‘Non-stop sitcom with incredible music’: Split Stage Productions brings ‘Urinetown’ to Lamp Theatre
Split Stage Productions’ latest performance doesn’t take itself too seriously, said director Rob Jessup.
The theater company, which opened in 2013, will perform the musical “Urinetown” Friday and Saturday and Feb. 8-10 at The Lamp Theatre in Irwin.
The 16-person cast will tell the story of a post-apocalyptic world experiencing a 20-year drought that has led to a government ban on private toilets. Use of public restrooms, controlled by one company, comes with an admission fee.
“It is a two-and-a-half hour, nonstop sitcom with incredible music,” Jessup said. “It is very funny. It pokes fun at itself. It pokes fun at other musicals, the musical theater genre. It’s just one of those pure entertainment type of shows.”
The show debuted in 2001, winning Tony awards in 2002 for best book and best score. Though the show pokes fun at corporate overreach and government control from more than two decades ago, it is still relevant to today’s audiences, Jessup said.
But audiences searching for a hidden meaning in “Urinetown” will come up short, Jessup said.
“It’s not one of those things where someone’s coming looking for depth and heady art to really consider or anything like that,” he said.
“As long as it’s done correctly, it really delivers a ton, a ton of laughs.”
Despite its success on Broadway, “Urinetown” is not performed frequently, especially in Westmoreland County, Jessup said.
The title of the musical tends to deter theater companies, joked Chris McAllister, music director for the production.
“It’s just a really fun show from a musical perspective,” said McAllister, artistic and educational director of nearby Stage Right in Greensburg. “There’s a lot of traditional musical styles, a lot of tongue-and-cheek humor and some witty lyrics, and it’s just a very fun time — for the audience as well as the performers.”
McAllister has collaborated with Split Stage Productions in recent years for performances of “Rocky Horror Picture Show” and “Rock of Ages.”
Though the show was not necessarily produced with children in mind, Jessup said it is a comfortable watch for families.
“Urinetown” will close out Split Stage Productions’ season. Its next show will open in June.
Quincey Reese is a TribLive reporter covering the Greensburg and Hempfield areas. She also does reporting for the Penn-Trafford Star. A Penn Township native, she joined the Trib in 2023 after working as a Jim Borden Scholarship intern at the company for two summers. She can be reached at qreese@triblive.com.
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