Satire In The Musical Urinetown

Satire In The Musical UrinetownThe melodic Urinetown, by Mark Hollmann and Greg Kotis, f altogethers in the variety of the modern anti-musical with its un tralatitious structure and content, non only breaking the molding of what makes musical theater of operations, just now making satire of itself and its relatives in the process. This search get out investigate how Urinetown implements satire to create a new, p ruseicipatory business office for audition unimplemented by its predecessors. This is relevant theatrical topic as it suggests a rail counsel line from musical field of operationss historical structure, as well as changing shambleer roles in the theatrical stopping point. To approach this proposition, I will investigate by researching the creation of Urinetown, as well as handed-down musicals to serve as a comparative structure. I will use this research to progress to conclusions close to Urinetowns satirical nature and the role it creates for the hearing. IntroductionMy interest for Urinetown came with the resolve of a local high schools theatrical season, which included the musical. Having heard the relate only if being unfamiliar with the ground, I began to research the plot and was enrapture by the story. As wacky as it is, Urinetown has contemplative themes with social commentary. The musical tells the story of citizens in a town where all restrooms be regime operated. As crude as it is, much of the focus of the musical is on having to pay to pee. While Hollmann and Kotis take a humorous approach, the show does embody the peoples oppression by their own goernment, a theme all as well as familiar in a historical and current context. Urinetown creates a kitchen-gardening of desperation, the frequent consequence of unequal wealth distrisolelyion. Corrupt members of the Urine in effect(p) Company, or UGC, live in lavishness while average citizens cannot all the same afford to fulfill their most basic needs. Essential to t he plot be the eccentric persons which embody theatrical archetypes. These archetypes will be included in my ground of investigation along with Hollmann and Kotis creation of the musical. My interest in audience role came with my attendance of the North Carolina Governors School in the argona of theatre. During our five weeks, we created a show which challenged usageal audience roles. The enquireation of a theatre suspensor is to sit and be entertained, perhaps laugh and cry, and then go home. This actor-audience blood has been upheld majorly by means of Vaudeville, opera, dramas, comedies, and most theatre imaginable. My investigation intends to prove that Urinetown does not bond to these conventional audience roles, and preferably uses satire to challenge its viewers, making them ill at ease(predicate) and offering a much participatory, engaging theatre experience. My methodology for this essay will primarily be analysis of research regarding record of Urinetown and its formation, and traditional musical theatre structure and the satirical comparison of it.InvestigationUrinetown was godly by the works of Bertolt Brecht and Kurt Weill, specifically tuppeny Opera. Threepenny Opera, which transformed passee opera and operetta forms, incorporated a sharp political perspective, and the goodly of 1920s Berlin dance bands and cab art, is most strikingly similar to Urinetown. From the shows opening number, the audience is introduced to an oppressed society run by a corrupt government, shown by operatic let loose chords and lyrics. The show mimics opposites through its number, Too Much exhibition , poking fun at the notion of an excess of corroborateground intimacy to ruin a show, taking pushs at Threepenny Opera and other musicals such(prenominal) as Les Miserables. Dark and dramatic with crude humor lace on top, Threepenny Opera genuinely bears a resemblance to Urinetown.Urinetown is a prime example of ironic detachment, but it wasnt the first musical to use this perspective. Though this approach has not been standard practice for most of the write up of musical theatre, it has appeared in Of Thee I Sing (1931), The Cradle forget controversy (1937), Guys and Dolls (1950), The Threepenny Opera (1954),How to Succeed in Business Without Really exhausting (1961), Hair (1968), Company (1970), Grease (1972), Chicago(1975), 42nd Street (1980), Assassins (1990), Bat male child (1997), and others. These shows broke the traditional role of musical comedy.Urinetown strays from self-importance in opt of self-deprecation. John Bush J unmatcheds writes in his prevail Our Musicals, Ourselves, It seems no accident that a cluster of solemn musicals came right at the end of the century. Among salutary and paying attention creative people, the ends of centuries reach often provoked a lot of serious and thoughtful c at a timeptualiseing, and the production of works of literature, art, or in our case, musical theatre of espec ially unsmiling seriousness. Urinetown rebels against this seriousness, notwithstanding mocking it. This show acknowledges its own art form, but is also part of what it mocks, taking on issues such as corporate corruption, environsalism, civil liberties, class war fartheste.Ironic detachment has now pass so present in television and modern culture that it no yearlong packs the same artistic or political punch. As our culture evolves, so must storytelling. Rodgers and Hammerstein were groundbreaking in 1943, but judgment of convictions have changed. Contrperforming to their elaborate storytelling , new musicals are more honest, breaking the later on part wall, that barrier of lies between actor and audience.Urinetown, first opening in late York in the summer of 1999, referenced dozens of movies and other bits of American daddy culture, including The Wizard of Oz. Contrasting though, where Dorothys selflessness and bravery saved the day in Oz, the traits result in hopelessne ss in Urinetown. Even though both(prenominal) stories take place in an era of depression, they have separate audiences. pen in the musical is a response to Thomas Robert Malthus Essay on the Principles of Population (1798), which discusses the tendency of human beings to outstrip their resources. This heavy and dark allusion contrasts to the traditional musical, even in Urinetown with its light potty-humor.Urinetown breaks the mold of the traditional musical and yet, in certain ways, is true to conventional musical theatre, the shows structure taking after a Rodgers and Hammerstein model. The score ranges from direct homages to Threepenny Opera to traditional ballads to hymns, gospel, Bach, and the B-52s. The work, Urinetown, though it seems shallow and crude, is carefully constructed theatre, presented by outrageous circumstances.Urinetown registered with audiences on many levels, standardised any good fairy tale, providing for each audience member a slightly different message, q uestion, or experience. The show received ten Tony nominations, triumphant for best score, best book, and best director. Bruce Weber in The New York quantify called it a sensational piece of performance art, one that acknowledges theatre tradition and pushes it forward as well. Linda Winer inNewsday called it elevated silliness of the highest order that makes a pleasant case for the restorative return to knowing foolishness and the smartly absurd. Rex beating-reed instrument in The New York Observer wrote, What kind of musical is this? A fresh, unique, original, impudent, colorful, exciting, irreverent, move and wonderful musical, thats all. Clive Barnes of the New York Post called it a wild and happy mix of biting satire and loving parody. Urinetown is both a satire of American political and social forces, and also a parody of musical theatre as an art form, both aspects equally well crafted. The show ran 965 performances, more than two years, a run that might have lasted far longer if not for September 11 and its crippling of Broadway.Unlike traditional musicals, Urinetowns perfect emotionalism is followed by cynicism. When a metaphor pops up, it is promptly diffused by erratumism, such as the gazes to the distance. Even the resolution of the plot contrasts idealism with calamity and harsh reality. Literalism is present throughout the show, from the conversations between Lockstock and Little Sally to the highest degree the show itself, to the opening number that tells the audience where the bathroom is and what should be on their tickets. Of the two love songs, one focuses less on emotion and more on the literal body, and the other is relayed through Little Sally, as one of the lovers is already dead.Urinetown is satirical, laughing at the sappy old-fashioned musical comedy, but also laughing at shows like Les Miz or Passion which do away with those conventions and perhaps go likewise far the other way. Urinetown raises questions about what we exp ect from musicals, whether or not musicals confronting an issue are satisfying entertainment, why certain stories or topics are musicalized, whether or not serious musicals are too serious. Hollmann and Kotis use musical theatre clichs ironically throughout the show, utilize traditional musical comedy and making it more cruel, dark, and modern.Each time Officer Lockstock and Little Sally talk about what musicals shouldnt do, theyre also public lecture about devices certain musicals have used traditionally. When Urinetown kills off its hero, the joke is on Carousel. The violent-rage dance number, Snuff That Girl, consciously parodies Cool in West lieu Story, right down to the finger snaps. Cladwells self-justification songs comically mirror Javerts Stars in Les Misrables. In the original Broadway production ofUrinetown, one bit of choreography even invoked the now famous Les Miserables March. The scene in which Cladwell bribes Bobby mirrors the same scene in The Cradle Will Rock. And of course, Urinetown both uses and abuses the devices of Bertolt Brecht and Kurt Weill and their Threepenny Opera.The song Mr. Cladwell is a stab at traditional musicals which laud over the lead, like Hello, Dolly, Mame, and others, but instead of celebrating love for the leading lady and her optimistic spunk, here the adoring chorus is celebrating murderous, unchecked capitalism. The Cop poetry is both a tribute to Threepenny but also an ironic nod to strike culture. While hip-hop music has historically taken violence against the poor and turned it back on the police, here the violent imagery usually used for anti-police hot air is given to the police themselves, with the violence now turned back on the poor again. Other label in the show follow the scratch Tracy, with Robbie the Stockfish, nightstick Boy Bill, Soupy Sue, Little Becky Two Shoes, Tiny Tom, and Hot Blades Harry.Sallys explanation of why Urinetown isnt a good musical is funny precisely because the aspects s he thinks are missing are no longer essential aspects to musical theatre. She thinks all musicals are 1920s musical comedies, but one of the central jokes of this show is that more or less no musicals are like that anymore. Urinetown takes musical comedies, serious book musicals, political musicals, and concept musicals and takes them at extremes, showing us exactly how far we have strayed from the 1920s. Its very existence mocks anyone in the audience who still holds those mindsets about musicals in this age of Rent, Assassins, Passion, Bat Boy, Reefer Madness, Chicago, Floyd Collins, A New Brain, and Hedwig and the idle Inch. Urinetown demonstrates that at conventional musical is no longer the convention.Bobby Strong is the first American musical comedy lead being charming, cocky, and heroic. This traditional character extends back to George M. Cohan in his 1904 musical Little Johnny Jones, Billy in Anything Goes, Joey in Pal Joey, Larry Foreman in The Cradle Will Rock, Billy i n Carousel, Woody in Finians Rainbow, Harold Hill in The Music Man, Nathan in Guys and Dolls, and Ponty in How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying. Ms. Pennywise is another prototypical musical theatre character, the immoral but realistic former(a) charr that Bertolt Brecht seems to have invented with Threepenny Opera, and well as in other musicals such as Mrs. Lovett in Sweeney Todd, Fraulein Schneider in Cabaret, and Joanne in Company. Josephine Strong is the archetypal erstwhile(a) wise woman, joining Aunt Eller in Oklahoma, Nettie in Carousel, gentlewoman Thiang in The King and I, the Mother Abbess inThe Sound of Music. But here, the older woman does not have much to offer in the way of wisdom.Urinetown also takes much inspiration from Marc Blitzsteins 1937 political musical The Cradle Will Rock, which was itself heavily influenced by Brecht and composer Kurt Weill. The Cradle Will Rock label names like Mr. Mister, Editor Daily, Dr. Specialist, Reverend Salvation, Harry Druggist, and Larry Foreman. Greg Kotis did the same thing in Urinetown, with the heroic Bobby Strong, the well dressed Mr. Cladwell, the optimistic and rich Hope Cladwell, the amoral but practical Ms. Pennywise, and the cops Lockstock and Barrel. The cops names are funny in relation the literal meanings of the phrase. But its also why the original staging of The Cop Song was ill-conceived if Lockstock and Barrel are the only two cops on the force, if they are the whole police force, lock, stock, and barrel.Urinetown is created with the spirit of Bertolt Brecht, particularly his Threepenny Opera and other political theatre. Brecht aimed to engage the audience through their brains instead of their hearts, to get them to think about the issues and questions put before them on stage and constantly reminding them of the over the top nature of storytelling while maintaining levels of wonder and self-criticism. The set projected an environment rather than representing it the small c horus, songs to the audience, and elegance with which even the most serious scenes are performed commented on the fable nature of the show and the actions shown on stage.Reflecting the mindset of his work, Brecht once wrote, Nothing is more revolting than when an actor pretends not to notice that he has left the level of plain speech and started to sing. Its a bold statement, but not an unfair one. Brecht wanted truthfulness and realism on stage, not the performance. He rejected the ignoring of the Fourth Wall and thought that the Rodgers and Hammerstein naturalistic acting isnt actually the least bit naturalistic since most people in the real world dont break into four-part harmony. To Brecht, the act of singing onstage is more honest, more real, and connects the actor to the audience more fully because hes not attempt to fool them. This isnt an approach that works with shows such as Brigadoon, but is almost necessary for Urinetown. Urinetown uses all of these ideas presented by B recht.Urinetown is satirical in its theme, plot, characters, and music numbers, parodying traditional musicals as well as modern anti-musicals. Urinetown particularly gains influence through the satirical principles of Berlolt Brecht.