Jason Ellis and Sarah Cassidy take a trip to 'Urinetown'

Jason Ellis and Sarah Cassidy are familiar faces on the community theater stages in Sarasota. Most recently, they’ve been cast as leading lovers in The Players’ “Urinetown.” They sat down with us to discuss the satirical musical. The following are edited excerpts of the conversation.

Give us the plot of “Urinetown.”
Cassidy: The musical takes place in a fictitious town where there is a water shortage that has lasted 20 years. It has come to the point where everyone has to pay to pee. A huge corporation that owns the toilets sets the fee for peeing, so the poor people have to use the bad amenities.

Ellis: I play Bobby Strong, and his father, Old Man Strong, is poor and can’t afford to pee. He decides to stand up to society and pees out in the middle of the street. So, he gets sent off to Urinetown. It’s “Les Miserables” with pee, basically — a lot of pee.

So what is Urinetown?
Ellis: Different people have different opinions.

Cassidy: It’s a mystery, sort of. Most people believe it’s a bad place, but it’s not really confirmed. We just know you don’t see them when they go to Urinetown.

And it’s a satire?
Ellis: I think this is part of the humor of this show. Most Broadway musicals have a liberal message, but if you see this show to the end, it’s actually kind of a conservative message, and that’s the joke.

Cassidy: It actually makes fun of both the sides … the joke is really on the joke.

Ellis: It’s the classic struggle of the rich vs. poor and the rich having too much and getting the only benefits and the poor barely able to live their lives.

What’s your favorite line or lyric in the production?
Ellis: There are some gems in this one. It’s a very quotable show … “Freedom is scary. It’s a blast of cool wind that burns your face to wake you up.”

Cassidy: “But Daddy, bunnies don’t drive cars.” In context, it’s funny. I also like Jason’s line, “A day, this day — where the people pee for free because the people are free.”

You were also the leading lovers in “How To Succeed in Business Without Even Trying” at Venice Theatre last season — what has round two been like?
Ellis: It’s comfortable. I don’t feel like we have to build anything since we’ve already done it before … Before we played (generic musical theater) love interests, and "Urinetown” pokes fun at that. We get to make fun of ourselves.

Cassidy: It pokes fun at musical theater, but it’s edgier — we get to know each other in a different way.

Ellis: As hysterical as the show is and makes it seem like things are very big and on grander scales, it’s not just this big joke. Under the surface, there’s meat to it.

So what’s your favorite part about working with each other?
Ellis: Sarah is a professional. Everything about the way she works is professional. You’re only as good as your scene partner. She is always at an extremely high level and does everything with such ease that it makes it more comfortable.

Cassidy: I was really excited he got the role of Bobby. That’s the first thing I asked when I got called … I think Jason commits 100%, so even sometimes when he says he doesn’t know what he’s doing or doesn’t know the ins and outs of a moment or scene, he’ll jump in with two feet and give it all the energy he has — I admire that passion.

If you go
‘Urinetown’
When: Opens 7:30 p.m. Thursday, April 17 and runs through April 27 (with a possible extension).
Where: The Players Theatre, 838 N. Tamiami Trail
Cost: Tickets $12 children, $25 to $30 for adults
Info: Call 365-2494 or visit theplayers.org.