“Urinetown” cast members rehearse ahead of April 24-27 performances in SIU Carbondale’s McLeod Theater. (Photo by Amihere Benson)
April 14, 2025
SIU’s School of Theater and Dance ends season with ‘Urinetown: The Musical’
CARBONDALE, Ill. — A satirical musical that touches on topics including the legal system, capitalism and privatization of resources, all wrapped around the use of toilets, comes to Southern Illinois University Carbondale’s McLeod Theater, April 24-27.
The Tony Award-winning “Urinetown: The Musical,” closes out the 2024-2025 season and showcases the talents of 20 students in the School of Theater and Dance and the School of Music.
Performances are at 7:30 p.m. Thursday through Saturday, April 24-26, with a 2 p.m. matinee on Sunday, April 27.
An irreverent, dark comedy
Matthew C. Williams, an assistant professor of performance and movement, calls “Urinetown” “one of the most intelligently written and genuinely hilarious pieces of American musical theater.”
The production, which survived on Broadway opening just two weeks after 9/11, earned 2002 Tony Awards for Best Book, Best Score and Best Directing.
“‘Urinetown’ has been praised for reinvigorating the very notion of what a musical could be,” said Williams, who before coming to SIU Carbondale in 2021, spent 20 years working in New York City and on Broadway.
The story focuses on a city's water shortage caused by a 20-year drought that has resulted in a government-enforced ban on the use of private toilets, unless you’re rich and powerful or politically connected. Ordinary residents must use public restrooms and must pay a charge. A rebellion ensues.
“The production represents a fun and unique challenge for our students,” said Angela C. Shultz, an assistant professor of practice in the School of Music and director of the Bachelor of Fine Arts musical theater program.
“It’s extremely satirical and comic but also has a political side that’s good for students to explore. On top of that, it’s musically diverse in that it borrows from many styles, including classical, 1920s German cabaret, folk dances and gospel.”
Rehearsals began in early March
Williams said that rehearsals are going very well, and he’s using his experience to bring “the most entertaining and compelling staging and choreography to this incredible cast of actors.”
The production playbill with student cast and crew is available.
“The students have clung to this material and have fully embraced its style of comedy,” he said. “These student actors are as good as any seasoned professional company I've seen of this musical. They have come to the table with immense creativity, humor and skill. They are dancing and singing up a virtuosic storm of ‘funny.’”
In noting the School of Music’s “vital role” in the production, Williams also praised the orchestra’s work, many of whom are students in the School of Music, SIU students in other programs and the community. The School of Music is also responsible “for the incredible musical training of most of these student performers.”
There are five musicians in the orchestra pit, including four who are School of Music students.
Shultz said she’s “very excited for our students to work the show.”
“It’s difficult singing with huge choral sections and also jazz influence at times — then they turn around and sing like they’re in a gospel choir or on a 1920s dancehall stage,” Shultz said. “It’s so much fun for them to play with their creativity in how to blend these wacky characters with their vocal technique.”
The set by MK Hughes, assistant professor in scenic design, “will transport audiences into a dystopian fantasy world” as they enter the theater, with lighting design by award-winning Jaemin Park, an assistant professor of lighting and sound design. Aleka Fischer, a third-year Master of Fine Arts theater student who will receive her degree in May, is the costume coordinator. The technical director is Matthew Logan, an assistant instructor in the School of Theater and Dance, and Brandyn McGhee, the lighting designer for the Marion Cultural and Civic Center, is the sound designer.
Audiences should be aware the production uses haze and fog effects and strobe lights.
“I am very excited for audiences to see this timely and fun show,” said H.D. Motyl, School of Theater and Dance director. “But there is a bittersweet edge to this production. Because of the expected Communications Building renovations, this will be the last performance of a musical in McLeod Theater until early 2028.”
The musicals will be moved to Shryock Auditorium until renovations are complete, he said.
Ticket information
Tickets are available online and at the McLeod Theater Box Office. Individual tickets are $25 for adults age 21-54, $20 for senior citizens age 55 and older, $10 for students age 13-21 and $8 for children age 12 and younger. Tickets can be purchased by phone at 618-453-5741 or in person on the night of the performance. The McLeod Theater Box Office will be open 10 days before a show from 12:30 to 4:30 p.m. Monday through Friday and one hour before each performance.
Beer and wine (cash only) will be served in the lobby before performances and during intermission.