For anyone who has been to Europe, it's a common scenario: You have to use a public restroom but you're also forced to pay, or at least make a donation to the janitor. There's no way out.
Such was the basis for a musical by Greg Kotis, whose Urinetown: The Musical - a show about the right to pee - went on to win four Tony awards and numerous accolades.
Tomorrow, 40 students in Nicole Roberge's musical theatre class will open the production on the Riverside secondary stage - an event the Port Coquitlam drama teacher has wanted to mount after seeing it a decade ago at the Firehall Arts Centre in Vancouver.
Then, Roberge was especially taken with Tracey Powers' interpretation of Little Sally - a role that earned her a Jessie Richardson Theatre Award nomination. "She is the reason we're doing Urinetown. Her performance was inspirational," Roberge gushed.
"It was a lot of fun to do," Powers responded, "and I'm glad I could pass it on."
Little Sally is the precocious street urchin in Urinetown, the co-narrator who outsmarts the vindictive cop Officer Lockstock in a place, in the dystopian future, that is so short of water that there are no private loos and public toilets are controlled by a mega-corporation.
Those who flout the pay-to-pee laws are sent to the penal colony called Urinetown.
When new fee hikes are announced for the bathrooms, the rebel masses - under the direction of Bobby Strong - rise up against the rich and authority figures, who for Riverside's musical are clad a la Steampunk, a sub-genre of science fiction that features steam-powered machinery.
Roberge said Urinetown had to follow last year's Riverside production of Les Miserables, a narrative that follows the struggles between the rich and the poor in France in the 19th century.
"The two had to go together," Roberge said. "There was no way getting around it because Urinetown is based so much on Les Miz."
Both musicals also touch on the same themes of political corruptness, social irresponsibility and corporate mismanagement - and, of course, include a love twist.
But while Roberge admits Urinetown can be depressing at times, "there's also lots of satire and it's a really intelligent musical. The songs are wonderful and we've done it as a post-modern mash up.
"Really, it has it all."
Urinetown: The Musical by River's Edge Theatre runs Thursday, Friday and Saturday and March 5, 6 and 7 at 7:30 p.m. at Riverside secondary (2215 Reeve St., Port Coquitlam). Tickets at $10/$7 are available at the door or from the school by calling 604-941-6053. Matinee performances on March 5 and 6 at 1 p.m. are $5.
