-Caveat Lector-
>From http://in.news.yahoo.com/020523/64/1oqfw.html
> "One rainy, Paris day this idea came to him that maybe he could
> write a play about a town where an evil corporation controlled all
> the toilets and everyone was required by law to use them and to pay
> ever increasing fees.
}}}>Begin
Thursday May 23, 7:37 PM
'Urinetown' is unlikely Broadway Cinderella story
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By Larry Fine
NEW YORK (Reuters) - A fractured political fairy tale inspired by the pay toilets of
Paris, "Urinetown The Musical," has conquered great odds and an unsavory title to
make its mark as a Broadway Cinderella success story.
With stage and TV veteran John Cullum heading a brilliant ensemble cast with his
star-turn as a villainous pay-toilet magnate, the rousing satire that began at a fringe
theater festival has garnered 10 nominations for Tony Awards to be given out on
June 2.
An uncomfortable French vacation spawned the show, created by longtime
collaborators Greg Kotis and Mark Hollmann.
"Greg had gone on a trip to Paris and during the trip he was running out of money so
that at one point he had to start rationing his visits to the pay toilets in Paris,"
said
Hollmann, who composed the music and co-wrote the lyrics of the show with Kotis,
who wrote the book.
"One rainy, Paris day this idea came to him that maybe he could write a play about a
town where an evil corporation controlled all the toilets and everyone was required by
law to use them and to pay ever increasing fees.
"Evidently the title sprung to him the very same time. He thought it had to be called
'Urinetown.'"
The premise hardly seems made for Broadway -- a water shortage has crippled a
metropolis, moving the government to ban private toilets and force people to use pay
toilets operated by a corrupt corporation, leading to a revolt.
But the irreverent send-up that also parodies traditional musicals with rip-roaring
success, has become a darling of the inside-set with Broadway and Hollywood stars
streaming to the suitably grungy Henry Miller Theater to be entertained.
"I think it's one of the most original things I've seen in years," Frank Langella,
himself
nominated for a Tony as best featured actor for the comedy "Fortune's Fool," said
after seeing the show recently on the same night "Spider-Man" star Tobey Maguire
did.
Kotis and Hollmann, who first teamed up in Chicago some 15 years ago after their
college days to do improvisational shows for the now-defunct Cardiff Giant Theater,
sent the "Urinetown" script to 60 theaters and 50 agents but came up empty.
In the end, they put up $5,000 of their own money to finance the show as part of the
New York International Fringe Festival in a one-time garage on Manhattan's Lower
East Side.
"You could shove maybe 70 or 80 people in there uncomfortably, with no air
conditioning," recalled Spencer Kayden, a Tony nominee for featured actress for her
role as precocious street urchin Little Sally, and the only remaining cast member
from the fringe production.
To save money, the cast rehearsed that summer in the basement of the Christ
Lutheran Church in Manhattan, where Hollmann still serves as organist.
GREAT WHITE WAY
The show was a huge hit at the festival and found producers who assembled a first-
rate professional cast for an Off-Broadway run that eventually led to the Great White
Way.
The title, however, has always been an issue, never quite settling Shakespeare's
poser, "What's in a name?" In this case, the moniker appears to both giveth and
taketh.
"As we were getting ready for rehearsals for the festival, our director at the time
expressed reservations about the title," Hollmann said. "So I went to Greg and said
maybe the title should be something else.
"My idea was to call it "You're in Town." Then, maybe when the audience was in the
theater and seated we could bring up the real sign, that said "Urinetown" with the 'U'
and say we tricked you and you can't leave.
"We went with that idea to John Clancy, artistic director of the festival. 'You guys
can't do that, I advise you not to,' he said. 'I've been getting more calls about your
show with that outrageous title than with any other of the 150 shows.'"
The title might well have helped the show then, but it may be hurting the show now.
Cullum, whose 40-year Broadway musical career stretches from "Camelot" to "1776,"
to "Shenandoah," to "Man of La Mancha" among many others and to "Northern
Exposure" and "ER" on television, was stunned to find out that some theatergoers
were repulsed enough by the title to stay away.
"I've only really begun to realize the last few months that people are upset by that
title," said 71-year-old Cullum, who cavorts with ingratiating glee in his Tony-
nominated best actor performance. "It never dawned on me that they wouldn't just
laugh at it and get on with our show.
"It's not bathroom humor, other than the metaphor for the whole thing. It could be
about bad air or just plain lack of water or overpopulation."
WRONG IMPRESSION
Hollmann also feels some people have the wrong impression.
"I'm generally aware there are a lot of people who will not give it a look-see because
of the title, which I regret," he said. "We crafted it so that people who like musicals
will like the show."
"There are no bad words in the show. Maybe that's what people think when they hear
the title. They think it might be scatological, but there are no four-letter words."
"Urinetown," like much of Broadway, is slumping at the box office, drawing two- thirds
capacity in its 631-seat theater and hoping to get a lift from the Tony telecast.
Still, Hollmann is thrilled.
"Every other thing I ever worked on was always so much more commercial, I
thought, than this project. This was the last thing I ever thought would go so far,"
said
Hollmann, nominated for best musical score.
The cautious Hollmann has yet to quit his "day job" at UBS Warburg Payne Webber,
though he admits he may do soon given the show's Broadway run and a national tour
in the works for 2003.
Meanwhile, Hollmann and Kotis toil away on a new project.
"We're trying to keep under wraps the name of the title," he said. "We need the
maximum surprise factor working in our favor. I think it's weirder and more
unproducible than 'Urinetown' was, which I think is quite necessary for us at this
point."
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