This transcript was automatically generated and might contain errors.

[0:00] Jeff Malone: Welcome to Half Hour with Jeff and Richie, the podcast where we explore the latest shows we see, sharing our insights and opinions on the performances, storylines, and everything in between.

[0:09] Richie Grasso: In today's episode, we're discussing the City Center Encores's production of Urinetown.

[0:13] Jeff Malone: Whether you cannot catch the show in person or you want to expand your thoughts after seeing it, this episode is for you.

[0:17] Richie Grasso: And as always, we want to inform you that this episode will contain spoilers.

[0:21] Jeff Malone: So if you're ready to dive into this production, stick around with us.

[0:24] Jeff Malone: I'm Jeff.

[0:24] Richie Grasso: And I'm Richie.

[0:25] Jeff Malone: We're thrilled to be your hosts for this episode.

[0:27] Richie Grasso: But before we start the conversation about Encore's Urinetown, here are a few words from our advertisers.

[0:32] Jeff Malone: Welcome everyone to a new episode of Half Hour with Jeff and Richie.

[0:35] Richie Grasso: Today we're discussing Encore's production of Urinetown.

[0:39] Jeff Malone: In this side-splitting satire directed by Teddy Bergman of K-pop, a young hero played by Jordan Fisher from Hadestown leads his community in a fight against oppression.

[0:47] Richie Grasso: Set in a dystopian world where water is scarce and hope is even scarcer.

[0:51] Jeff Malone: All citizens must now pay a fee for the privilege to pee at one of the public facilities controlled by a selfish tycoon and monitored by authorities like Officer Lockstock.

[1:00] Richie Grasso: But the citizens can only hold it in so much longer, and soon the poorest, filthiest of these facilities, run by the formidable Penelope Pennywise, played by Keila Settle of The Greatest Showman, becomes a number one site for major change.

[1:12] Jeff Malone: Urinetown is an audacious and exhilarating, as the New York Times says, take on the classic story of a ragtag group of underdogs coming together against a corrupt organization.

[1:21] Richie Grasso: In this Tony-winning musical, nothing is safe from criticism.

[1:24] Jeff Malone: Capitalism, politics, the establishment, the anti-establishment, and even musical theater itself.

[1:29] Richie Grasso: So let's start with our hot take on Encore's production of Urinetown.

[1:34] Jeff Malone: I felt that this show is decent political satire, and Encores does a decent job staging it.

[1:40] Richie Grasso: But in today's political climate, I feel like this show needs a proper reimagining production.

[1:48] Jeff Malone: You used the word decent a couple of times. So that's how I guess how you feel about it.

[1:53] Richie Grasso: It was decent. I don't really know this show very well before going into this, other than "Run Freedom Run" as the big song from it.

[2:01] Jeff Malone: I understand what's going on, but I didn't find a lot of this to be funny.

[2:06] Richie Grasso: I think because of the political world we're in. And I'm trying to say, okay, I understand the message of this. This production seemed a little off to me.

[2:14] Jeff Malone: And I just don't know. I kind of left there feeling like, okay, what am I supposed to feel right now? And as some people are like hysterically laughing around me, I didn't find all of it, the score or the book to be as entertaining as maybe the original run must have been, as many people say, and I did not see that.

[2:30] Richie Grasso: But it'll be interesting to dive into this, talking about this production just a little bit.

[2:34] Jeff Malone: Let's do that. So let's get into the overall plot concept and the music of this piece.

[2:40] Richie Grasso: So you have to realize what's going on in the Broadway space in the late 90s, early 2000s. It's dark, it's a dark time for new works.

[2:48] Jeff Malone: Um, off-Broadway is doing reimagined things. This was off-Broadway first. It was a big hit.

[2:53] Richie Grasso: The idea of doing satire of doing something really avant-garde like this, of setting it in this dystopian world, love that, right? I think tell the message of like the oppression and something absurd like a privilege to pee and things like that.

[3:10] Jeff Malone: Sure. And I think at the time, I get that, right? And then I hear this score, and I don't know, I never really knew this show. I always knew "Run Freedom Run," like I said, but I never really knew anything else.

[3:23] Richie Grasso: I didn't really find the music to be that great. The ballads, even I was watching this, like it was a ragtag band of sorts that it sounded like bump bump bump bump.

[3:35] Jeff Malone: And I was like, wait, and I looked at the orchestral list, I'm like, there's no string instruments. It's trumpets, it's woodwinds, it's trombones, it's drums, it's synths, and it's some guitars.

[3:45] Richie Grasso: But I was like, oh, so we're missing anything orchestral. Fine. It's like a brass band, woodwindy kind of clunky sound, and I get that.

[3:54] Jeff Malone: Right. "Run Freedom Run" is such a good song, and it stands out because I think that's such a well-written song, but none of the other songs really did anything for me.

[4:02] Richie Grasso: And I just hear people hysterically laughing around me, and I'm like, I get it, but I don't think this Encores production really rooted me in the avant-garde dystopian caricatury characters.

[4:16] Jeff Malone: I almost felt like they were trying to play it real. And we weren't hitting maybe real.

[4:23] Richie Grasso: Because we're in this, like, wait, is this real? No, it's not, but it could be, but it's not. But let's play it real, but let's be silly, but let's not. I think I just, if I could repeat that sentence, that's how I kind of felt.

[4:35] Jeff Malone: It is, but it isn't, but it is, but it isn't. I don't know if this revival knew exactly what it wanted to be.

[4:41] Richie Grasso: Well, one, it's Encores, so we always have to remember that it's an Encores. It's put together very quick.

[4:45] Jeff Malone: So it's concert style, it's not, you know, meant to be a full production, as well as though we've seen many of Encores now move on to the Broadway stage.

[4:56] Richie Grasso: Am I thinking that, you know, maybe we'll save that for later. I think that everyone around us either must love the show so much or the character from The Office, the actor, because I seem to be a lot of people liked him, the actor who was, um, oh my gosh, I'm forgetting his name right now.

[5:07] Jeff Malone: The actor who was, um, from, oh, uh, oh my gosh, I can't find him in my label. I'll find him in a second.

[5:21] Richie Grasso: But you know what I'm talking about.

[5:22] Jeff Malone: Yeah, yeah.

[5:23] Richie Grasso: So I think that there's that component here that you and I probably are not on the same page.

[5:30] Jeff Malone: Rainn Wilson.

[5:31] Richie Grasso: Sorry, Rainn Wilson.

[5:32] Jeff Malone: Okay.

[5:33] Richie Grasso: But I do feel like when I actually look at the show though, and I'll put the production aside, there is a certain sarcasm that I think you need to get when you see a piece like this.

[5:44] Jeff Malone: And as an actor, you really need to know how to portray the sarcasm as well.

[5:49] Richie Grasso: And I felt that some of them got it and some of them did not. And while I'm watching this, I'm like, oh, okay, that line should have been delivered differently to get that punch, that sarcastic joke that will actually make me laugh and everyone else around too.

[6:04] Jeff Malone: I think for people that know the show, they're just laughing because they already know the show. And this did get a cult following the show.

[6:11] Richie Grasso: It did win some Tony Awards, it didn't have an extremely long run, but a ton of high schools and colleges do it.

[6:17] Jeff Malone: I think because there's a lot of roles, because it's like a unit set kind of thing with costumes that can be easily attained and not period looking.

[6:25] Richie Grasso: And I think you can do it in a simple low-budget way because of the way the piece is. That's why I think a lot of people who are theater people have either done it before or know it, right?

[6:34] Jeff Malone: Um, I totally understand that like this was funny at the time, and I'm sure the original was, and Hunter Foster starred in it, and Nancy Opel, like some big names, right? For Broadway.

[6:42] Richie Grasso: This seemed like, yeah, I don't know if this was the casting, you're right, Jeff. Like some casting was like spot on, and some was odd to me.

[6:52] Jeff Malone: And I didn't feel like we were all in the same sandbox playing with the same tools.

[6:59] Richie Grasso: But that's why I'm like when I'm looking at the actual show overall, I don't hate the show.

[7:03] Jeff Malone: Yeah, no, yeah, yeah.

[7:04] Richie Grasso: I do think I get the show. I like the political satire that is actually written up on that stage.

[7:09] Jeff Malone: And when you move into the actual score of this and you hear some of the lyrics and the songs, I think that there's an inspiration that comes from many different types of musicals that makes the score sound not cohesive, but making it cohesive in its own way.

[7:25] Richie Grasso: You know, I think that you like "Run Freedom Run" so well because it's that gospel-like musical theater moment.

[7:33] Jeff Malone: Yes.

[7:33] Richie Grasso: But the "Follow Your Heart" ballad is nice, but then there's a song, and they're like, "Go be like the bunny, be like the bunny." And I'm like, what is going on right now?

[7:41] Jeff Malone: Like, I just don't get it.

[7:42] Richie Grasso: And then to, but it's telling the story about how like the rich are eating the poor.

[7:47] Jeff Malone: Yeah, and I think it's like, you know, we come out on top, which is what brings the political satire in here, which makes it work so well.

[7:55] Richie Grasso: You know, I'm watching this and I'm saying, oh, okay, like we're literally living in this right now.

[7:59] Jeff Malone: Yeah, which not that we can't that we have to pay to pee, but we have to pay to do so many other things.

[8:06] Richie Grasso: Yeah, the concept is there. I understand how this was successful at the time you came to Broadway.

[8:10] Jeff Malone: I just wonder if, does this, we can talk about this at the end, like where we think the future of this goes because City Center's every year seems to put something on Broadway lately.

[8:18] Richie Grasso: They did a parade, they did mattress. That's not this. It could be ragtime, it could be this, it could be Love Life, or it could be Wonderful Town, right? Those are their four pieces this year.

[8:27] Jeff Malone: So yeah, I just remember being like, I don't know, I just left there a little drawn, but let's go into some of these performances now and some of the direction and this and this and the pieces as a whole.

[8:38] Richie Grasso: Um, so let's go there now. But before we do, here are a few messages from those that make the show possible.

[8:43] Jeff Malone: When we talk about direction, when you look at the original, it was like browns and grays and dreary, and it was like we couldn't really tell what time period it was in.

[8:51] Richie Grasso: With this, I feel like we were going into a like, oh, it's set in the modern day because the costumes seem modern.

[8:58] Jeff Malone: And I listen, I'm always a big fan of costume design, especially period pieces. But I look at this and I say, because it's this like poor, mismatchy look, yeah.

[9:08] Richie Grasso: I don't really know what time period we're in. I think it's the modern day.

[9:12] Jeff Malone: Uh, but I think go avant-garde with the dystopian feel of it that I think the scenery kind of did and the lighting did.

[9:20] Richie Grasso: But I think, like, why is the head of the company in just black? Why wasn't he in some cool evil villain makeup hair?

[9:29] Jeff Malone: Like, if you're in this like other world, why wouldn't the villain of that world, not that it has to be a Disney-looking villain, but Cruella De Vil has white and black hair because she's trying to get white and black dog puppies, like Ursula has like the she's the octopus, right?

[9:43] Richie Grasso: So, like, why couldn't he have something that was like flary, unless the whole point was that like he's in the simplest look because he runs the place.

[9:52] Jeff Malone: I think maybe, but I do agree with you on where you're going into the actual design of this because I felt like just a row of the intention was to be more cartoonish or like Disney-fied, and that's how they look, which kind of could, you know, portray an argument here that this felt high school in a way that it was designed.

[10:14] Richie Grasso: Yeah.

[10:15] Jeff Malone: But if you're gonna do that, go full out with the whole cartoony looking style.

[10:21] Richie Grasso: Pennywise played by Kayla Settle was just in that like green apron the whole time. And I was like, okay, we're getting one aesthetic, there's no silhouette, yeah, and there's no, uh, it's just a one color the whole time.

[10:35] Jeff Malone: Jordan's costume. Look, I thought Stephanie's was nice, the white simple, and we'll talk about their performances in a second too. The cops can just be in the cop look. I get that, but I just think we could have had some more fun with just a row of orange urinals or port-a-johns to me, like was like okay, it just seemed like we could have gone more.

[10:54] Richie Grasso: There was more okay. I'm gonna say this. I think there was better design in the actual literal bathrooms of City Center's and what they did there than what I was seeing on stage, which is like cool, but I'm if I'm sitting on a podcast talking about the bathroom experience at a show about bathrooms, I guess that's the point.

[11:11] Jeff Malone: Uh, is like that seemed like I was reading this spray paint more intrigued by that than what I'm seeing on the stage.

[11:18] Richie Grasso: Well, maybe they were trying to make it so that you felt like you were underground, yeah, yeah, yeah.

[11:23] Jeff Malone: But I still do think it almost felt like a Disney Channel original movie when it came to the design, like yes, it's fine.

[11:31] Richie Grasso: I just think like when you look at this production, though, you say to yourself, okay, is this really standing out among the encore season when you just had this, you know, grandiose ragtime, and then before that you had Titanic, and you're just like, okay, this is next, and this is fine, and it's great.

[11:47] Jeff Malone: And you know, Jordan Fisher's great in vocally in this piece, and he's acting it well.

[11:52] Richie Grasso: I actually think he got the sarcasm the best.

[11:54] Jeff Malone: Yes, and I think Stephanie did too.

[11:56] Richie Grasso: Well, uh, Stephanie actually, now that we're on the topic of Disney, I think she, you know, plays pretty pretty Disney princess on stage here, yeah, in a way, and, uh, you know, almost plays it in as a silly girl, and but Jordan and Stephanie were in the world together, and I don't feel like others were, and I felt like some were even the girl who played Little Sally, it works when it to me personally works when it's an adult playing Little Sally.

[12:23] Jeff Malone: I think we had an actual little girl playing it, and I think when you watch the original Lockstock in Little Sally, there's this no little Sally, but isn't there some musical?

[12:32] Richie Grasso: It's so funny. And this didn't hit for me because I didn't think they were Officer Lockstock and Little Sally are literally talking about the art form of musical theater in their narration.

[12:40] Jeff Malone: It didn't do it for me.

[12:42] Richie Grasso: Right. And then that's where you kind of have to get onto the sarcasm bandwagon, I think. Because when you look at someone like, you know how like Sarah Silverman delivers a line and it's like so sarcastic, but it comes off in a certain way. And people either love it or hate it.

[12:59] Richie Grasso: Like that's what really I feel like needed to come from most of the characters in this show. And drop their line, being like, this world that we live in is bizarre. And like I'm gonna tell you, audience, why it's bizarre. Yes.

[13:16] Jeff Malone: Yeah.

[13:17] Richie Grasso: And it was almost like they were also, and I don't know if this is just the script or the way actors are delivering it. It was like one liner, hysterical laughter, one liner, hysterical after. That is jolting to a plot.

[13:28] Jeff Malone: Yeah.

[13:29] Richie Grasso: To me. When I'm trying to, and I and sometimes like, wait, I can't hear the next line because people are hysterically laughing next to me. And I'm like, but the plot is feeling like we're chugging and we're stopping, and then we're going, and then we're stuck, because it's just all about the feet of the one line.

[13:42] Jeff Malone: Right.

[13:43] Richie Grasso: And I just was like, this just seems like I'm not understanding the full plot of this. And listen, big Urinetown fans are probably gonna listen to me and be like, Richie, do you get it? I'm like, I get it. So, like, listen, I get what we're saying here. I get the dystopian message of the society and how and when we're in a world that we're in today where we feel like some of this could actually happen, it's crazy, which is why I'm sitting here saying, Are we supposed to be hysterically laughing? Are we supposed to be escaping? Because it doesn't feel like escape is a theater.

[14:09] Jeff Malone: But I think that's why you're saying like you get it, but you maybe don't get why they like it.

[14:14] Richie Grasso: Right, because I don't look at I liked parts of it. I don't know if I like this piece as a whole.

[14:21] Jeff Malone: Okay.

[14:22] Richie Grasso: Because I don't know if it works for me as a whole.

[14:24] Jeff Malone: Yeah.

[14:26] Richie Grasso: But I think that's coming down to this production.

[14:29] Jeff Malone: Yeah, and it could be this production of it, exactly.

[14:31] Richie Grasso: Which I seems seems a little rushed. It seems a little thrown in. Um, I will also say though, it's always a couple of other performances to talk about. It's always a pleasure to watch Tiffany Mann do whatever she does. I can't believe she wasn't solo featured more in this. When we just saw her solo featured in Ragtime and in um uh Jelly's Last Jam and the many things she does, right?

[14:52] Jeff Malone: Um I also will say that Jeff Hiller can walk into a scene and give physical acting like wow. That man is really, really impressive in his delivery of his one lines, and he carries himself as the assistant to the boss, and just very impressed with him as a whole.

[15:10] Richie Grasso: I thought he was really carrying some acting really, really in the world that Jordan and Stephanie was in. And that's why I felt like half of this cast was in one play and half of them was in another.

[15:21] Jeff Malone: Yeah, it was funny that you bring up that name too, because at intermission, you were like, Wait, where do I know about it? And I immediately said American Horror Story.

[15:30] Richie Grasso: And you were like, What? And I was like, it's so interesting to see him play that scary role on American Horror Story, and then now we're in this piece, and it's like the comedy that he's bringing into that role is just you know so different.

[15:45] Jeff Malone: And then you see, like, when you see Killa Settle playing Pennywise, like that's a belter role. She wasn't even belting half of it. She was head voicing a lot of it. And I know Killa can belt that. I know she was sick, and we saw her after she came back from an illness, but to me, we talked about like she was fine, but I know you have someone else you probably wish would have played the role or other people.

[16:07] Richie Grasso: Listen, that role is made for Bonnie Milligan. So and to do the wit and the sarcasm in the comedy there and delivering the lines and who she is in the piece and the reveal later on. Bonnie would have been over the top in a different way. I just think like that's her role.

[16:28] Jeff Malone: Yeah.

[16:29] Richie Grasso: And so that's why, and that's why I feel like Jordan and Stephanie really carried this piece. I really Stephanie's doing more acting when she's got the gag in her mouth, sitting in the chair for the whole number than I think I've seen in many things. She was great in doing that.

[16:44] Jeff Malone: Um so really, really, you know, great to see them up there. But yeah, somewhat incohesive at times with this revival of this. So let's get ready to move on to maybe some of our experience at the show and where City Center's sits with this show in general, um, and our thoughts.

[16:59] Richie Grasso: But first, let's go to a few messages from our sponsors.

[17:03] Jeff Malone: Okay. City Center's. I always feel like City Center's creates this topic of is it gonna transfer to Broadway? And they have to. So let's start with that topic of is it gonna transfer to Broadway? City Center's's original intention, idol. I didn't create City Center Encores, but I think their Encore series of original intention was to do shows that are not really done, that would probably not get a Broadway revival anytime soon, but bring it to light again.

[17:31] Richie Grasso: That's why Love Life is coming.

[17:34] Jeff Malone: That is the prime Encore show.

[17:36] Richie Grasso: Yeah. A forgotten Lerner show or low show from like the 1940s, right? I think it's Lerner or Lowe wrote it. One of them, I think.

[17:43] Jeff Malone: Um, but when you see shows that could easily transfer to Broadway and should, I don't know if this is necessarily the stepping stone for that.

[17:51] Richie Grasso: So Urinetown hasn't been on Broadway in 20-something years.

[17:55] Jeff Malone: May not.

[17:55] Richie Grasso: So maybe this just worked as an Encores thing and then we put it to rest. I can't see this transferring to Broadway.

[18:01] Jeff Malone: Uh at least in the stage that it's in now.

[18:04] Richie Grasso: Yeah, no. But I think when I look at something like this, I say, no, this is not the transferring show from Encores. The same way many said that Titanic was not the show that was going to transfer from Encores.

[18:16] Jeff Malone: Those both of these shows deserve full productions, is what where I would go.

[18:22] Richie Grasso: Right. So if you know, once upon a mattress transferred, it kind of maybe deserved a full production. And instead it was just the Encores production. It was fine. Because Sutton was really carrying most of that.

[18:34] Jeff Malone: And we knew that, and we knew it would work eight times a week.

[18:38] Richie Grasso: But when you think about that though, it's not really Broadway. And we're when we're gonna if we're gonna devalue the caliber on Broadway of these concerts that are thriving on Broadway, it's going to change things and still pay Broadway prices.

[18:52] Jeff Malone: Well, because of the costumes and scenery and lighting and living up. The orchestra is the acting, is of course all those of parades, orchestra and acting, of course, right?

[18:59] Richie Grasso: But the elements of full production.

[19:06] Jeff Malone: And we're stripping away the actual scenic design that everyone wants.

[19:10] Richie Grasso: You know, Parade, it worked, it didn't need the scenic design. Chicago, it works, it doesn't need the scenic design. Ragtime doesn't really need the scenic design, which is why it's probably the biggest contender to move.

[19:22] Jeff Malone: Which is why you probably say, like, couldn't we have just used more trees into the woods? Couldn't we have just used a castle in or a moat or something in the same thing when like Kennedy Center Spamalot coming here?

[19:33] Richie Grasso: It's like and it's like half projection on a wall.

[19:36] Jeff Malone: And it's like, yeah.

[19:37] Richie Grasso: But they are selling in their way and they are getting some buzz.

[19:40] Jeff Malone: So it's interesting because I think what's coming next will probably be Jeff, the first show we have seen at Encores, Love Life.

[19:47] Richie Grasso: I'm talking about, where we'll be like, oh, this is what Encores is about.

[19:53] Jeff Malone: Yeah.

[19:53] Richie Grasso: And maybe Wonderful Town, although one ironically, Wonderful Town has had the most Encores revivals and only was revived once, I think recently in the early 2000s.

[20:01] Jeff Malone: I think Brooke Shields was in an umbrella at one point.

[20:04] Richie Grasso: Um, but that's a great, but that's a Leonard Bernstein. That's a big piece.

[20:07] Jeff Malone: But Love Life will be interesting to see what they're doing with that.

[20:11] Richie Grasso: And then we'll talk and we'll say, Oh, could this go to Broadway or no? It was great and it could sit here.

[20:16] Jeff Malone: Yeah.

[20:17] Richie Grasso: It's interesting how we're the a lot of producers can't afford out of towns anymore. And so you don't hear of uh Death Becomes around an out of town, Redwood out and out of town, but not all do.

[20:26] Jeff Malone: And they use the platforms of City Center's or Kennedy Center to be there, even though Kennedy Center is literally out of town to be their launch.

[20:34] Richie Grasso: It's interesting.

[20:35] Jeff Malone: And a mess.

[20:36] Richie Grasso: And what?

[20:37] Jeff Malone: And a mess currently.

[20:38] Richie Grasso: Oh, Kennedy Center, yeah, yeah.

[20:39] Jeff Malone: That's a whole nother conversation, right?

[20:41] Richie Grasso: But I think uh listen, going back to Urinetown, the house was packed. People loved it, they were hysterically laughing. It was nice theater. We were all there on Valentine's Day night. It was enjoyable.

[20:51] Jeff Malone: So by the time you listen to this episode, it will be closed.

[20:55] Richie Grasso: You can't see it anyway.

[20:56] Jeff Malone: Right.

[20:56] Richie Grasso: Again, though, I don't really think that this is the show that they're gonna transfer. If it did, it would have a small stunt somewhere on Broadway, you know, I mean in a theater that currently has something closed, maybe like a Studio 54 or something like that.

[21:10] Jeff Malone: Who knows?

[21:11] Richie Grasso: I just think though, I would like to see a full thought out production of this with full choreo, a full cast.

[21:21] Jeff Malone: It also felt like it needed more people.

[21:23] Richie Grasso: Yes.

[21:23] Jeff Malone: And there was like Jelly's Last Jam had so many people and it felt full and it felt great, which hello should still be a little bit more than a little bit.

[21:31] Richie Grasso: Where was that revival? That was so ready for a Broadway revival.

[21:33] Jeff Malone: James should have gone to Broadway.

[21:38] Richie Grasso: But you know, if they're looking at ticket sales and it wasn't really selling, you know, they're probably looking at the same thing here.

[21:45] Jeff Malone: You know, Urinetown seemed like a lot of people bought their tickets that day because our will call line was all the way down the road.

[21:53] Richie Grasso: I've never seen a local one that long. It was 725 and we're still outside waiting for our tickets. I'm like, wow, we got in just in time.

[21:58] Jeff Malone: But so you know, it's just like one of those things.

[22:00] Richie Grasso: I think that there's great intentions with Encores and wanting to move things, but I don't think everything needs to be. And would there will be a I believe a new artistic director for Encores next year after Wonderful Town?

[22:11] Jeff Malone: And it will be very interesting to see if we stay in this realm of like do an old show, do a new show, do a big show, do a small show, because that's kind of what they've been doing.

[22:19] Richie Grasso: Their gala show is always a little different too, but they do three to four shows a year, so it'll be interesting to see what their next season is.

[22:24] Jeff Malone: Yeah, it's gonna be fun watching.

[22:26] Richie Grasso: I always love when things get shaken up.

[22:28] Jeff Malone: And also, like if Miss Lear is going to Lincoln Center and Lincoln Center and bring the same kind of but do we get the gorgeous big lavish South Pacifics and carousels and and and king and I's and and all those lavish we haven't had we're doing Floyd Collins this year with Lincoln Center.

[22:46] Richie Grasso: There's new leadership coming in.

[22:48] Jeff Malone: Do we get those gorgeous lavish that Lincoln Center's been doing for so long?

[22:51] Richie Grasso: But I also wonder you know, does Encores still stay as the stepping stone?

[22:57] Jeff Malone: Right.

[22:57] Richie Grasso: And Lear maybe take a show from the Encore season and put that into Lincoln Center, but a full production, like how we're talking about this now.

[23:06] Jeff Malone: And maybe there's some communication and networking there that could potentially happen.

[23:10] Richie Grasso: Is Lincoln Center the hub host for all Encore transfers?

[23:13] Jeff Malone: Yes and no.

[23:14] Richie Grasso: But it could be for some.

[23:15] Jeff Malone: And it depends on what you know. Encores doesn't always do the Lerner and Lowe's and the Rogers and Hammersteins and the Sondheims.

[23:22] Richie Grasso: Not always.

[23:22] Jeff Malone: They do, but not always. Because sometimes those shows get revivals without needing Encores.

[23:26] Richie Grasso: Yeah.

[23:27] Jeff Malone: So that's why it's interesting to see what Encores will do in the future.

[23:30] Richie Grasso: And then what Lincoln Center does in totally.

[23:32] Jeff Malone: Oh my gosh, talk about this all day.

[23:34] Richie Grasso: Uh, what are our final thoughts on Encores Urinetown at City Center Encores?

[23:39] Jeff Malone: Again, I feel like I like the show more than I probably liked this production.

[23:43] Richie Grasso: And I would be very intrigued to see what a full production is of Urinetown to see what my real thoughts are on the piece.

[23:51] Jeff Malone: Because I think that there is intention and um intriguing conversations that come from a piece like this, especially in today's world that we're living in, because it's so bizarre.

[24:04] Richie Grasso: But you know, when you see a piece like this, uh I meant to say uh a little bit earlier, like my own experience in this. I also don't think I laughed at a lot of this because it felt too real.

[24:14] Jeff Malone: Oh, and that's what I right, and that's what my kind of concluding thoughts are too.

[24:18] Richie Grasso: This piece probably worked at a very different time in American history than maybe it does now.

[24:22] Jeff Malone: Of course, this was announced before this was probably announced before we even knew who the president was gonna be now, what we were gonna be living in, right?

[24:27] Richie Grasso: So who knows what the you know, bringing this fact post-Trump presidency is probably very different than us currently living in this.

[24:35] Jeff Malone: Like this post-the whole Reagan presidency and all of that was probably what made this funny.

[24:42] Richie Grasso: And then, you know, if you were living during that time, probably wasn't funny.

[24:46] Jeff Malone: And don't forget 2001, what's happening? We have 9-11, we have George Bush starting a presidency as Clinton was ending a president, right? Around all that time.

[24:52] Richie Grasso: So different time in history.

[24:54] Jeff Malone: Um, it's and New York was a little different than it was now, too.

[24:58] Richie Grasso: So interesting.

[24:59] Jeff Malone: Yes, I think I'm not sure I was a big fan of this revival, and I also not sure I'm even a big fan of the show as a whole.

[25:06] Richie Grasso: Besides the fact that I understand that it's a kind of cool way of telling a message.

[25:09] Jeff Malone: Yeah.

[25:09] Richie Grasso: Um, and one really great song, Run Freedom. Which I was waiting the whole time. I love that song. I can listen to that song every day.

[25:16] Jeff Malone: Anyway, but yeah, uh, I as you're listening to this, it might be too late for anybody to go see this.

[25:20] Richie Grasso: But go check out too late.

[25:22] Jeff Malone: Yeah.

[25:22] Richie Grasso: But City Center Encore has Love Life coming in at the end of March, and then Wonderful Town coming at the end of April.

[25:27] Jeff Malone: So lots of Encore potentials coming up.

[25:29] Richie Grasso: Uh that wraps up our discussion of today's episode. We hope you enjoyed our deep dive into Encores Urinetown.

[25:34] Jeff Malone: And remember, we want to hear from you.

[25:36] Richie Grasso: Continue the conversation with us on Instagram at Half Hour Podcast.

[25:40] Jeff Malone: And drop us a comment on Spotify and let us know your thoughts on Encores production of Urinetown.

[25:44] Richie Grasso: If you enjoyed our show, please leave us a review. Your feedback helps us bring more theater to you.

[25:48] Jeff Malone: And remember, you can listen to past episodes and stay tuned for the many upcoming ones as well.

[25:52] Richie Grasso: Until next time, I'm Jeff.

[25:53] Jeff Malone: And I'm Richie saying ta-ta for now.

[25:55] Richie Grasso: Bye.