Theater & Arts
Generally, the Ateneo Blue Repertory (BlueRep) is known for staging relatively upbeat productions, filled with bright lights, pristine sets, and lively song-and-dance numbers. Urinetown, the org’s latest theatrical offering, isn’t that kind of play. However, it is no less of a musical delight.
Adapted from the Tony Award-winning original written by Greg Kotis and Mark Hollmann, Urinetown is Les Miserables meets Blade Runner, with shout-outs to a host of other stage productions. It’s a wonderfully subversive romp, and directors Missy Maramara and Darrell Uy manage the musical’s chaotic energy with gusto. Despite its dark and depressing premise, the play is constantly brimming with an adrenaline-fueled electricity that’s difficult to resist.
It helps, of course, that every member of the cast knows how to turn it up. Despite being members of the org’s newest crop of members, the actors carry themselves like veterans onstage, with freshman Nicole Chiang being particularly impressive as painfully naïve heroine Hope Cladwell. While the occasional slip-ups and awkward deliveries are unavoidable with the number of newbies in the show, the cast is by and large superb, bringing liveliness and energy to a show whose frenetic choreography practically demands it.
CJ Francisco’s set design, all chain-link fences and steampunk graffiti, hits all the right dystopian beats, while costume designer Mikka Espino dresses the ensemble cast with the proper amount of filth and grease. The show is wonderfully lit, with a picture-perfect mix of harsh blues and dark shadows giving the whole set a haunting, ominous texture.
Perhaps the only negative thing you can say about the show is it doesn’t stay with you. The songs are all consistently excellent, but there’s a noticeable lack of showstoppers. The actors all give solid turns, but few really stand out. The show flows through like running water, and that is both a good and bad thing. At this point, though, this is just picking nits; with this play, the good very much outweighs the bad.
While Urinetown isn’t the kind of play that will stick with you even after you walk out of the theater, it is a glorious diversion that will have you tapping your toes with every song. BlueRep doesn’t often put on gritty productions like this one, but it’s not a bad look for them. For the most part, dirty works for Urinetown, and it should work for audiences too.
Final Rating: 3.5/5
Pros: Production design, lights and sounds, and costumes were excellent. Performances were mostly solid, as was choreography and blocking. Humor was often delivered well.
Cons: Actors occasionally delivered their lines awkwardly. Narrative can get carried away with the meta-humor. Not particularly memorable, despite being quality.
