Imagine if you couldn鈥檛 use your own toilet because of a water shortage, and you and all of your neighbors had to pay to use a public restroom.
Imagine the ensuing revolt. Now put that strange scenario to music.
That鈥檚 the premise of the Tony Award-winning musical , which will be performed this Friday and Saturday at by the Paramount Players.
Music director Cameron Wescott and director Jeff Hull lead a cast of 21 local performers.
Wescott says Urinetown the musical has an irreverent, dark humor and complex score that audiences will love.
鈥淚t's really a dystopian piece focused on a premise of a drought and a water shortage, where private toilets are outlawed, and so the only place that you can go is to a public bathroom. And if you don't do that, they send you to an infamous place called Urinetown.鈥�
Even the cast makes fun of the show's odd, irreverent name during the performance.
鈥�Urinetown 鈥� just like it sounds,鈥� laughs Westcott.
鈥淢ost people think it鈥檚 'You Are in Town,'鈥� says Haley Yarrusso, 鈥渁nd I have to correct them and say, 'No, no, no, it's like pee, urine.'鈥�
Yarrusso is 20 and new to Rutland. She plays the female lead, Hope Cladwell. 鈥淚 think Urinetown as a title is a little offsetting when you first hear it," she says. "And the show is very offsetting as well, so I really, really like the title for this show.鈥�
In the musical, Hope has just finished college and is starting a job in the family business.
It鈥檚 a business run by her corrupt father, Caldwell B. Cladwell, played by Rutland resident and veteran performer Chris Doyle. 鈥淗e is the bad guy. He is the founder and president of the Urine Good Company, who basically controls a lot of the water in a very post-apocalyptic world.鈥�
The elder Cladwell uses the water shortage to his financial advantage, and in one of his signature numbers gleefully croons, 鈥淚 took this town that formerly stank 鈥� I took this town and made it smell swank! I made flushing mean flush at the bank!鈥�
The storyline follows Hope鈥檚 romance with Bobby Strong, the leader of an unlikely group of rebels who fight back against Cladwell and the absurd toilet charges they鈥檙e forced to pay.
Doyle and music director Wescott say the songs are funny and nuanced and may remind audiences of other Broadway shows like: Fiddler on the Roof, Chicago, West Side Story and Les Mis茅rables.
鈥淚t shouldn't work," says Doyle, "but it does.鈥�
鈥淭he show is really great," adds Wescott, "filled with great spots, low spots, all of the emotions, everything, everything is in there.鈥�
Urinetown premiered in 2001 and was nominated for 10 Tony Awards.
Despite being written 25 years ago, Doyle says references to water shortages, taxes, corporate greed and tariffs could have been ripped from today鈥檚 headlines.
鈥淭he old saying goes: 'History may not repeat itself, but it sure rhymes.'鈥�
will perform Urinetown Friday, April 11 at 7 p.m., and at 1 and 7 p.m. on Saturday, April 12 at .
