Jordan Fisher and the Cast Photo by Joan Marcus

With nods to Bertolt Brecht, Mark Blitzstein, and even Les Mis\érables, which was still playing on Broadway when Urinetown made its splash-down at a rather decrepit Henry Miller's Theatre (now revitalized as the Stephen Sondheim Theatre), the musical came off like a full-length upscale version of the then already well-established Forbidden Broadway series of parodies of contemporary shows. It amped up the appreciation if you were familiar with The Threepenny Opera and The Cradle Will Rock, but it wasn't necessary. Urinetown happily stood on its own.

The satirical bent of Urinetown has definitely withstood the test of time, or at least two decades worth of that test. Its dystopian underpinning places us in a world where potable water is rapidly diminishing. As a result, the population must relieve itself at carefully monitored water-saving restrooms, the cost of which is borne by a fee-per-use.

The narrative focuses on one of the least desirable facilities, represented in Clint Ramos's set design for Encores! by a series of portable outhouses. There, under the watchful eye of Penelope Pennywise (Keala Settle), the indigent population doles out their hard-earned nickels and dimes for the "privilege to pee." Anyone caught voiding elsewhere is subject to harsh justice in the form of a trip to "Urinetown," whose meaning is made clear early on by the show's narrator Officer Lockstock (Greg Hildreth, the only one who fully connects with the tone and style of the original; his performance is a privilege to see.)

Working as a janitor at the facility is Bobby Strong (Jordan Fisher), who earnestly but naively winds up leading a rebellion against the greedy overlord of the entire enterprise, Caldwell B. Cladwell (Rainn Wilson). Cladwell has a monopoly on the relief stations in his capacity as director of Urine Good Company (feel free to groan at the pun). Will Bobby succeed at standing up to the rich and powerful? Or will Cladwell and associates trounce him? That's the basic plot. There are a couple of twists along the way, including a budding romance between Bobby and Cladwell's daughter Hope (Stephanie Styles) and a very ironic ending that pits notions of freedom against nature's own truth.

Given the potential cartoonishness of it all, an effective production must offer up just the right pacing, tone, style, and ensemble work. Problematically, the Encores! production, which is being directed by Teddy Bergman, most recently represented on Broadway with the short-lived KPOP in 2022, generally does not measure up.

The first act, in particular, unexpectedly drags. In a bit of presumably unintended irony, Officer Lockstock, who often comments on how a musical is constructed, tells the young character known as Little Sally (Pearl Scarlett Gold), that "nothing can kill a good show like too much exposition." And sure enough, Act I contains too much exposition. In addition, the sound design (by Nevin Steinberg) and/or generally poor enunciation by the cast members leads to a muffling of the lyrics, rather a key element to a lyric-rich musical.

The one number that sparkles takes place in Act II. It is a rousing song called "Run, Freedom, Run," and it is a shining moment for Jordan Fisher as Bobby, drawing an enthusiastic ovation from the audience. If only this were true of the entire evening, it would be one hell of a terrific revival. But overall, the cast members seem to be out there on their own. Each seems to be striving to portray their own character as best as they can, but there is little sense of the whole thing coming together as an ensemble piece. The result is a revival that feels lackluster and under-rehearsed, even by the Encores! standards of pulling shows together with very short rehearsal time. Maybe we've been spoiled by recent rich productions of Titanic and Ragtime, but Urinetown does not measure up.