URINETOWN: the musical
Music, Lyrics, and Book by Mark Hollman and Greg Kotis
Directed by Joseph Arreola
Musically Directed by Heather Thomas
Choreographed by Molly King and Jesse Wilson
AGES: MIDDLE SCHOOL AND HIGH SCHOOL
SHOW FEE: $300
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IMPORTANT DATES:
Auditions
Monday, April 21, 2025 from 6pm to 9pm
Callbacks
Wednesday, April 23, 2025 from 6pm to 9pm
and Thursday, April 24, 20225 from 6pm to 9pm
Performances
June 20th and 21st at 7:0 PM
June 21st and 22nd at 2:00 PM
and June 22nd at 5:00 PM
NPAC Theatre
If you are called back, you must attend one of the scheduled
callbacks to be considered for a principal role.
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CLICK ON THE ABOVE BUTTON TO ACCESS AUDITION MATERIALS:
Hello auditioners!
Thank you for your interest in Urinetown: the Musical. We are so excited to get started with this process! First and foremost, we want you to feel relaxed going into auditions. We know how stressful and nerve-wracking the audition process can be, but we hope that you’ll have a little bit of fun with your audition. Urinetown is a crazy comedy, and we’re looking for people just as crazy to bring the show to life. Now that you have this packet, you can begin preparing for your audition. Most of the information you need will be in this packet, so be sure to read it carefully. The best way to prepare is to use all the resources you have: listen to the recording of the show (it can be found on youtube as well as various other places online), read the script, and study the sides, the music, and the tracks we have provided for you in the google drive. Still have questions? Feel free to come to anyone on the team for extra help. We want this process to be as enjoyable and as stress-free as possible. Have fun, and BREAK A LEG!
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What to expect
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Vocal/acting auditions: Every auditioner is required to sign up for a vocal/acting audition slot. During your audition you will be asked to slate your name, perform a song and a monologue, and complete a range test. Please pick a monologue and song from the packet that corresponds to your role preference, but be prepared to sing ALL selected songs that you could be considered for, as we may ask you to sing an additional song.
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Dance Auditions: You do not need any prior dance experience to audition for Urinetown! To be considered for a part, you are required to do a small dance combination at the auditions. Be sure to wear clothes you can move in (sweat pants, shorts, leggings, etc.) and bring a water bottle!
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Callbacks: Callbacks will be held on Wednesday, April 23 and Thursday, April 24th from 6pm to 9pm. If you are called back, you will need to be prepared to attend one of the callback days with your materials prepped and ready to perform. The callback materials will be emailed to you upon receiving a callback and they will be available in printed form at the callbacks. If you do not get a callback, that DOES NOT mean you are not in the show, similarly getting called back does not guarantee that you have been cast.
Synopsis
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It is the future, and things aren’t looking so good. A twenty-year drought has caused a terrible water shortage, making private toilets unthinkable. Public amenities are all controlled by the mega-corporation, Urine Good Company, which charges a fee for each trip to the bathroom. Strict laws ensure that all citizens use only these facilities and failure to comply results in an immediate escort to “Urinetown”, the mysterious place from which no one ever returns.
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On an ordinary morning, the oppressed masses huddle in line at Public Amenity #9, the poorest, filthiest urinal in town, which is run by Penelope Pennywise and her young assistant, Bobby Strong. Bobby’s father, Old Man Strong, is unable to pay for his daily admission. He begs Pennywise to let him in for free, but she refuses, insisting that “It’s a Privilege to Pee.” Out of desperation, Old Man Strong pees on the street illegally – and is sent straight to Urinetown.
Later that day, in the offices of Urine Good Company, the corrupt CEO, Caldwell B. Cladwell, pays off Senator Fipp for helping pass the new fee hikes that will bring more money to UGC. They are interrupted by the arrival of Cladwell’s beautiful daughter, Hope. She has just returned from The Most Expensive University in the World to be the new fax/copy girl for UGC. The staff sings Cladwell’s praises in “Mr. Cladwell.”
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That night, Hope runs into a disheartened Bobby, who feels responsible for the fate that befell his father earlier that day. Hope reminds him that everyone has a heart and advises him to follow his. The two feel an immediate connection as they sing “Follow Your Heart,” and share a kiss before they part ways. Bobby vows to follow Hope’s advice. Later, Lockstock and Barrel discuss Old Man Strong’s trip to Urinetown and tell of other unfortunates who disobeyed the law by peeing for free (“Cop Song”).
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The next day, the new fee hikes are announced to an angry crowd. Bobby enters and declares that he will no longer comply with the rules of a corrupt corporation. With the poor on his side (“Look at the Sky”) Bobby takes over the amenity and starts letting people in for free. Soon a full-scale rebellion has broken out.
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Word of the uprising reaches Cladwell, who demands order. Hope protests, but Cladwell explains that success takes ruthlessness (“Don’t Be the Bunny”). Cladwell, the UGC staff, Lockstock, and Barrel arrive at Amenity Nine to snuff out the rebellion. With the climactic “Finale – Act One,” Bobby and his followers take Hope hostage as a bargaining chip for their cause and run for their lives!
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Act II opens with an explanation from Lockstock that the poor are hiding in the sewers with Hope (“What is Urinetown?”). The bloodthirsty and desperate rebels, led by Hot Blades Harry and Little Becky Two Shoe, seek revenge by using Hope: “Snuff That Girl.” Bobby returns, however, just in time to save her. He inspires them not to abandon all optimism (“Run, Freedom, Run”). Suddenly, Pennywise bursts into the secret sewer hideout and tells Bobby that Cladwell wants to see him at UGC headquarters to discuss an agreement. Bobby suspects a trap, but decides to go anyway.
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At the UGC headquarters, Cladwell offers Bobby a suitcase full of cash as well as amnesty to the rebels as long as Hope is returned and the people agree to the new fee hikes. Bobby refuses and stands by his demand of free toilet access for all. Cladwell also refuses to back down and blocks Bobby’s exit. When Cladwell is not phased by Penny’s reminder that the rebels have Hope and are prepared to harm her, Pennywise and Fipp are outraged and ask themselves “Why Did I Listen to That Man?”
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Cladwell orders Lockstock and Barrel to drag Bobby to Urinetown. On the top of the UGC building, Bobby learns the truth that “going to Urinetown” is actually a euphemism for being pushed off of a rooftop. As he falls to his death, he laments, “Why did I listen to my heart?” Back in the hideout, Little Sally, a poor girl, breaks the news that Bobby has been killed and shares his last words, “Tell Her I Love Her.” Unsure of where to turn, they again suggest killing Hope, but Pennywise demands that they spare her. As she unties Hope, Pennywise reveals that during the Stink Years she was Cladwell’s lover and Hope’s mother.
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Hope assures the poor that the rebellion is not over and convinces them to let her be their leader in the rebellion against her father. The rebels avenge the death of Bobby as they kill various UGC Staff (“We’re Not Sorry”), including Cladwell. Hope takes over her father’s company and renames it the Bobby Strong Memorial Toilet Authority, granting free toilet access for all. She ushers in a new age of hope as she sings “I See a River.”
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However, in a sort of epilogue, Lockstock informs us that without any limits on water consumption, water eventually disappears altogether. Although Cladwell was a tyrant, his laws did regulate water consumption, and without them the townspeople realize that their city has become the horrible Urinetown they were made to fear. The show leaves the audience with a question: Can they continue to live a life that they consciously know is unsustainable?
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​Characters:
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Officer Lockstock: The narrator. A policeman with questionable motives. (Bass)
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Bobby Strong: The assistant custodian at Public Amenity #9 and leader of the poor rebels. A romantic idealist with his head in the clouds. (Tenor)
Caldwell B. Cladwell: Corrupt president of the Urine Good Company
and Hope’s father. (Baritone)
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Officer Barrel: Lockstock’s sidekick. (Baritone)
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Hot Blades Harry: One of the poor; crazy and wants nothing more than to kill Hope for revenge. (Baritone/featured dancer)
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Senator Fipp: A corrupt senator who accepts bribes from Cladwell
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Hope Cladwell: Cladwell’s naïve and beautiful daughter who falls in love with Bobby. (Soprano)
Little Sally: A second narrator with Lockstock. A poor little girl who is surprisingly insightful. (Mezzo-soprano)
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Penelope Pennywise: The practical, headstrong, and ruthless head custodian at Public Ammenity #9. (Mezzo soprano/Belter)
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Little Becky Two Shoes: Poor, pregnant, and set on killing Hope with Hot Blades Harry. (Mezzo-soprano/featured dancer)
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Josephine Strong: Bobby’s ever-supportive mother.
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OTHER SPEAKING ROLES: Old Man Strong, Tiny Tom, Soupy Sue, Robby the Stockfish, Billy Boy Bill, Mrs. Millenium, Dr. Billeux, and four cops. Actors cast in some of these roles will also make up the ensemble.
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Urinetown: The Musical
Monologues
Please prepare one monologue. Be familiar with all monologues, as you may be asked to read a different one at auditions.
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Bobby: Friends, I know you’re afraid. But this has got to be about more than just revenge and the vicarious thrill of stringing someone up who can’t defend herself. And I may just be in love with her. But I made a promise up there. A promise that from this day forward, no man would be denied his essential humanity due to the condition of his pocketbook. That no man in need would be ignored by another with the means to help him. Here and now, from this day forward, because of you, you, and you, we will look into the faces of our fellow men and see not only a brother, but a sister as well.
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Cladwell: Do you remember the Stink Years, Mister Strong? The first years when the water table started to drop and then just kept on dropping? No one thought they had much time then, and many of us did…questionable thing, much like the things that are happening right now. There was the looting, of course, and the hoarding. Riots broke out like there was no tomorrow, for there was no tomorrow, but there is always a tomorrow if you’re tough enough to cling to it.
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Penny: Call me what you will, but it was during the Stink Years, you see. No one thought they had much time then, so many of us did…questionable things. There was the looting, of course, and the hoarding. But there were also the fond farewells and the late night trysts. Life was an explosion filled with riots, cheap cabarets, dancing girls – and love. There was love like no tomorrow, for there was no tomorrow, but there is always a tomorrow of some kind or another.
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Hope: Enough! My heart is telling me many things right now, as you can all well imagine. But one thing it’s bellowing louder than anything else is that when there’s wrong in the world we must right it. You did a wonderful thing by coming here, Ms. Pennywise. Mom. And if you can reform yourself, maybe we can reform a lot more than we know. Ladies and gentlemen of
the rebellion, if you want to do to me what they did to Bobby, I wouldn’t blame you. But if this righteous rebellion were to peter out in Bobby’s absence, sending his memory to oblivion, I would blame you. All of you! Kill me and the rebellion dies with me. Let me lead you and the rebellion will triumph!
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Urinetown: The Musical
Song Selections
Please prepare one of the selected songs appropriate for you and the character you would be most interested in. Be familiar with all songs that would be appropriate for you, as you may be asked to sing a different one at your audition. Even though we’ve included monologues, treat your vocal audition like another acting audition as well – we want to see you create a character, make bold choices, and have fun!
MALE
“Look At The Sky”
“Don’t Be The Bunny”
Either:
“Snuff That Girl”
FEMALE:
“Follow Your Heart”
“I See A River”
“It’s a Privilege to Pee”
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