Urinetown The Musical offers comic relief as the local production proves to be a humorous hit

Albany’s latest local production, Urinetown The Musical, was the perfect alternative to plonking myself down in front of the TV for another night of Netflix. Premiering on Broadway in 2001, the satirical comedy musical has won three Tony Awards including Best Musical Score and Best Book in a Musical. Albany’s rendition is directed by Airell Hodgkinson and has a cast featuring 20 local talented and aspiring actors at Albany Port Theatre. The show opens with a welcome from policeman and narrator Officer Lockstock (Damien Le Page) assisted by street urchin Little Sally (Madelyn Marsh). Set in a town suffering severe water restrictions due to a long drought, Urinetown is a musical comedy with all the usual ingredients of good versus evil, love, power and rebellion. Water is very scarce, causing private toilets to be banned, and as a result citizens have to use public toilets controlled by an evil multinational corporation. If they can’t pay to use them, they are exiled to a mystical place called Urinetown and never seen or heard from again. Act One sets up the scene for the plot and consists of 11 catchy songs sung brilliantly. The musical number Urinetown had the full cast and band launching into action with high-energy choreography. The addition of a live band, directed by James Turner, elevated the performance. The six musicians were Maureen Kennedy, Jennifer Graham-Taylor, Maxine Jones, Cathy Rainey, Ron de Jong and Roger Hey. Some other favourite songs included It’s a Privilege to Pee and Cop Song. Follow Your Heart is an inspiring and romantic duet between dashing young rebel Bobby Strong (Hunter Ewen) and the villain’s daughter Hope Cladwell (Bonnie Staude). Staude’s powerhouse vocals carried the team at times. Her voice cut through the theatre and she hit every single note. Albany Senior High School Year 12 student Hunter Ewen also put in a first-class performance in his lead role, singing his soul out in the challenging harmonies. With the tune What is Urinetown opening the second half, Act Two delved into the more political side of the musical. In my opinion, Act Two was not the strongest half of the show, falling short of the entertainment, humour and powerful finale of Act One. However, the songs Snuff That Girl and Why Did I Listen To That Man were highlights. With an action-packed plot, great music and amazing local talent, Urinetown is worth checking out. Urinetown The Musical is showing This Friday and Saturday at 7.30pm. BOTH SHOWS ARE SOLD OUT.