With "Evil Dead: The Musical" and its steampunk version of the Who's "Tommy," Stray Dog Theatre has cultivated a young audience that goes for nervy productions of musicals with hot titles and high-spirited scores. That audience should be back in force for its latest effort, "Urinetown: The Musical." It won't disappoint them.

"Tommy" co-directors Justin Been and Gary F. Bell are again running the show, along with many of the same designers and actors. True, this one has prerecorded music instead of a live band, a disappointment. But the performers deliver a vibrant treatment of the songs by composer/lyricist Mark Hollman (who grew up in Fairview Heights) and lyricist/book writer Greg Kotis.

Set in the not-so-distant future, this musical of ecological catastrophe and corporate greed feels even more timely than it did in 2002, when it won three Tony awards. Profiting from a severe water shortage, evil one-percenters control the hideous pay toilets that the masses are forced to use. Revolution awaits only a spark (make that a drop) and a leader.

That leader is noble-hearted, impoverished Bobby Strong, smartly portrayed by "Tommy" star Antonio Rodriguez. Rodriguez has just the right touch for a Stray Dog leading man, offhand and unself-conscious. When he and an heiress played with charm by Jennifer M. Theby share their first kiss, he kicks one foot up behind him, the way girls did in silent movies; it hits this romantic nail on its twisted little head. Theby, who wears coordinated hair ribbons and an amazingly wide gaze, turns in her own comic highlight: a tap dance she somehow performs while tied to a chair.

Set designer Justin Barisonek, lighting designer Tyler Duenow and costume designer Alexandra Scibetta Quigley offer the performers a playground of post-catastrophe touches to have fun with. They also get a cascade of great numbers to open the strong second act: "What Is Urinetown?," "Snuff That Girl," "Run, Freedom, Run."

Many of the actors are familiar from Stray Dog shows and elsewhere. Standout work comes from Deborah Sharn as a tough cookie with a past, Ryan Cooper as a revolutionary in search of a crime and Berklea Going, who has grown up before St. Louis theatergoers' eyes. Here, as Little Sally, the 15-year-old performer has a lot of fun spoofing the sweet girls she's often played. Keep an eye on her goofy rag doll.

'Urinetown: the Musical'

Who • Stray Dog Theatre

When • Through Feb. 18

Where • Tower Grove Abbey, 2336 Tennessee Avenue

How much • $18-$20

More info • 314-865-1995; straydogtheatre.org