The theater department at USM recognizes that today’s economy has many people left with worries and concerns, which is why they have brought a musical, “Urinetown,” to the stage that uses humor to address important issues that many people are faced with. In “Urinetown” the characters are suffering  from a water shortage. The shortage becomes so bad that water is no longer free. It goes so far that they even have to pay to urinate.

   This overly exaggerated and comical issue makes a person think about his or her own society. Robin Carr, an associate professor and the director of “Urinetow n,” said that the musical contains several messages that relate to society.

   “First, we need to take care of our environment so we are never in this position to begin with,” she said. “People need to listen and not ignore the signs that are being given.”

   She said that the second is to realize that the forms of government that exist today in their extremities do not work.

   “We need to look at other options and find a balance,” she said.

   Carr said that humor is needed when addressing the issues that the musical’s message contains.

   “If not, it can become preachy and people stop listening,” she said.
Ashlee Campbell, a junior who played Little Becky Two Shoes in “Urinetown,” agreed that delivering the messages with humor is important.

   “The audience is entertained and still gets the point,” she said. “We also don’t have to beat them over the head with a lecture; it’s up to them to determine which parts of the play mostly directly affect them.”

   Campbell is confident that the audience will be able to find the message in the musical because it has very obvious moments.

   “However, there are little subtle things that are sort of thrown in there that the whole cast waits each night to see if the audience will get,” Campbell said.

   The program lists different musicals that are referenced throughout “Urinetown.” Carr encourages the audience to try and find them all.

   While Campbell finds the usage of humor to be helpful in delivering the message, she still said the message itself is important to her and relevant to current events.

   “Water conservation is always a good thing,” she said. “We only have so many natural resources, and as populations grow, there are less and less for us to use. We need to take care of what we have.”

   Sara Nelson, a senior psychology major, attended the musical and was pleased with the message.

   “It begs our government, and our society as a whole, to take a good look at the state of things,” she said. “We have allowed for greed and competition to absorb us and, without reform, we could very well find ourselves in trouble down the road.”

   Nelson said that it was not hard to find the message in the musical. Like Carr and Campbell, she said the message is important and she enjoyed the humor.

    “I found the humor to be clever and loaded with meaning,” she said. “It worked very well for me.”