Connecticut Rep Presents URINETOWN, 4/14-30

Storrs: Connecticut Repertory Theatre (CRT) will present the smash-hit Broadway Musical Urinetown, featuring Broadway star Andrea McArdle, April 14 - 17 & 27 - 30, 2011 in the Harriet S. Jorgensen Theatre on the Storrs campus. For tickets and information, call 860-486-4226 or visit www.crt.uconn.edu.

Connecticut Repertory Theatre will close its main stage season with the surprise Broadway hit Urinetown, the musical, book and lyrics by Greg Kotis, music and lyrics by Mark Hollman.

Urinetown sends up corporate greed, ecological disaster and musical theatre itself, through hummable music, old fashioned dance numbers, and sharp humor. This entertaining and crowd-pleasing show started at the 1999 New York International Fringe Festival, a launching pad for new non-traditional works. Its success at the Fringe led took it to off-Broadway and a transfer to Broadway where it delighted audiences and won several Tony Awards, including Best Book of a Musical and Best Original Musical Score. Tony Nominee Andrea McArdle will star as Penelope Pennywise alongside Broadway veteran Bob Walton and newcomer Ken Clark.

In this mythical town, scarce water is worth its weight in gold after a 20 year drought. Private toilets are illegal, and the monopoly on public bathrooms held by a malevolent corporation is driving up the costs. From the midst of these downtrodden people a hero emerges to lead a revolution to freedom! This satirical musical was a hit on Broadway, winning three Tony Awards and reinventing the very notion of what a Broadway musical can be. Urinetown takes a witty, irreverent, and uniquely "musical" look at corporate greed, corruption and human survival. You'll leave the theatre humming these tunes about people who have to pay to pee!

In a world where a 20-year drought has forced the removal of private bathrooms, a megacorporation called "Urine Good Company" is forcing all citizens to use pay-as-you-go public "amenities. " Within this satirical context, Urinetown mocks city politics and municipal utilities, boy-meets-girl romances and classic Broadway musicals. The quirky collection of happy carefree show tunes belies the show's powerful insights into the rights of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness as expressed by the freedom to pee.

Director Paul Mullins said, "Urinetown: The Musical is a hilarious, beautiful, bitter, biting tribute to the musical theatre. It sends up and pays adoring homage to the great musical theatre traditions."

Dramaturg Elysse Yullo said, "Urinetown is a hysterically funny satire that highlights the absurdities of corruption, greed, and even itself as a musical. It will have you clutching your sides with laughter and thanking your lucky stars that you do not have to pay to pee!"

The CRT production will feature Broadway Star Andrea McArdle as Penelope Pennywise. McArdle first captured the hearts of theatergoers everywhere in 1977 when she originated the title role in the mega-musical Annie, based on the popular Harold Gray comic strip "Little Orphan Annie". She has honed her craft by working with some of the great legends of the entertainment industry including Ethel Merman, Liza Minnelli, Julie Andrews, Bob Hope, Liberace, Frank Sinatra, Steve Martin and Martin Short, to name a few, and was privileged to have appeared on television with Johnny Carson, Merv Griffin and Dinah Shore.

As "Annie," Ms. McArdle became the youngest performer ever to be nominated for a Tony Award as Best Lead Actress in a Musical. She also received the Theater World and Outer Critics' Circle Awards for her performance and went on to star when the show was produced on London's West End with Catherine Zeta-Jones.

Also on Broadway, Ms. McArdle starred in the Jerry Herman musical Jerry's Girls alongside Carol Channing and Leslie Uggams; she portrayed the sassy Smoking Car, Ashley, in Andrew Lloyd Webber's Starlight Express; and starred as Margy Frake in State Fair; as Fantine in Les Miserables and, most recently as Belle in Disney's Beauty and the Beast. She toured nationally starring as Sally Bowles in Cabaret and as Eponine in Les Miserables and appeared in The Vagina Monologues, which she appeared in Off-Broadway as well.

In addition to Annie, Andrea's film and television credits include starring as Judy Garland in Rainbow, appearing in The Leading Ladies Of Broadway on PBS, All My Children on ABC and headlining her own PBS special Andrea McArdle On Broadway.

Photo Credit: Dana Haddad