Hollmann & Konitz’s Masterpiece Skewers Corporate Greed & Classism

by Mary Lou Herlihy

“Urinetown” just turned 25. My first time and I LOVED it! The 2001 Tony award winning musical displays incredible staying power. A greedy corporation’s exploitation of the poor is ripped right from today’s headlines

Kudos to Director and Choreographer Isaiah Tyrelle Boyd for the brilliant and talented ensemble’s  razor sharp comedic timing and robust dance moves. Top notch musicians and a powerful creative team make Ray of Light’s “Urinetown” an outstanding production. 

Over-the-top characters poke loving fun at Broadway shows. Imposing Officer Lockstock (brilliant straight man Sidney Matthew Román) bounds on stage, nightstick in hand to keep the poor in line. Folksy Lockstock and street urchin Little Sally (delightful Angela Busgano) provide hilarious banter with the audience.

Lockstock explains that the action “takes place in a town like any town… that you might find…. in a musical.” If people misbehave, they are banished to hellish Urinetown.

No musical theater genre is safe from parody. Big ensemble songs like “Run Freedom Run” crescendo into exuberant, exaggerated chorus lines or gospel choirs. Tongue-in-cheek lyrics playfully mock ThreePenny Opera, West Side Story, Les Miz, and Guys and Dolls–-catnip for musical theater lovers.

Dastardly billionaire and Musk-like CEO, Caldwell B. Cladwell (talented William Giammona) gets filthy rich by capitalizing on an epic water shortage. As he counts his profits, sycophant employees circle him, clip boards in hand, singing his praises with freakish smiles.

Amidst the larger than life characters and raucous dance numbers, comic details make this a first-class show. When Lockstock curtsies, or we see a corpse waving its lifeless arms like a floating, cartoon ghost, we delight in the surprise. And you gotta love those twerking urchins!

In Any City, USA, Fat Cats exploit the poor for obscene profits. Cladwell’s ‘Urine Good Company’ (UGC) runs “Public Amenities” where the poor must pay to pee. Old Man Strong (wonderful Joseph Alverado) cannot hold out any longer and does the unthinkable.

Rule-breakers are BANISHED to Urinetown, a Hell with no return. Like today’s secretive detention centers, the public are not privy to the truth. The threat of hellish torment keeps the poor living in fear.

But one man, hunky street boy Bobby Strong (stellar Sadat Hossain) refuses to submit. As he sings “Look at the Sky,” Bobby becomes courageous. His golden voice blends with his new found love in soaring and harmonious connection. Love leads the way in their farcical duet “Follow Your Heart.”

Cladwell’s daughter, Hope (pitch perfect Gabrielle Goodman), inspires Bobby. She’s just back from “the most expensive university in the world” where she learned to “manipulate  great masses of people.” But their hearts tell them that manipulating the masses is unjust. 

In the end, everyone is duped by Cladwell. And any day now, we JUST might hear Trump’s duped sycophants singing together in a huge gospel style chorus: “Why Did I Listen to That Man?” 

The brilliant, satirical “Urinetown” reflects today’s absurd headlines with scathing and comical accuracy. A must see!

 

“Urinetown” by Mark Hollmann & Greg Kotis, directed & choreographed by Isaiah Tyrelle Boyd, music direction by Ben Prince, set by Matt Owens, lighting by John Bernard, costumes by Ashley Renee, at Ray of Light Theatre, San Francisco, California.

Info: rayoflighttheatre.com – to August 29, 2026.

Cast:  Joseph Alvarado, Chloë Angst, Jack Bell, Cheetah Biscotti, Angela Busgano, Danny Cozart, William Giammona, Gabrielle Goodman, Kate Henderson, Sadat Hossain, Nick Kealy, James Mayogoitia, Milo Mee, Amy Meyers, Trevor Miller, Sidney Matthew Román, Amie Shapiro, Ralph Shehayed, Jay Thulien, Catherine Traceski, and Anne Warren.

Banner Photo: Ralph Shehayed, Trevor Miller, Catherine Traceski, Angela Busgano, Jack Bell, Chloë Angst, Amie Shapiro, Amy Meyers, James Mayogoitia. Photo by Tiffany Davis