to the songs of Marc Blitzstein.

After that point, the satirical base broadens, and people claimed all sorts of different influences, from Les Miserables (Act One Finale), Fiddler on the Roof ("What is Urinetown?"), West Side Story (the "Cool" references in "Snuff that Girl"), Guys & Dolls ("Run Freedom Run" is in the Broadway faux gospel mode of "Sit Down You're Rocking the Boat").

John Carrafa's musical staging went after specific Fosse and Robbins trademark moments, but also included some cheeky references to Alvin Ailey's "Revelations" in two different spots.

Other songs satirize Broadway show writing in general, more than any specific song. "Mr. Cladwell" strikes me as designed to resemble any hat and cane number for a leading man. "We're Not Sorry" is meant to give the show a burst of energy before wrapping up. "I See A River" offered some delightful phony white girl funk, which Jennifer Laura Thompson delivered to a T.

If some other specific references occur to me, I'll update this post.

[Overthemoon6]

Posted: 2/15/06 at 9:23pm

Doesn't Spamalot do the same kind of thing? Like "The Song that Goes Like This" parodys POTO, and "Find Your Grail" parodys all of those Act 1 closers where the main character decides to change and whatnot (for example, Defying Gravity or Astonishing).

[BSoBW3]

Posted: 2/15/06 at 11:32pm

Yes, Spamalot does it as well. Th much more obvious and much more played out.

[C is for Company]

Posted: 2/15/06 at 11:35pm

Couldn't Urinetown have switched theaters when those people decided to make it a bank or something?

Posted: 2/15/06 at 11:37pm

What a great summary of a great musical.
Should have won the Tony over "Millie".

[Wicked_fan]

Posted: 2/16/06 at 1:12am

Whoa...Jennifer Laura Thompson sings that part in the beginning of "I See A River"???

Dear God!

I just got into this musical, I know the basic story...but haven't seen it...wow... Jennifer Laura Thompson is SOULFUL! haha.

[Thesbijean]

Posted: 2/16/06 at 1:17am

I just remember that Urinetown's "Overture" is mocking Threepenney Opera's, as 3Penney's didn't contain any music form the actual show.