History Theatre / Urinetown

%%* AlmostDeadGuy: [[spoiler:Bobby, in "Tell Her I Love Her".]]

* ArcWords: Today/Tomorrow. Bobby, Hope and the revolutionaries care about Today, as in living day to day while Caldwell and the UGC care about Tomorrow and planning ahead. [[spoiler: Tomorrow ends up being the right path to take; once those in favor of 'Today' take over, the water dries up.]]

* BreakTheCutie: [[spoiler:When Bobby Strong is sent to Urinetown, the normally innocent, albeit painfully naïve Hope Cladwell snaps completely, becomes the rebellion's new leader and ''murders her beloved father''.]]

* DarkReprise: Spoilers abound here: [[spoiler:"It's A Privilege to Pee" gets one final verse from Lockstock and Barrel in "Don't Be Like Him". "Urinetown" has no less than three - Hope's part of the Act I Finale, Lockstock and Barrel's part in "Why Did I Listen To That Man?", and the very end of "I See A River". "Follow Your Heart" has one after they take Bobby away to the UGC. Arguably, "We're Not Sorry" has one in "I'm Not Sorry" - this one has a tempo change from fast to slow. Only the reprise of "Follow Your Heart" has alternate lyrics - the choruses of "Urinetown" are very close, but changed for each situation, and the rest are just reused melodies.]]
* DeadlyEuphemism: Anyone sent to Urinetown [[spoiler:is actually killed.]]

* TheExtremistWasRight: Cladwell's methods of forcing people to pay high fees to urinate may seem unruly, [[spoiler:but he had to do it in order to keep all the water from being wasted]].

** Bobby being told he will [[spoiler:end up like his father, who is sent to Urinetown in the first scene.]]
** In "The Cop Song", the verse about Jacob Rosenbloom states that the jars he kept in his room "obligate[d] a trip to Urine''tomb''", which foreshadows [[spoiler:that being sent to Urinetown is [[ReleasedToElsewhere actually a death sentence]].]]

* GreyAndGreyMorality: Bobby's idealistic freedom fighters [[spoiler:ultimately become bloodthirsty murderers, and their failure to plan for the future has dire consequences]]. Meanwhile, Cladwell is milking a horrible situation for personal profit and gleefully disregards the well-being of the poor, but [[spoiler:his draconic policies of water conservation are keeping everyone alive...that is, until he is overthrown]].

* HeelFaceTurn: One production chose to portray [[spoiler:Senator Fipp]] as doing this. And in all versions, [[spoiler:[[HighHeelFaceTurn Ms Pennywise]] also does this, revealing that [[LukeIAmYourFather Hope is actually her daughter.]]]]
* HomoeroticSubtext: [[spoiler:Barrel to Lockstock.]]

** Roger Roosevelt, who "kept a cup below his belt" before the cup was spilled and he therefore was caught.

* KarmicDeath: [[spoiler:Cladwell, who's responsible for so many people being flung off roofs, is tossed off a roof to his death.]]

* MeaninglessMeaningfulWords: "I See a River, Flowing for Freedom" is a great catchphrase for a new revolution, until [[spoiler:you realize that ''all the water is gone,'' and the townsfolk keep telling themselves that saying]] "I See a River Just In You" [[spoiler:means they won't die of dehydration.]]

'''Hope:''' Of course you wouldn't, because then you'd be dead!

* NiceJobBreakingItHero: [[spoiler:The ending, when the heroes' overthrow of UGC results in an even worse drought.]]

** Technically, the police just take bribes from the UGC, but in practice they seem to follow whatever orders Cladwell gives them.

** "Snuff That Girl" is a parody of ''Theatre/WestSideStory'', specifically "Cool". In the Original Broadway production the cast also banged on parts of the set in a parody of ''{{Stomp}}''.
** Ms Pennywise is a parody of Peachum from the ''Theatre/TheThreepennyOpera'', and while Hope and, to a lesser extent, Bobby, are [[ParodySue Parody Sues]], they're mostly based on Grace Kelly and James Dean respectively.

* PlotArmor: In the ending, Lockstock tells Sally that the rebels can't kill him because he's the narrator, and that killing him would end the musical.

%%* TheReasonYouSuckSpeech: Mr. Cladwell to Bobby in the song ''Act 1 Finale'' and again in second act.
* ReleasedToElsewhere: Urinetown, for all the policemen's scare tactics, [[spoiler:turns out to be a one-way trip off a building.]]

* TheRevolutionWillNotBeVilified: "But we can't kill [the hostage]! That makes us just as bad as [the UGC]!" [[spoiler:"Haven't you ''heard'', Little Sally? We ''are'' just as bad as them! [[{{Foreshadowing}} In fact, we're]] ''[[{{Foreshadowing}} worse]]!''"]]
* {{Room 101}}: [[spoiler:Urinetown, which is just being thrown off a building, but no one knows that.]]
* ScrewThisImOuttaHere: Fipp repeatedly talks about running off to Rio, but Cladwell keeps convincing him to stay around. He eventually tries to run off during "We're Not Sorry", [[spoiler:only to be killed by the rebel poor.]]

'''Officer Lockstock:''' Yes, Little Sally. Yes it is.

* ZigZaggingTrope: What is Urinetown? Is it the [[TheUnTwist obvious answer]] or is there a [[TheReveal darker secret]] waiting to be discovered? The show keeps deliberately toying with the audience's expectations, until Bobby is taken there in Act 2 and it turns out [[spoiler: it's the former - they really do just kill people and call it 'Urinetown', like Officer Lockstock told us back in Act 1.]]

* BetterThanABareBulb: We challenge you to find a Broadway musical cliche that's not parodied here.

* BreakTheCutie: [[spoiler:When Bobby Strong is sent to Urinetown, the normally innocent, albeit painfully naive Hope Cladwell snaps completely, becomes the rebellion's new leader and ''murders her beloved father''.]]

--> [[spoiler:'''Officer Lockstock:''' I see.]]

* DarkReprise: Spoilers abound here: [[spoiler:"It's A Privilege to Pee" gets one final verse from Lockstock and Barrel in "Don't Be Like Him". "Urinetown" has no less than three - Hope's part of the Act I Finale, Lockstock and Barrel's part in "Why Did I Listen To That Man?", and the very end of "I See A River". "Follow Your Heart" has one in "Your Heart". Arguably, "We're Not Sorry" has one in "I'm Not Sorry" - this one has a tempo change from fast to slow. Only "Your Heart" has identical lyrics - the choruses of "Urinetown" are very close, but changed for each situation, and the rest are just reused melodies.]]

%%* BetterThanABareBulb
%%* BigBad: Caldwell B. Cladwell.

%%* BreakingTheFourthWall: Officer Lockstock and Little Sally.

-->'''[[spoiler:Penny Pennywise]]: [[spoiler:Hope]] is my daughter! And [[DepartmentOfRedundancyDepartment I am her mother!]]

%%* LukeIAmYourFather: [[spoiler:Penny Pennywise to Hope Cladwell.]]

* AffablyEvil: Officer Lockstock is often interpreted this way, though as the narrator, he might just have this attitude because he is AboveGoodAndEvil.
* AllKnowingSingingNarrator: Officer Lockstock, along with Little Sally.

* AlmostDeadGuy: [[spoiler:Bobby, in "Tell Her I Love Her".]]

* BetterThanABareBulb
* BigBad: Caldwell B. Cladwell.

* BoundAndGagged: Hope.

* BreakingTheFourthWall: Officer Lockstock and Little Sally.
* CloudCuckooLander: Hope Cladwell

* ConversationalTroping: Throughout. Especially with Officer Lockstock and Little Sally.
* CorruptCorporateExecutive: Cladwell again.
* CorruptPolitician: Fipp.
* DaddysGirl: Hope Cladwell. That is all.

* {{Deconstruction}}
* DeconstructorFleet

* FinalLoveDuet
* FollowYourHeart: [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin "Follow Your Heart"]]

* GospelRevivalNumber: "Run, Freedom, Run."

* GreekChorus: Officer Lockstock and Little Sally

* TheIngenue: Hope Cladwell is all kinds of this.

* IntentionallyAwkwardTitle
* InteractiveNarrator: Officer Lockstock

* LampshadeHanging: The show gets half its laughs and most of its soul from this.
* LaResistance: The Poor, as rallied together by Bobby.
* LawEnforcementInc

* LittleMissSnarker: Little Sally has shades of this.
* LoadBearingBoss: Cladwell again.

* LukeIAmYourFather: [[spoiler:Penny Pennywise to Hope Cladwell.]]
* MassiveMultiplayerEnsembleNumber: The Act I Finale and perhaps "What is Urinetown" fit this trope.

* MediumAwareness: Officer Lockstock and Little Sally.
* MegaCorp: The [[PunnyName Urine Good Company]].
* MetaGuy: Officer Lockstock. He seems to be training Little Sally to become this.

* MissingMom: Hope's mother. [[spoiler: Later, she's revealed to be Ms. Pennywise]].
* MoneySong: "Mr. Cladwell" has elements of this.

* NecessarilyEvil: Cladwell, and, by extension, the entire UGC

* OriginalCastPrecedent: Little Becky Two Shoes being pregnant.
** The flashlights during The Cop Song.

* TheReasonYouSuckSpeech: Mr. Cladwell to Bobby in the song ''Act 1 Finale'' and again in second act.

* ResearchInc: the Urine Good Company (UGC)

* TheUglyGuysHotDaughter: More often than not, Hope and Mr. Cladwell.

* TokenMiniMoe: Little Sally
* TooMuchInformation: Fipp's speech to Hope in the first act slowly becomes this.
* UrineTrouble: The Musical!

** "Mr. Cladwell" is an up-tempo, happy version of this.

* WideEyedIdealist: Bobby Strong and Hope Cladwell.
* YesMan: Mr. [=McQueen.=]

* KarmicDeath: [[spoiler:Cladwell, who, after throwing being responsible for so many people being flung off roofs, is tossed off a roof to his death.]]

** The way the show portrays the town, the class distinctions, and the poor seems to be a parody of ''Theatre/TheThreepennyOpera''. The show also seems to parody of Brecht's style of Epic Theater with Office Lockstock's narration (For example, Lockstock revealing the secret of Urinetown early in the show is especially Brechtian).

* RealityEnsues: The ending is full of this on all sides. [[spoiler: On the one hand, you can't exploit and oppress people for profit indefinitely; eventually you'll push them too far and they will push back. On the other hand, you can't simply overthrow a corrupt system and replace it with anarchy; society will collapse.]]

* RealityEnsues: The ending is full of this on all sides. [[spoiler: on the one hand, you can't exploit and oppress people for profit indefinitely; eventually you'll push them too far and they will push back. On the other hand, you can't simply overthrow a corrupt system and replace it with anarchy, because society will collapse.]]

* FamilyUnfriendlyAesop: [[spoiler: "[[FailureIsTheOnlyOption Don't you think people want to be told that their way of life is unsustainable?!]]"]]

* PoliceBrutality: The "Cop Song". "If peace is what you're after / Urinetown's the rafter / to hang it on". Cladwell [[InvokedTrope invokes]] it in the Act One Finale as well, proclaiming that "A little brutality is ''exactly''' what these people need."

* MegaCorp: The [[PunnyName Urine Good Company]]

* MissingMom: Hope's mother. [[spoiler: Later, she's revealed to be Ms. Pennywise]]

** Ms Pennywise is a parody of Peachum from the Threepenny Opera and while Hope and, to a lesser extent, Bobby, are [[ParodySue Parody Sues]], mostly based on Grace Kelly and James Dean respectively.

* KarmicDeath: [[spoiler:Cladwell, who, after throwing being responsible for so many people being flung off roofs, is tossed off a roof to his death.))

* WritersCannotDoMath: The drought apparently has been going on for 20 years. Hope was conceived during the stink years, which would make her 19 at the most, and yet the play begins with her just having graduated from university.

* RealLifeWritesThePlot: The story was inspired by a homeless man who had enough money to either buy food or use a pay toilet, but not both.

* CoDragons: Officer Lockstock, head of the police, and Mr. McQueen Cladwell's assistant.

* FiveBadBand:
** BigBad: Cladwell B. Cladwell is the main villain, since he's the one who's made it mandatory for everyone to pay for toilet use.
** CoDragons: Officer Lockstock, and Mr. [=McQueen=].
** EvilGenius: Senator Fipp.
** TheBrute: Officer Barrel
** TheDarkChick: Penelope Pennywise

** CoDragons: Officer Lockstock, and Mr. McQueen.

* HomoeroticSubtext: [[spoiler:Barrell to Lockstock.]]
--> [[spoiler:'''Officer Lockstock:''' I love the people of this community, Mr. Barrell. Very much. Cladwell's edicts may be their only chance.]]

* {{Dystopia}}

* {{Foreshadowing}}: [[spoiler:Bobby being told he will end up like his father, who is sent to Urinetown in the first scene.]]

* TheHero: Bobby Strong is all kinds of this.
* IdiotHero: ''Hope''. Bobby has [[{{Pun}} strong]] flavors of this as well.

* KickTheDog: Or in this case, the Bunny. Mr. Cladwell raises this to an art form and then sings a helpful instructive song: "Don't Be the Bunny."

* VillainSong: "Mr. Cladwell" is an up-tempo, happy version of this. "Cop Song" and "Don't Be the Bunny" are more traditional variants.

!Inherently Spoileriffic Tropes

These tropes contain inherent spoilers. Just reading the titles will spoil the plot. Administrivia/YouHaveBeenWarned.

* [[spoiler:DeadlyEuphemism: Anyone sent to Urinetown is actually killed.]]
* [[spoiler:TheExtremistWasRight]]
* [[spoiler:TheHeroDies: Bobby Strong dies.]]
* [[spoiler: ReleasedToElsewhere: Urinetown, for all the policemen's scare tactics, turns out to be a one-way trip off a building.]]