Show Synopsis:
Urine Good Company (the UGC) controls public toilets and water consumption in a town with a twenty-year drought and forces residents to pay to use the amenities. Penelope Pennywise and her assistant Bobby Strong run Public Amenity #9, and Bobby?s father is carted off the penal colony of Urinetown when he can?t afford to use the restroom and urinates in the street. Hope, the beautiful daughter of the UGC CEO Caldwell B. Caldwell, starts working for her father, and becomes friendly with Bobby, who is distraught over his father?s arrest. Caldwell?s assistant Mr. McQueen announces new fee hikes for the urinals, and Bobby starts a ?pee-for-free? rebellion. He discovers that Hope is Cladwell?s daughter and kidnaps her to a secret hideout to get Cladwell to listen to him. Caldwell summons Bobby to UGC headquarters to bribe him to convince the rebels to agree to the fee hikes and release Hope. Cladwell orders Bobby to Urinetown, which is actually just death, and arrests Pennywise when she defies him. Bobby?s last words are relayed to Hope and the rebels through Little Sally - he loves her and wants the rebels to keep fighting. The rebels are about to murder Hope in retaliation for Bobby?s death when Pennywise reveals that she is Hope?s mother and wants to fight the UGC with them. They kill Cladwell and rename the UGC ?The Bobby Strong Memorial Toilet Authority? for a time of peace. The water eventually runs out in the town and many townspeople begin to die, including Hope, but the town continues to function.
Character:
Bobby Strong, a dashing and romantic young man.
Hold Cladwell, a beautiful and idealistic young woman with gumption.
Song Context:
Hope comforts Bobby after his father is arrested and they agree that there must be a better way to live than with the rules that the UGC has thrust on them. They also start to realize their mutual attraction.
Fun Facts:
1. This Broadway musical originally debuted at the New York International Fringe Festival in 1999.
2. Bookwriter Greg Kotis was inspired to write this musical when he encountered a pay-per-use toilet while traveling Europe as a student.
3. This musical won Best Book of a Musical, Best Score, and Best Director of a Musical at the 2002 Tony Awards.
"HOPE
When darkness surrounds you
And you lose your way,
You have your own compass
That turns night to day,
And it's even with you
Before you depart.
Be still, hear it beating
It's leading you -
Follow your heart.
BOBBY [spoken]
Follow my heart? But to where?
HOPE [spoken]
To wherever your heart tells you to go.
BOBBY [spoken]
Even...there?
HOPE [spoken]
Even to the clouds, if that's what your heart commands. What's it saying now?
BOBBY [spoken]
I don't know. I don't know how to listen to my heart.
HOPE [spoken]
You have to listen carefully. Here, let me try.
BOBBY [spoken]
Do you -
HOPE [spoken]
Ssshhh! Ah, there it is. It's saying:
[singing]
We all want a world
Filled with peace and joy
With plenty of water
For each girl and boy.
That bright, shining world
Is just waiting to start -
No meanness or sorrow,
Just cleanness tomorrow
If only you follow your heart!
[spoken]
You see there, Bobby. Even your heart knows you should follow your heart.
BOBBY [spoken]
""Peace and joy"", ""plenty of water??I guess I do want those things
HOPE [spoken]
There's something else your heart was saying. Maybe something I shouldn't have heard.
BOBBY [spoken]
There was?
HOPE [spoken]
I think so. It was barely audible but I definitely heard something.
BOBBY [spoken]
Well? What was it?
HOPE[spoken]
Let me try again, maybe I can make it out this time. There is is. So faint...it's saying:
[singing]
Follow into the open air
Far from squalor and noise,
Follow, someone is waiting there,
Someone who shares all your hopes
And your joys.
[spoken]
""Someone is waiting there""? Why, my heart was saying those exact words
just the other day.
BOBBY [spoken]
It was?
HOPE [spoken]
Sure it was. ""Squalor and Noise"", ""Hopes and Joys"". It was telling me about all those things.
BOBBY [spoken]
I didn't know two hearts could speak as one.
HOPE [spoken]
I didn't either. Until now. Here, listen.
BOBBY [singing]
Someday, I'll meet someone
Whose heart joins with mine,
Aortas and arteries all intertwined.
They'll beat so much stronger
Than they could apart -
Eight chambers of muscle to hustle
The love in our heart.
BOTH
Love is kind and considerate,
Love is peaceful and fair,
Love can creep up so suddenly
When you least think of it.
Your love is there.
We all want a world
Filled with peace and with joy
With plenty of justice
For each girl and boy.
That bright shining world
Is just waiting to start.
No anger or badness,
Just laughter and gladness,
If only I follow your heart."