Manoa Valley Theatre's Hawai'i premiere of "Urinetown" works in those moments that are true to the show's original spirit.

In 2002, "Urinetown" was nominated for 9 Tony awards and won three. You don't get that kind of recognition simply from a vulgar title.

Nor do you get it solely by satirizing government and big business, with a plot line in which oppressed citizens must pay to use public toilets and mysteriously disappear if caught relieving themselves behind a convenient bush.

"Urinetown" captured attention by breaking the Broadway mold of large, costly, conservative musicals, succeeding through brash irreverence and satirical chutzpah. It's quick street theater, but with choreography and a score.

There are inspired moments in the MVT season-opener, directed by Andrew Meader. But there are technical and style problems, as well. Most of them happen in the first act, and the worst of them happens early.

The sound is badly balanced in the opening scenes. Although the orchestra is hidden behind the upstage scenery and the singers wear body microphones, an over-amplified piano swamps us with sound. The chorus battles back. We see their lips moving, but lose much of the lyrics.

Much of the dialogue is also marred by poor audibility, which shouldn't happen in the theater's intimate playing space.

Problems continue from pumping up pee troubles and wordplay to sustain an entire act, as The Urine Good Company controls public bathrooms that the poor are charged for the privilege of using. The material doesn't play itself and — while the cast pushes it hard — the action lacks sufficient bubble and fizz to give it a satisfactory head.

Some of Ahnya Chang's choreography gimmicks spark interest, like policemen twirling flashlights in the dark and the entire chorus dancing in bunny slippers.

But the brightest moments in Act One are self-satirizing interchanges between Little Sally (Danel Verdugo) and Officer Lockstock (Matthew Pennaz).

"The drought: a water shortage so awful that private toilets eventually became unthinkable," gushes Little Sally.

"Everything in its time," admonishes Lockstock, "Nothing can kill a show like too much exposition."

Little Sally demands to know what Urinetown is like, and Lockstock foreshadows the outline of the show, "It's a secret. I can't just blurt it out, like 'There is no Urinetown! We just kill people.' It must be oozed out slowly until one cathartic moment somewhere in Act Two, with everybody singing."

That sequence in Act Two is precisely where MVT's "Urinetown" finds its legs. In a series of building chorus numbers, choreographer Chang blatantly steals routines from Broadway's big blockbusters — the wedding dance from "Fiddler On the Roof" and the "stay cool" number from "West Side Story."

The action finally breaks loose when rebel leader Bobby Strong (Mike Dupre) leads the Urinators in a gospel-inspired song and dance, "Run, Freedom, Run." It genuinely resonates with charged energy.

The rest of the show plays as denouement with "Les Misérables" references, as the rebellious Urinators take to the sewers to hide from the authorities. Act Two works when the show moves away from its ridiculous plot line and frees itself to be spontaneous, inventive and bold.