Name of musical banned from tickets

Associated Press

December 11, 2006 12:39 pm

— ERIE, Pa. — One might call it the play that dare not speak its name.
A Roman Catholic high school must try to sell tickets to its upcoming school play without referring to its title — “Urinetown: The Musical” — because the local bishop objects to it.
Erie Catholic Bishop Donald W. Trautman does not object to the play itself — an absurd send-up of Broadway musicals — and received no complaints about it. Still, the bishop is concerned about the play’s title being linked with Cathedral Prep, said Monsignor Tom McSweeney, diocese spokesman.
“His only objection was to the title, not to the show itself,” McSweeney said.
But altering the name of the show would violate its copyright. So the play’s producer and director, the Rev. Michael DeMartinis, said he must try to sell tickets to the show — which runs Dec. 7-10 — without using the play’s title on tickets, posters and programs.
DeMartinis said the title of the show will become immediately clear to the audience.
“They’ll know what the play is without a doubt within the first 10 seconds,” DeMartinis said. That’s because the lyrics, “This is Urinetown,” “You’re at Urinetown,” and “Here we are in Urinetown” are featured in the show’s opening number.