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Bureaucracy, politics…and urinals? American Heritage Center for the Arts' recent production of Urinetown illustrated one of Broadway's parodies in an innovative premise: matching each of its players with a clichéd character, in a sense, a "Toon Town" of musical theatre.

Urinetown is an unconventional musical that follows the story of a city, which in the throes of an intense drought, has only public restrooms, and charges all of the residents to use them. If one chooses to relieve oneself by any other method, the punishment is banishment to the mysterious Urinetown. When Bobby Strong's father is sent off to Urinetown after refusing to pay the fee, Bobby is inspired to lead a rebellion against Urine Good Company, which has monopolized the restroom industry.

Leading the cast in the role of Bobby Strong was Charles South, who commanded the stage with impressive comedic timing and vocals, particularly in Run, Freedom, Run, where not only his singing was prominent, but his onstage charisma as the lovable hero. South was complemented in Follow Your Heart by Brielle Rassler, playing Strong's love interest, Hope Cladwell.

Also prominent were Chloe Golden (Little Sally) and David Berry (Officer Lockstock). This duo especially mastered the concept of parody and adopted the characters' alter-egos (Annie and Jekyll and Hyde, respectively) especially well. Berry's vocals and strong personification engaged the audience in both narration and his performance of the comic Cop Song.

Overall, the ensemble worked well together and each developed their own personalities among the group, making for an appealing and diverse production. Particularly memorable was Ariel Kline (as Hildago Jane), who used her facial expressions to add comedy to scenes without speaking at all.

Technical aspects were well executed by the backstage crew, with only a few problems in the area of sound. The unwieldy scenery may have been difficult to move, but the crew did so to the best of their ability. The use of flying effects was impressive and added to the characterization of Hope Cladwell, whose "Broadway alter-ego" was Mary Poppins.

Lighting was used well in the context of the production, either adding to the humor or chaos of the production with appropriate colors, shapes, and shifts in focus. The orchestra, placed cleverly onstage behind the action, was well coordinated with the players.

American Heritage's production of Urinetown was multi-faceted and crowd-pleasing, taking an already satirical libretto to the next level by taking on additional personas to the characters.