I saw CMP's production of Urinetown last night and thought they did an overall very good job. I don't agree at all with the OC Weekly critic who found it better than the tour. No way this production can compare with the superb professional touring production I saw last year. But for community theater, they've done a mostly first rate job. Luckily the show doesn't require fancy costumes or sets, and what they've designed work beautifully. They were also fortunate to have a very experienced professional director, Greg Zerkle, who's understudied lead roles on Broadway in The Secret Garden and Into the Woods, and directed productions at major local venues like CLOSBC in Redondo Beach. The choreography by Nicki Peek is great and the ensemble numbers are very well sung. There are some excellent performances, particularly Heather White as Hope (a future Glinda?), Heather Zavala as Little Sally, and Elizabeth Bouton as Penelope Pennywise. I liked David R. Gordon as Bobby, though he did seem a bit too young for the part. Ed McBride, as Officer Lockstock, was more than adequate, but paled against my memory of the Broadway original, Jeff McCarthy. The production does suffer from having too many high school/college age performers in the ensemble, playing much older characters, which make the show seem at times to be a school production. And director Zerkle should have reined in the over-the-top mugging of Derek Houck, who was out of control, and not in a good way. I'm hoping that a professional production will be mounted in L.A. in the not so distant future. I'd love to see what the Colony or West Coast Ensemble would do with this show. In the meantime, there's still one more weekend for you to catch Costa Mesa Playhouse's production. It's not perfect, but it's well worth the $18 ($15 if you're a student).
Enjoy!
Steven :)
http://www.costamesaplayhouse.org/
Silly Betty shoulda just bought one when she saw it here in NY. 
