Between now and the afternoon of Sunday, October 8, if you're in town, go see Urinetown: The Musical, playing at the Barn Players Community Theater, 6219 Martway, in Mission, Kansas. <http://www.thebarnplayers.org/currentshow/>

Urinetown debuted in New York only a few days after 9/11/01, when it would seem no one was in a mood to be kidded, yet New Yorkers fell in love with it and kept the cathartic comedy  running on Broadway for almost three years.

  Urinetown is a  hilarious allegory about conserving our precious natural resources, among other things. The lyrics and music (performed live by musicians at the rear of the set) are also very clever and catchy, sometimes mocking  genre classics, like those of Andrew Lloyd Webber.

  It's the future, sooner than we think. Water has become  scarce and expensive, so no one is allowed to pee without paying a fee at a public "amenity." All the amenities are owned by the Urine Good Company, run by Caldwell B. Cladwell, rich capitalist and price gouger. Anyone who pees anywhere other than a UGC facility, or tries to pee for free, is arrested by the cops, and hauled off to Urinetown--from which no one has ever returned.

  Sounds grim, but as the musical often reminds the audience, it's a musical! The story is narrated by Officer Lockstock, and Officer Barrel, his partner, joins him in the story to bust pee-crime whenever it goes down in the New York-like city in which the musical is set. Officer Lockstock and Little Sally - in a nod to the comic strip Red Meat's Milkman Dan and Karen characters - often step out of the action to chat with each other and enlighten the audience:

Little Sally: Say, Officer Lockstock, is this where you tell the audience about the water shortage?
Officer Lockstock: Whoa, there Little Sally.  Not all at once.  They'll hear more about the water shortage in the next scene....You're too young to understand it, but nothing can kill a show like too much exposition.
Little Sally: How about subject matter?
Officer Lockstock:  Well--
Little Sally: Or a bad title even?  That could kill a show pretty good.

  There are always long lines to pay a fee to pee, and eventually Old Man Strong, broke and unable to hold back any longer, pees without paying. The police haul him off to Urinetown. His son Bobby Strong leads a rebellion against Cladwell, but falls in love with his daughter, Hope Cladwell, along the way.

  With Cladwell and his UGC, at least water was being conserved for tomorrow. But Bobby Strong asks,"What of today?"

  Find out the answer when you're there in the audience. The building was once a community center, but plays the role of a theater with more gusto than many more opulent venues. Though unarmed and plastic, the seats are generously spaced, and tickets are only $5 with a student ID.  ($12 for regular adults.)

  The production is sharp, the singing and choreography are superb, and afterward, the bathrooms are full of happy people exercising their priceless American freedom.

  Hail Malthus!

Copyright 2006 Metropolitan Community College