Why do they call it "Urinetown?" Because "Tinkleville" would just be silly. This new musical, now playing at Coeur d'Alene's Lake City Playhouse, isn't what one would think, and yet it is.

"Urinetown," a satire on the abuse of power, is marked by clever dialogue and toe-tapping music. In the depicted drought-ridden city, laws require people to use public "amenities" to do their business. But using the toilets isn't free.

During the first scene, bedraggled characters enter and line up at the loo in a gotta-go stance.

"You our humble audience, you have come to see what it's like when people can't pee free," the townspeople sing.

Director George Green has assembled a terrific ensemble with strong, distinct voices and great comic timing. Christina Coty, as potty mistress Penelope Pennywise, is the real standout with her commanding stage presence and deep, rich voice.

"I run the only toilet in this part of town, you see. So, if you've got to go you've got to go through me," she sings.

Doug Dawson is delightfully wicked as Caldwell B. Cladwell, the man in charge of the Urine Good Company, which controls the people's access to the powder room. His rendition of "Don't Be the Bunny" tickles the funny bone as he tells his daughter Hope, played by Emily Cleveland, to be the predator rather than the prey. He struts around the stage in his tall, lanky form as a chorus of "bunnies" hops behind him.

"Don't be the bunny. Don't be the stew. Don't be the dinner. You have better things to do," he sings.

Cleveland returns to the Playhouse's stage as the cheerful and just too cute Hope. Sporting a bright blue polka-dot dress, she is a bright vision against the drab background. Her optimistic persona and bell-like voice stays true right down to her toe points.

The audience is guided through the town and the story by Officer Lockstock, played by Dan Bell, and Little Sally, played by Siri Hafso. Bell's calm demeanor, deep voice and charm mask that he is the one sending urinary criminals to "Urinetown."

Hafso, a Suzanne Somers ("Three's Company"-era) lookalike, is a funny and smart Sally. She represents just how far will the Urine Good Company go to manage people's bodily functions - far enough to keep raising prices, refuse to let children go and fatally punish them when they heed nature's call.

Anyone who relieves him or herself anyplace but the government-sanctioned lavatory is sent to Urinetown (i.e. thrown off a building).

Green, Dan Heggem and Jamie Murphy have transformed the Playhouse's stage into a dingy sewer with a faade of stone and pipes. A large circular pipe at the back of the stage provides a window to the orchestra.

The grimness of the backdrop is matched by the raggedy costumes of the poor people who are oppressed by the Urine Good Company. The bleak setting and pathetic characters are contrasted by the upbeat melodies and witty lyrics by Mark Hollmann and Greg Kotis. The music ranges from gospel to inspirational. Ross Mumford, as Bobby, leads the citizens in a rousing, revival-like "Run Freedom Run," his strongest moment. "Freedom is scary ... But still, you gotta run," he sings.

Observant audience members might notice the production's send ups to familiar musicals like "Pippin," "West Side Story," and "Les Miserables." There's even an homage to a well-known cartoon mouse.

You gotta go.

"Urinetown" runs through June 19.

Sandra Hosking, a Spokane-Coeur d'Alene area college instructor and freelance journalist, is a longtime member of the theater community and playwright whose works have been performed across the U.S. and internationally.