SPOTLIGHT ON THE 2011 TONY AWARDS: DAY 4 - You're In Urinetown

As a super-special Spring extension of BroadwayWorld's SOUND OFF column, every day until the Tony Awards on June 12 we will be presenting a spectacular new entry in the SPOTLIGHT ON THE 2011 TONY AWARDS series featuring a particularly entertaining, interesting, relevant and exciting Tony Awards-related clip from the last sixty-three years of the ceremonies (and subsequent seasons on Broadway) with a rundown and commentary on the sights, sounds and showmanship on display in each carefully chosen selection - all, of course, coming in anticipation of Broadway's biggest night, which will be broadcast on CBS this year, as always. Once again this year, BroadwayWorld is the official home of the 2011 Tony Awards and we will also be featuring exclusive interviews, articles, photos, video content, interactive features and more in the coming days and weeks leading up to the event so be sure to check back daily for your theatre fix!

Today we continue on a theme began in yesterday's entry in the SPOTLIGHT ON THE 2011 TONY AWARDS countdown, as we inch ever closer to the big day on June 12 on CBS, with Sutton Foster's also remarkably accomplished brother, Hunter Foster, and his work in the groundbreaking grunge musical URINETOWN. While we are taking a look at his work in the Tony-triple-crown-winning URINETOWN - which took home 2002 Tony Awards for Best Book (Greg Kotis), Best Score (Mark Hollmann and Greg Kotis) and Best Director (John Rando) - we will also shed some light on the genre-bending new musical itself. It should be noted that the critically-praised show was also nominated for seven additional Tony Awards including Best Musical and Best Actor for John Collumn - but, no question, the bloody, beating heart at the center of the show was none other than Bobby Strong as essayed by Mr. Foster.

A Privilege To… See

One of the most unique and unclassifiable new musicals of the twenty-first century is the Weill/Brecht-influenced futuristic musical comedy URINETOWN by Greg Kotis and Mark Hollmann. While it took home Best Score, Best Book and Best Direction, its nine nominations are strong evidence of the impressive and risky show at the core. It's considerably more than it may at first appear to be. Part SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE-esque sketch comedy - mostly courtesy of the daffy Sally courtesy of Spencer Kayden and tongue(-of-fire)-in-cheek Jeff McCarthy - along with Wagnerian gravitas in the form of a downtrodden restroom warden - a reedy Nancy Opel as Penelope Pennywise - and, even coming complete with a delicious villain - corporate tycoon Caldwell B. Caldwell - and a star-crossed, doomed central couple, played beautifully by Jennifer Laura Thompson as Hope Cladwell and Hunter Foster as Bobby Strong. URINETOWN also possesses a score positively emitting from its every orifice the jaunty energy and irreverent verve of Kurt Weill's oh-so-idiosyncratic scores, and with a story, book and lyrics rife with irony, politics and absurdity - both in the sense of theatre-of-the-absurd and theatre of "Hey, could this really even happen? - explicative and evocative of the world of Bertolt Brecht. All these disparate ingredients converged and combined with grace, style and some truly laugh-out-loud moments - along with moments of true theatrical ingenuity (I'm thinking of the fall from the building and the exceptionally well-done use of flashlights, especially) and made URINETOWN one of those "you just had to be there" moments in the theatre of the last twenty years. It's its own thing.

While URINETOWN maintained a respectable multiple-year run on Broadway, it is really the spunky and funky stew of love, laughs, treachery and humanity that only the original cast brought to the show that really made it all work so effortlessly - and entertainingly - well. Each and every one of the actors in the URINETOWN cast were fully-formed individuals and it would be futile to try to literally describe their toeing-the-line characterizations - but, if pressed: they were sort of like cartoons with real human faculties like sweat, blood, tears and… well, you know the rest! Ahem.

So, let's get to the clip - because, after all, nothing can kill a musical - or a column - like too much exposition!

Here is just a taste of the weird and wacky world of URINETOWN with Hunter Foster leading the irrepressible original Broadway cast in the eleven o'clock number "Run Freedom Run", as introduced by Jeff McCarthy and Spencer Kayden. Brother and sister Foster alike most certainly sell their wares with delectable relish! Sell it!

But, really - the title is still awful.

That's all for today. Be sure to stay tuned to BroadwayWorld for all things Tony Awards and subscribe to this column to be the very first to check out the clips, commentary and take part in the conversation in our deluxe toast to the one and only Antoinette Perry every day until June 12 - and, especially, on that day! Until then…

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