Four years after taking home a pair of
Tony Awards for the Broadway hit, "Urinetown," Boerum
Hill author and lyricist Greg Kotis is still marveling at the
way his ode to pay toilets has been embraced all over North America.
"The response to the show continues to be a happy surprise,"
Kotis told GO Brooklyn. "I generally feel like I’ve gone
off the deep-end after I reach the end stages of developing a
full-length piece. That was certainly true for ’Urinetown.’ It’s
a relief when people return after intermission."
After running on Broadway from 2001 to 2004, this hilarious musical
satire of corporate greed and government corruption has spawned
a popular national tour and well-received productions in Canada
and Chicago. This month, Park Slope’s Gallery Players is staging
its own version of the musical about a city where individuals
have to pay to pee, thanks to a water shortage and opportunistic
financiers and politicians. The title refers to the place to
which violators of the strict commode codes are exiled.
Reportedly moved to pen the musical after an unpleasant encounter
with Europe’s pay public toilet system, Kotis won his Tonys for
writing the show’s book and co-writing its lyrics with Mark Hollmann.
The musical also earned Gallery Players alum, John Rando, the
Tony for best director.
Although Kotis admits he has checked out a few of the newer productions
of "Urinetown," the married father of two says he generally
tries to avoid them, so he can concentrate on creating more shows.
"It’s a thrill to see new takes on the material, new solutions
to challenges in the script," he explained. "I am trying
to keep a little bit of distance, however, so that I can write
new stuff."
With Tom Wojtunik at the helm, the Gallery Players production
features Jon Frazier as Officer Lockstock, Jennifer McCabe as
Penelope Pennywise, Joshua James Campbell as Bobby Strong and
Kat Aberle as Little Sally.
Despite the attention he has received since "Urinetown"
became a sensation, Kotis says his lifestyle hasn’t changed all
that radically in recent years.
"I live with my family in the same apartment we did prior
to ’Urinetown,’ " he said. "It’s small, but it’s right
across the street from my kid’s school, so we’ve stayed put.
I wouldn’t say our life is ’normal,’ exactly, but we’ve been
given a great gift of time to work, write and see what life is
like without a day job.
"My wife, Ayun Halliday, is also a writer. She’s just published
her fourth book, ’Dirty Sugar Cookies,’ which everyone should
buy, in addition to her other books, ’The Big Rumpus,’ ’No Touch
Monkey,’ and ’Job Hopper.’ "
So, what is it like being half of a couple who writes for a living?
"Having two writers in the family means that our apartment
– more days than not – is very messy," quipped the veteran
of the experimental, Neo-Futurists theater troupe and author
of the play, "Jobey and Katherine."
In addition to working on two new musicals and "a number
of plays that are all in various stages of development,"
Kotis is also putting the finishing touches on "Pig Farm."
A new, dark comedy about how a couple and their farmhand try
to hold onto their 15,000 pigs as the Environmental Production
Agency cracks down on them for dumping sludge into the river,
the husband starts to drink and the wife catches the eye of the
help, "Pig Farm" recently enjoyed a successful engagement
at New York’s Roundabout Theatre Company where it was directed
by Kotis’s "Urinetown" collaborator, Rando.
"The ’Pig Farm’ script is just about done," said Kotis.
"We had a great run at the Roundabout over the summer, and
the Old Globe has just launched an equally excellent production
in San Diego last week, so now it’s just a matter of entering
in the changes and getting the manuscript off to the publisher."
The Gallery Players production of "Urinetown" will
run from Oct. 14 through Nov. 5 at their theater on 14th Street,
between Fourth and Fifth avenues in Park Slope. Showtimes are
Thursday through Saturday at 8 pm and Sundays at 3pm. Tickets
may be purchased online at www.galleryplayers.com
or by calling TheaterMania at (212) 352-3101.