By Yashowanto Ghosh, Aquinas Reporter
Interval of Urinetown: The Musical on Friday, Sept. 6, 2024. Photo Yashowanto Ghosh/The Saint
The final production of Circle Theatre’s 2024 season is the Broadway classic, Urinetown: The Musical, which opened in the Performing Arts Center on Aquinas College’s campus on Sept. 3, with shows continuing to Sept. 21.
A hilarious satire with catchy tunes and lively choreography, Urinetown opens in a society where all restrooms are public restrooms, and they are all owned and run by a private company. Everyone has to pay the company whenever they need to use a restroom. There is a law against relieving yourself anywhere else, and anyone who violates this law is hunted down by the police and “sent to Urinetown,” which is a euphemism for being pushed to death from the top of the company’s high-rise office building. The company bribes a senator to let them raise the prices they charge for the use of their restrooms; this triggers riots—which are played as a parody of Les Misérables—with the predictable outcome of the company’s founder-cum-president being “sent to Urinetown,” but also with one more dark twist beyond that. Catch one of the remaining shows to find out the last twist, and to experience all the fantastic music and dancing first hand!
Speaking of twists, take some cash in small bills with you when you go to this show: The production is turning the whole PAC into Urinetown, in the sense that you must pay up if you need to use a restroom while you are there! But they are not specifying how much you should pay—it is just whatever amount you want to donate to Circle Theatre. Also, the concession stand has a cocktail they are calling “pee-tini” to go with the theme of the show. The performance runs two hours, with an intermission between its two acts.
The PAC—the venue for Aquinas College Theatre Program’s productions later in the academic year—is a collaboration of four organizations: Aquinas, Catholic Central High School, West Catholic High School, and Circle Theatre. Of these, Circle Theatre’s season started with a children’s show the first week of May, continued with four more shows over summer, and is winding up with Urinetown this month. The overall quality of their productions continues to impress consistently; also, their shows often involve some Aquinas students and alumni, both on stage and among the production staff.The remaining shows of Urinetown are at 7:30 p.m. on Sept. 13, 14, 18, 19, 20, and 21, plus a matinée performance at 3 p.m. this Sunday, Sept. 15.
The Saint 