Bibliography

"Urinetown - The Musical." About.com. N.p., n.d. Web. 12 Feb. 2014.

<http://plays.about.com/od/musicals/a/Urinetown-The-Musical.htm>.
"URINETOWN: The Musical?." Music Theatre International. N.p., 21 June 2010. Web. 12
Feb. 2014. <http://mtiblog.mtishows.com/urinetown-the-musical/>.
Applause Theatre Books 211 West 71st Street, NYC 212-496-7511
www.applausebooks.com
Berk, Richard A. Water Shortage. University Press of America, 1994.
Brown, Lenora Inez. "No Splash In The Pan." American Theatre 18.10 (2001): 79. Aca
demic Search Premier. Web. 12 Feb. 2014.
Columbia Encyclopedia. Regulating Pollution: Does the US System Work? Resources for
the Future, 1998, Columbia University Press, Fifth Edition, 1995.
Deffaa, Chip. "The Week: Soundtracks." Entertainment Weekly 608 (2001): 75. Film &
Television Literature Index with Full Text. Web. 12 Feb. 2014.
Drama Book Shop250 West 40th Street, NYC 212-944-0595
www.dramabookshop.com
Ewen, Frederic. Bertolt Brecht: His Life, His Art, and His Times. Citadel Press, 1967.
Filichia, Peter. Lets Put On A Musical! Back Stage Books, 1993.
Green, Stanley and revised by Kay Green. Broadway Musicals Show by Show. Fifth Edi
tion. Hal Leonard Corporation, 1996.
Harvey, Dennis. "Urinetown, The Musical." Variety 391.9 (2003): 38. Film & Television Lit
erature Index with Full Text. Web. 12 Feb. 2014.
http://polyglot.lss.wisc.edu/german/ brecht/The International Brecht Society Homepage
Lavelle, Marianna and Joshua Kuriantzick. US News and World Report, August 12, 2002.
Miller, Scott. "In the Bowels of Urinetown." Inside URINETOWN. N.p., n.d. Web. 12 Feb.
2014. <http://www.newlinetheatre.com/urinechapter.html>.
Robbins,Tim. CradleWillRock:The Movie and the Moment. Newmarket Press, 2000.
Roth, Leslie, and Samantha Henry. "In 'Urinetown,' a Satirical Take on Capitalism." The
Washington Post 13 Dec. 2007. Web. 12 Feb. 2014.
<http://www.washingtonpost.com/wpdyn/content/article/2007/12/12/AR2007121201031.html>.
Stifter, Elizabeth. "Urinetown (Book)." Library Journal 128.2 (2003): 86. Academic Search
Premier. Web. 12 Feb. 2014.
Sue, Gough. "Urinetown, The Musical." Courier Mail, The (Brisbane) (2009): 80. Newspaper
Source. Web. 12 Feb. 2014.
Theatre Circle Books1 Shubert Alley, NYC346 West 44th Street, NYC 212-586-7610
800-223-1320 www.BroadwayNewYork.com
Urinetown: The Musical Original Broadway Cast Recording, RCA Victor, 2001.
Willet, John. TheTheaterofBertolt Brecht. London, 1959.
www.gothamgazette.com, Citizens Union Foundation website
http://www.hhsdrama.com/documents/Urinetown_StageNotes.pdf
www.playbill.com, For the latest information and news on Urinetown: The Musical
www.urinetown.com, The official website for Urinetown: The Musical
Special Thanks to Faith Reed and Tim Barbiaux
Created by Annabella Schmoker

T OW
E
N
I
N
E
TH

Music and Lyrics by Mark

Hollmann and Greg Kotis
Directed by Scott Lubinski

MUSICA

Eugenia Rawls
Courtyard Theatre
Febuary 27-March 1, March 6-9

Bibliography
"Urinetown - The Musical." About.com. N.p., n.d. Web. 12 Feb. 2014.
<http://plays.about.com/od/musicals/a/Urinetown-The-Musical.htm>.
"URINETOWN: The Musical?." Music Theatre International. N.p., 21 June 2010. Web. 12
Feb. 2014. <http://mtiblog.mtishows.com/urinetown-the-musical/>.
Applause Theatre Books 211 West 71st Street, NYC 212-496-7511
www.applausebooks.com
Berk, Richard A. Water Shortage. University Press of America, 1994.
Brown, Lenora Inez. "No Splash In The Pan." American Theatre 18.10 (2001): 79. Aca
demic Search Premier. Web. 12 Feb. 2014.
Columbia Encyclopedia. Regulating Pollution: Does the US System Work? Resources for
the Future, 1998, Columbia University Press, Fifth Edition, 1995.
Deffaa, Chip. "The Week: Soundtracks." Entertainment Weekly 608 (2001): 75. Film &
Television Literature Index with Full Text. Web. 12 Feb. 2014.
Drama Book Shop250 West 40th Street, NYC 212-944-0595
www.dramabookshop.com
Ewen, Frederic. Bertolt Brecht: His Life, His Art, and His Times. Citadel Press, 1967.
Filichia, Peter. Lets Put On A Musical! Back Stage Books, 1993.
Green, Stanley and revised by Kay Green. Broadway Musicals Show by Show. Fifth Edi
tion. Hal Leonard Corporation, 1996.
Harvey, Dennis. "Urinetown, The Musical." Variety 391.9 (2003): 38. Film & Television Lit
erature Index with Full Text. Web. 12 Feb. 2014.
http://polyglot.lss.wisc.edu/german/ brecht/The International Brecht Society Homepage
Lavelle, Marianna and Joshua Kuriantzick. US News and World Report, August 12, 2002.
Miller, Scott. "In the Bowels of Urinetown." Inside URINETOWN. N.p., n.d. Web. 12 Feb.
2014. <http://www.newlinetheatre.com/urinechapter.html>.
Robbins,Tim. CradleWillRock:The Movie and the Moment. Newmarket Press, 2000.
Roth, Leslie, and Samantha Henry. "In 'Urinetown,' a Satirical Take on Capitalism." The
Washington Post 13 Dec. 2007. Web. 12 Feb. 2014.
<http://www.washingtonpost.com/wpdyn/content/article/2007/12/12/AR2007121201031.html>.
Stifter, Elizabeth. "Urinetown (Book)." Library Journal 128.2 (2003): 86. Academic Search
Premier. Web. 12 Feb. 2014.
Sue, Gough. "Urinetown, The Musical." Courier Mail, The (Brisbane) (2009): 80. Newspaper
Source. Web. 12 Feb. 2014.
Theatre Circle Books1 Shubert Alley, NYC346 West 44th Street, NYC 212-586-7610
800-223-1320 www.BroadwayNewYork.com
Urinetown: The Musical Original Broadway Cast Recording, RCA Victor, 2001.
Willet, John. TheTheaterofBertolt Brecht. London, 1959.
www.gothamgazette.com, Citizens Union Foundation website
http://www.hhsdrama.com/documents/Urinetown_StageNotes.pdf
www.playbill.com, For the latest information and news on Urinetown: The Musical
www.urinetown.com, The official website for Urinetown: The Musical
Special Thanks to Faith Reed and Tim Barbiaux
Created by Annabella Schmoker

T OW
E
N
I
N
E
TH

Music and Lyrics by Mark

Hollmann and Greg Kotis
Directed by Scott Lubinski

MUSICA

Eugenia Rawls
Courtyard Theatre
Febuary 27-March 1, March 6-9

Glossary

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Kurt Weill (1900-1950) began his career in the early

1920's, by the time his first opera, was performed in April
1926, he was an established young German composer. But he
had already decided to devote himself to the musical theater,
and his works with Bertolt Brecht soon made him famous all
over Europe. Certain common threads tie together his career:
a concern for social justice, an aggressive pursuit of
highly-regarded playwrights and lyricists as collaborators, and
the ability to adapt to audience tastes no matter where he
found himself. His most famous work, The Threepenny Opera
(1931), is a musical that satirizes class differences and moral
corruption in society, and one Urinetown: The Musical is most
distinctly inspired by.
Marc Blitzstein (1905-1935), an American writer and
composer, was deeply influenced by Brecht, for the way
Brecht connected to audiences in a real and meaningful way.
Blitzstein became aware of the class injustices in society, and
wanted to create work that would inspire the working class by
making "art that will bring it to a deeper knowledge of itself,
and reality that will show a possible new reality."
Cli
Clifford
Odets (1906-1963) was another American
playwright who expressed his political views through his work.
As a teenager, he became a part of the influential Group
Theatre in New York City, a company devoted to producing
plays with social significance. In 1934, he joined the American
Communist Party; like others in the party, he felt that American
capitalism was one of the major reasons for the Great
Depression.
John Kander is the composer and Fred Ebb was the lyricist
for a series of musical theatre successes making up the
songwriting team of Kander and Ebb (1965-2010). In 1962
Kander teamed up with Ebb to write Flora The Red Menace.
Some of there musicals include Cabaret, Chicago, Fosse and
Curtains. Fred Ebb passed away in 2004 but John Kander has
continued to compose up to 2010.

H i s t or i c a l I n s p i r a t i o n s

How it All Began...

Urinetown: The Musical runs on a long-standing tradition of

satirical social commentary and protest plays. The writers,
Mark Hollman and Greg Kotis, use many of the same
techniques as their theatrical predecessors and the show is
indebted to the works of many of these great playwrights,
composers, and philosophers, which the show honors,
updates and pokes fun at.

Mark Hollmann and Greg Kotis must be valedictorians of

the Mel Brooks school of songwriting--rule one, violate all rules
of grammar whenever possible; rule two, don't worry about repeating words repeatedly; rule three, take any icon (be it good
or evil) and exploit it shamelessly by subjecting it to every
known metaphor, cliche or idiomatic expression; and rule four,
don't be afraid to embrace the sounds of old-world music (i.e.,
polka or klezmer).

The show owes the largest part of its inspiration to Bertolt

Brecht (1898-1956) who was a highly influential German
playwright and director. He became renowned for encouraging
audiences to think, instead of becoming too involved in the
story or characters; developing a form of drama called epic
theater, in which ideas or lessons are the most important
element. For Brecht, the theater was most useful as a forum
for debate. His plays raised social issues that were of great
importance to his audiences often using humor mixed in with
politics. Bertolt Brechts theories about theater have been so
influential that a word has been coined to describe his
theatrical style."Brechtian" is the term used to characterize the
type of theater that Brecht not only wrote, but also directed and
developed through extensive work with actors.

With music and lyrics composed by Mark Hollmann in collaboration with Greg Kotis who comprised the lyrics and novel,
Urinetown: the Musical started life in the New York International Fringe Festival in 1999. It went on to be one of the first
shows to successfully make the transition from Fringe to
Broadway; not to mention earning itself ten Tony nominations
and three wins, including best book, original score and best di
rection.
The show opened in September 2001 and the writers could
not have foreseen the significance of that date, and no doubt,
the context of the time played a huge part in how the show was
perceived. Nonetheless, those watching in 2001 discovered a
show that, in a gentle and comedic manner, dealt with topics
and thoughts that would have been swirling round in the heads
of native New Yorkers and many Americans; and still the show
is thought provoking and relevant today.
up
is came was
t
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Gr
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hen h
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wright
--Play the idea w a pay-to-us h
g
with led to use eling throu
compel while trav
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Style
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