All Aboard! Next Stop...Urinetown!

Yesterday, we went with a group of friends to see a play version of "A Christmas Story", also known as the "You'll shoot your eye out!" Christmas Story. The play was fantastic and very well acted. During intermission, I was perusing my playbill and decided to read a bit about the actors. I discovered that one of the lead actors had quite a lucrative career before his latest role in "A Christmas Story." In fact, his last acting gig was the lead in a musical called "Urinetown." After the play, I alerted the group we were with about said actor's previous stint and it was decided that I, with my expert detective skills, should get to the bottom of this! So, for all those interested, I present a brief synopsis of...Urinetown:

"One of the most uproariously funny musicals in recent years, URINETOWN is a hilarious tale of greed, corruption, love, and revolution in a time when water is worth its weight in gold. In a Gotham-like city, a terrible water shortage, caused by a 20-year draught, has led to a government-enforced ban on private toilets. The citizens must use public amenities, regulated by a single malevolent company that profits by charging admission for one of humanity's most basic needs. Amid the people, a hero decides he's had enough, and plans a revolution to lead them all to freedom! Inspired by the works of Bertolt Brecht and Kurt Weill, URINETOWN is an irreverently humorous satire in which no one is safe from scrutiny. Praised for reinvigorating the very notion of what a musical could be, URINETOWN catapults the “comedic romp” into the new millennium with its outrageous perspective, wickedly modern wit, and sustained ability to produce gales of unbridled laughter."

I know I'll be first in line at the ticket counter when Urinetown comes back to Indianapolis...will you?

Additionally, some of the actors had played roles in yet another classic I was unaware of, "A Tuna Christmas." When I googled this play/musical, I was expecting something very different, nay disturbing. Here is what I found:

"Seasons Greeting from A Tuna Christmas, the hilarious sequel to the hit comedy, Greater Tuna, starring the original cast, Joe Sears and Jaston Williams. Come spend the holidays with all your old favorite citizens of Tuna, Texas and make some new friends while you're there. Master comedians Sears and Williams, along with some split-second costume changes, portray all 24 citizens of Texas' third smallest town, where the Lion's Club is too liberal and Patsy Cline never dies."

One could only hope that Urinetown and A Tuna Christmas can someday be seen as a double feature.