Once upon a time, summer kids played ball, swam, or strolled the mall, but not so for the motley crew under the leadership of Tyler Null and TYR (Tomorrow Youth Repertory). Instead, his people, a kind of all-star cast of young local actors, have put together the musical Urinetown.

Yes, you read that right, Urinetown–The Musical. So instead of fielding grounders, working on their butterfly stroke, or partaking in mob flirting, they are singing and dancing and acting in a satire about private control of toilets that has a whole lot going on in roughly two hours. There’s police corruption, corporate greed, the struggle to organize and rebel, and, oh yeah, a love story. But it’s also funny—primarily funny, intentionally funny as satire is meant to be. Were I not watching this indoors at the Academy of Alameda, I’d have sworn I was seeing a junior version of a San Francisco Mime Troupe show (which, by the way, if you’ve never seen the SFMT you should check out this summer’s show, American Dreams, at various parks around the bay).

The strengths of Urinetown are the strengths of TYR—a terrific ensemble in great costumes singing and dancing well on a wonderful set with solid sound (the lighting could have been brighter for this old reviewer’s eyes). Congrats to Tyler (director), Tania Johnson (music), Charlie ten Holt (dance), Amy Dunn (costumes), and Vanessa Hill (set). They also had a live band, woohoo, so bravo to Camden Daly. But every show relies on its performers and several stand out amongst The Plunger Cast I saw on Friday, July 12. (The Toilet Brush Cast takes turns and overlaps with the Plungers, see the TYR website to know who’s whom and when they are performing). Every melodrama needs a villain, and Zoe Bruce plays Caldwell B. Caldwell with a booming voice, cold eyes, and icy heart as if they just stepped off the set of Succession on HBO.

Opposite Bruce is Khalil Carim as good guy Bobby Strong, whose parents clearly intended him to be heroic and in fact turns out to be so, with a confident demeanor and commanding pipes. You keep expecting him to shed his coveralls and reveal a red cape and tights. Bailey Buckingham plays Hope Caldwell, daughter to mean daddy, who falls for Bobby because, well, he’s strong. And has a good heart. And is fearless. And handsome, too. She’s wonderful in ways I really cannot talk about without revealing too much of the plot, but let’s just say she grows from innocence to instigator and is compelling all the while. On a similar arc and also outstanding is Elle Hanlon who plays Little Sally, mom of the cute stuffed bear.

The actor who steals the how, however, is Amelia Forder as the narrator and cop, Officer Lockstock. She does this by being ridiculous in the most charming way possible. With all due respect to kid actors (I used to direct their kind), in many ways a lot of kid acting is over-the-top acting. Look at me be a goose or mouse or sheep or knight! The trick to satire of this ilk, and again I’m thinking the Mime Troupe, is to flavor your excess in a way that lets us know that you know how foolishly you’re behaving, all while being fully invested in the characterization. The great Joan Mankin was that kind of actor, and so is Amelia Forder. She employs an accent, swagger, and jolting body movements that are both polished and hilarious. To borrow her voice, the kid’s got moxie!

Urinetown–The Musical is bawdy, cheeky, and kooky. It steals a bit from Les Misérables (One More Day to Urination!), but also takes a keen look at how we live today, with the friction between corporate profits and citizens’ rights, and while making us laugh, does not offer an easy solution to these problems. At the risk of getting serious, the recent Supreme Court decision allowing homeless people to be arrested for sleeping in public is not yet a musical, but the folks who created Urinetown sure could make a poignant sequel if they wanted. See Urinetown-The Musical July 19, 20, and 21 at the Academy of Alameda, 401 Pacific Avenue. Visit the TYR website for more information on tickets.
Congrats to all involved.
Gene Kahane is the founder of the Foodbank Players, a lifelong teacher, and former Poet Laureate for the City of Alameda. Reach him at [email protected]. His writing is collected at AlamedaPost.com/Gene-Kahane.