Urinetown in Boston @ Lyric Review - Spoilers?

Yesterday I had the chance to see Urinetown performed by members of the Lyric near Copley in Boston. If you are a college student in the Boston area, check this show out - you can't beat the show's $10 student rush price!

The theater is very intimate and small - about 244 seats. It's shaped like a square with seats on three sides. The stage even extends on the floor close to the seats. I had a side view, but let me tell you, it isn't bad at all. In fact, I thought this production was well worth the money I paid.

Before the show even starts, all the "police" start walking throughout the theater, whereas in the Broadway/tour productions they remain on the stage (I think for Broadway, but I know when I saw the tour they stayed on stage). Also, the cast members who play the poor people come out and start laying down on the stage. When the lights dim, the police officers lead a chain gang up the stairs to the top of the stage to where the instruments are...this chain gang turns out to be the band, and the overture starts.

Rob Morrison played Bobby Strong. As someone said in another thread, he sounded like Hunter Foster. I did hear Hunter Foster a few times throughout his singing. He was pretty good.

Maryann Zschau was Penelope Pennywise. I saw Beth McVey on the tour, and I preferred Maryann's voice. When Beth sang, she didn't have that high sounding belt (okay I'm not familiar with vocal terms as I am not a singer myself) like Maryann did.

I know Little Becky Two Shoes isn't the biggest and most important part of the show, but I thought the person playing her, Ilyse Robbins, could've given the character more attitude and anger. For example, when Becky yells "I never agreed to any punishment of my body!" she just spoke it without any fierceness/aggressiveness like on the CD.

Jennifer Ellis as Hope had a very beautiful voice. She could have ejected her voice more in a couple of parts. For example, in "Follow Your Heart", at the end when Bobby and Hope belt out really loud, "...and gladness!" it didn't sound like the CD (maybe could've added more belt???). Okay, I know these people aren't going to be carbon copies of the CD and can't sound exactly like everything is supposed to on the CD, but that's the only way I can explain it.

I think some of the choreography was changed (due to staging)
but I'm not really sure, I don't remember specific dances from when I saw the tour. During "We're Not Sorry" on tour during the dance break, the cast lined up and did a slow walk during it...this time there was actually a choreographed dance to it.

I really enjoyed the encore Jewish dance after bows...I wish they had included the music to that on the CD.

I don't really have anything specific to say much about anyone since I'm not familiar with any of these people. For the most part, the cast is talented and no one was "bad." Tickets without discounts range in price from $30-$50, give or take a few dollars...I don't think it's totally worth the most expensive ticket if you're a poor college student, especially when you can see a top quality Broadway show for about $10-$20 more...$10 is a worthy price for students. Again, the theater is very small and intimate, none of the seats are terrible seats, everything is close up practically. Go see it!

P.S. I also think that they had extra people...I recognized some of the "swings" from the playbill on stage. Anyone know why they did this? They had Becky, Sally, Soupy Sue, and then another girl played by what looked like Haley Roth...they also had one extra guy...?

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Updated On: 9/18/05 at 05:44 PM

boats -- It's playing till Oct. 15. here's more info: http://www.theatermania.com/content/show.cfm/show/114512

Ah, I'm friends with some of the people in the cast!
I did a show at Emerson with Rob Morrison last semester.
My gosh, that's fantastic.
I definitely have to check it out, if only to support Rob and other Emerson students in the cast.

~Steven

I loved the production of Urinetown at the Lyric.

I think it's strange to compare actors to the CD. A cast recording is so different than live theater. I saw the same cast play Hairspray in New York and then heard their cast recording and it sounded completely different. And every actor is going to (and should) find their own way to play a role. Otherwise, why go see another company put on the same show?

Also, I saw the tour when it came to Boston. All the choreography was different. It's a different choreographer and this was her original work.

I'm 100% with dancergirl!

Are you serious, Millie?!? Don’t you know that a CD of a cast recording is not the definitive model of a production?! Nor SHOULD it be! It’s simply ONE cast’s production!

I saw the Lyric's production of Urinetown this past Saturday and couldn't have been more impressed by the fresh new talent in the cast, all clearly full of potential - Particularly Jennifer Ellis, who played Hope. I don't know what you mean about her lower range... given that the only time she sings in a lower register is in "I See a River" - and I’m not alone in the opinion that Ellis gave the other Jennifer (Laura Thompson) a run for her money! Could it be some people are feeling a little envious????
And maybe you saw Pennywise on an off-night, when i saw it her notes were all spot on!
I think you're right about Bobby, (Robert Morrison). No doubt about it, he was great, as was Becky Two-shoes (ileyse Robbins). I think you need to understand that no 2 actors are going to play the same role identically. (If they do, one of them is ripping ideas off of the other).
The Lyric’s show was not a cheap imitation of another production, and let’s face it, there are plenty of those around. I commend their originality!!
Judging from the thunderous applause and wonderful reviews, I’m not the only one who was thoughroughly impressed!

http://www.boston.com/ae/theater_arts/articles/2005/09/14/humor_abounds_in_urinetown/

STAGE REVIEW
Humor abounds in 'Urinetown'
By Ed Siegel, Globe Staff | September 14, 2005
It is normally not a good idea to base a musical on functions of the bladder. But the Lyric Stage Company makes the grimly comic 'Urinetown" into a strong season opener that would offend only the most priggish sensibilities. There are some questionable calls along the way, but director Spiro Veloudos once again shows his ability to get at the heart of a musical, particularly when there's a touch of darkness in its heart.
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This is the third version of the show I've seen, and each plays differently. The excellent Broadway production was a sharp satire of the musical form, shooting down everything from 'The Threepenny Opera" to 'Annie." The touring version that came here later played more like empty parody.
Veloudos, who's also the Lyric's artistic director, makes 'Urinetown: The Musical" into an homage, particularly of Bertolt Brecht and Kurt Weill's 'Threepenny." And he does so without losing any of the humor in Greg Kotis's story about a drought-stricken society in which poor people have to stand in line and pay to use public urinals.
If you're not laughing yet, you probably will be after the first number in which Officer Lockstock and Little Sally, a waiflike figure, sing about how 'Too Much Exposition" can kill a show. The self-referential lyrics, co-written by Kotis and Mark Hollmann, whose equally clever music never flags, propel us into a world where the poor are oppressed to an unbelievable degree.
Unbelievable, at least, until Hurricane Katrina hit, and we saw the laggardly response to the suffering in Louisiana. Suddenly, lines like these have real resonance: 'Rich folks get the good life/ poor folks get the woe./ In the end, it's nothing you don't know."
Perhaps it's that overlay that makes 'Urinetown" seem as sharp as it is funny, though credit also has to go to Janie E. Howland's Depression-esque set and Karen Perlow's mean-streets lighting, along with Veloudos's conception.
Every line in the book and lyrics screams 'comedy," but the straighter the faces the cast can keep, the better the production.
First, the good news: The women in the cast are a joy to watch, particularly Jennifer Ellis as Hope Cladwell, the naive daughter of Caldwell B. Cladwell, head of the public works department that he has bribed his way into privatizing. This is really Ellis's coming-out party as a Boston professional, and given her voice, looks, and stage presence, she's going to be a very in-demand leading lady hereabouts.
Veronica J. Kuehn as Little Sally begins the season where she left off last year with her witty and well-sung Little Red Riding Hood at the New Repertory Theatre. Ellis and Kuehn are superb from beginning to end. Maryann Zschau starts off too exaggerated in her early solo as Penelope Pennywise, but rights herself after that.
The problem is with the men. Christopher Chew as Officer Lockstock and Sean McGuirk as Cladwell use exclamation points to drive home the comedy -- surprising given Chew's fine, understated performance in SpeakEasy Stage Company's 'Johnny Guitar" last season. Rob Morrison, a recent Emerson graduate, could also keep a straighter face as Bobby Strong, the hero. While he shows potential, he doesn't yet have a strong enough presence to carry such an important role.
Fortunately, he doesn't have to. Besides the female leads, the ensemble work is crackerjack, both the five-piece band led by Jonathan Goldberg and the poor urban denizens led by choreographer Ilyse Robbins (Peter A. Carey and Michele A. DeLuca in particular). Usually there isn't enough room in chamber productions at such theaters as the Lyric for choreographers to show their stuff, but Robbins (no relation to Jerome) makes the room work here. Her homages to 'West Side Story" and 'Fiddler on the Roof" are spot on.
The livin' is never easy in 'Urinetown," but this season opener certainly makes the Lyric Stage Company of Boston a nice place to visit.
Ed Siegel can be reached at siegel@globe.com.