Urinetown Review - Everything A Musical Should Be And Somehow More
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Last night I went to **[Urinetown](https://www.londontheatredirect.com/musical/1353/Urinetown-tickets.aspx)**. Not the place, the musical! Superficially this is a show about having to pay to pee, and it’s safe to say I was dubious about what to expect as I took my seat in the Apollo Theatre.
As the **[Urinetown](https://www.londontheatredirect.com/musical/1353/Urinetown-tickets.aspx)** trailer claims, this show has all the expected elements of a Great West End musical: catchy songs, plenty of laughs, romance, heroes, villains and bunnies. But this show also packs a punch, with a dark and serious undertone seemingly at odds with its jovial façade.
This is a thought provoking and highly entertaining show. Taking a very tongue-in-cheek approach to the genre and using it’s brevity to subtly invite its audience to consider the ominous yet fundamental message: How long before our planet can no longer take care and provide for us, if we don’t take care of it?
Set in a dystopian world where the demand for water so far exceeds its supply that the basic human need to eliminate waste from your body is no longer available to the majority, **[Urinetown](https://www.londontheatredirect.com/musical/1353/Urinetown-tickets.aspx)** deals with some profound subject matter. The ludicrous notion that water shortage could reach the point where people no longer have the freedom to pee at will, and are charged a fee by the establishment every time they have to ‘go’ generates plenty of hilarity. But how absurd is it really? If the corrupt few control such a powerful resource, something we simply cannot survive without, what then becomes of the rest of us? Drought, death and corruption. Who writes a musical about such depressing subject matter and if someone did, who would go see it?
Well the creative geniuses behind **[Urinetown](https://www.londontheatredirect.com/musical/1353/Urinetown-tickets.aspx)** have done it. It’s everything a musical should be and somehow more. Its extremely talented cast, clever lyrics, and captivating score had me enchanted. I for one will go to see it again and again and again. I left the theatre last night feeling contemplative and with an unexpected sense of foreboding. Yet my cheeks were literally sore from laughing.
If asked to describe **[Urinetown](https://www.londontheatredirect.com/musical/1353/Urinetown-tickets.aspx)**, hilarious is the first adjective that pops to mind and I recommend this show to everyone. For me it’s love at first viewing.
Reviewed by Sheila White
@skittykat03