Skylight Music Theatre Announces Cast, Creative Team For Hilarious Tony Award-Winning Musical URINETOWN

Skylight Music Theatre Artistic Director Ray Jivoff today announced the cast, creative team and band for Urinetown, The Musical, running May 18 through June 10 in Skylight's beautiful Cabot Theatre.

Winner of three Tony Awards, Urinetown is a hilarious musical satire of the legal system, capitalism, social irresponsibility, bureaucracy, politics, corporate mismanagement- and musical theatre itself. "Once you get past the title - which even the authors make fun of in the script - this is a hysterical and highly entertaining Broadway show," said Jivoff, who will direct the production for Skylight. "Urinetown has become extraordinarily popular for good reason - it is a true original that reinvigorated the very notion of what a musical could be."

The story takes place in a Gotham-like city, where a 20-year drought has led to a government-enforced ban on private toilets, regulated by a single malevolent company that charges admission for this basic need. "In a smart yet audacious way, the show forces us to think about what would happen if there were a drastic water shortage and a corrupt billionaire controlled the fate of the people," said Jivoff. "At the same time within this tale of greed, revolution and hope, there is side-splitting humor and a classic 'boy meets girl' love story."

A Musical that Pokes Fun at Musicals While tackling the dark and outrageous circumstances, Urinetown also pokes fun at itself and at the musical theatre genre. Theatre buffs will enjoy catching references to everything from West Side Story and Les Misérables to Threepenny Opera.

Author Greg Kotis had the idea for Urinetown, The Musical when he was a student traveling though Europe and encountered pay toilets. Kotis wrote the book and co-wrote the lyrics with Mark Hollmann, who also composed the score. The show debuted at the New York Fringe Festival and then became an off-Broadway hit in 2001, the same year it moved to Broadway. It received 10 Tony Award nominations and ran until 2004.

he New York Times called the show "exuberantly satirical...another great musical that makes us laugh at tyranny." Variety described it as "audacious...crisp, sharp and clever." This is the first time Skylight has produced Urinetown. The musical has been presented worldwide on professional stages, at colleges and in high schools. Jivoff will direct a cast of 18 and work with a creative team including music director/conductor David Bonofiglio and choreographer Ryan Cappleman.

Urinetown, The Musical May 18 - June 10, 2018