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ACT I
The show opens with a friendly welcome from Officer Lockstock, the narrator, assisted by the street urchin Little Sally. ("Too Much Exposition").[5] According to Lockstock, a twenty-year drought has caused a terrible water shortage, making private toilets unthinkable. All restroom activities are done in public toilets controlled by a megacorporation[6] called "Urine Good Company" (or UGC). To control water consumption, people have to pay to use the amenities. There are harsh laws ensuring that people pay to pee, and if they are broken, the guilty party is sent to a supposed penal colony called "Urinetown", where offenders are sent but never return.
The oppressed masses huddle in line at the poorest, filthiest urinal in town ("Urinetown"), which is run by the rigid, harshly authoritarian Penelope Pennywise and her assistant, dashing young everyman Bobby Strong. Trouble ensues when Bobby's father, Old Man Strong, cannot afford his urinal admission for the day and asks Pennywise to let him go free "just this once". After Old Man Strong's plea is dismissed ("It's a Privilege to Pee"), he urinates on the street and is soon arrested by Officers Lockstock and Barrel and escorted off to Urinetown ("It's a Privilege to Pee" [Reprise]).
Later that day, in the corporate offices of Urine Good Company, the CEO, Caldwell B. Cladwell, is discussing the new fee hikes with Senator Fipp, a politician firmly in Cladwell's pocket, when Cladwell's beautiful daughter, Hope Cladwell, arrives on the scene as the UGC's new fax/copy girl. As a way of introduction to their newest member, the UGC staff sings a paean to their chief ("Mr. Cladwell").
Officers Lockstock and Barrel discuss the journey to Urinetown and how it reduces everyone, even the toughest, to screams ("The Cop Song"). Hope enters and encounters Bobby Strong. The attraction is instant, and the two, joined by their belief in the power of the heart, sing about their hope for a new world ("Follow Your Heart").
Officer Lockstock and Little Sally discuss Urinetown. When Little Sally asks him what it is, Lockstock replies that its power lies in its mystery.
The next day, new fee hikes are announced by Cladwell's assistant McQueen, and Bobby concludes that the laws are wrong. Opening the doors of the urinal, despite Ms. Pennywise's protests, he begins a pee-for-free rebellion ("Look at the Sky").
At the offices of UGC, Cladwell is informed of the revolution, and when Hope is aghast at his vow to crush Bobby for his actions, Cladwell coldly instructs her (using metaphors centering on rabbits) to be the winner in life rather than the victim ("Don't Be the Bunny").
At Public Amenity #9, Cladwell, UGC staff, and police arrive to confront Bobby. Bobby discovers who Hope's father is, and, outnumbered, the rebels kidnap Hope and head to a secret hideout in the sewers ("Act One Finale").
Act II
The rebel poor are hiding with Hope in the sewers, the police and Cladwell looking for them, and Bobby hiding from the police. The rebels wonder what Urinetown is, and everyone sings about the power of the mysterious no-man's land. Little Sally eventually concludes that Urinetown is a metaphysical place where everyone is down-and-out ("What is Urinetown?").
Down in the sewers, the rebels are driven mad and are close to killing Hope in revenge for her father's crimes ("Snuff That Girl") when Bobby bursts in and reminds the rebels of their revolutionary purpose with a rousing gospel song ("Run, Freedom, Run!").
Invigorated, the poor rally around Bobby, but balk at his statement that the violent fight could take decades. Just then, Pennywise bursts into the secret hideout telling Bobby that Cladwell wants him to come to the UGC headquarters. Bobby goes, but only after being reminded by the impatient rebels that if anything happens to him, Hope will be killed. Pennywise fiercely swears that if any of the rebels harm Hope, she will have Bobby sent off to Urinetown. Bobby says goodbye to Hope, apologizes, and tells her to think of what they have ("Follow Your Heart" (Reprise)).
At the UGC headquarters, Cladwell offers Bobby a suitcase full of cash and full amnesty to the rebels as long as Hope is returned and the people agree to the new fee hikes. Bobby refuses, and demands free access for the people. Cladwell orders the cops to escort Bobby to Urinetown. Horrified, Pennywise reminds him that getting rid of Bobby dooms Hope, but he ignores her and has her arrested as well. As Pennywise escapes her captors, she, Hope, and Fipp sing of their regrets of falling for Cladwell's schemes. Meanwhile, Bobby is led to the top of the UGC building, and learns the truth – that there is no Urinetown, they just kill people ("Why Did I Listen to That Man?"). Lockstock and Barrel throw him off the building, killing him.
Little Sally returns to the hideout in a shocked daze, having just heard Bobby's last words. She then sings, along with Bobby, his last words directed to Hope. ("Tell Her I Love Her"). His last words encourage the rebels to fight for what they know is right, and that the time is always now. Just as the rebels are about to murder Hope in revenge, Pennywise enters and offers herself in her stead, proclaiming herself to be Hope's mother. The poor reel back, shocked by this unexpected plot twist.
Pennywise unties Hope, explaining that she was the one-time lover of Cladwell back during the Stink Years. Once released, Hope promptly convinces the rebels, Pennywise now among them, to let her lead the revolution. The rebels march to the office of UGC, killing Officer Barrel, Senator Fipp, and Cladwell's secretary Mrs. Millenium on the way ("We're Not Sorry").
Upon entering his office, Cladwell is captured by the rebels. Hope orders her father off to Urinetown and, after a short reconciliation[clarification needed] with Pennywise ("We're Not Sorry" (Reprise)), he is thrown off the roof by the poor screaming, "I kept the pee off the streets and the water in the ground!"
With Cladwell gone, Hope assures her followers that the age of fear is over and that they can look forward to a bright new day. The Urine Good Company is renamed "The Bobby Strong Memorial Toilet Authority" and the people are henceforth allowed to pee whenever they like, as much as they like, for as long as they like, and with whomever they like ("I See A River").
However, the town's newfound urinary bliss is short-lived, as its limited water supply quickly disappears. As draconian as Cladwell's rules were, they kept the people from squandering the limited water supply; now, much of the population dies of thirst. Lockstock insinuates that Hope suffers a terrible death at the hand of the people for her actions in depleting the water supply, but adds that the remaining townsfolk will wage on, their town now quite like the imaginary "Urinetown" with which they had been threatened all of their lives.
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