A little girl scavenges for pennies to fund her morning pee, cops trap the citizenry rather than protecting them and the punishment for lawbreaking is immediate exile. This was the dire scenario Friday of “Urinetown: The Musical,” Ithaca College’s latest main stage production, directed by Lee Byron, associate professor in and chair in the Department of Theatre Arts.

In this vaguely 1940s reality, the quality of the performance is complemented by the set design of senior Stephanie Tucci. Moving set pieces take the stage from street to office and back again. Clever set dressings advertise UrineGoodCompany, a corporate monolith led by the cruelly charismatic Caldwell B. Cladwell (junior Dan Greenwood), who rose to power after a terrible drought.

Hope returns to Urinetown in the form of Hope (a much-relished pun), the daughter of the corrupt CEO. Senior Elise Riveron’s Hope is naive and sweetly bubbly. Her silly romantic chemistry with revolutionary Bobby Strong carries their sweetly sung duet, “Follow Your Heart.” Afterward, Bobby — senior Jeremy Jordan, with a dash of Elvis and a solid tenor wail — is inspired by Hope’s tender philosophy to lead a rebellion to reclaim the people’s right to pee free.

Little Sally (sophomore Emily Walton), channeling Joan Cusack, asks the audience’s questions aloud, serving as a foil for narrator Officer Lockstock’s (senior Gary G. Howell) strong presence and even stronger baritone as he liaises between the audience and the action on stage.

The cast was hesitant in the opening number “This is Urinetown” — probably because of inadequate microphone coverage. When every lyric is a punch line, the diction needs to be obnoxiously articulated. It just wasn’t there.

In the next number, “It’s a Privilege to Pee,” senior Shauna Goodgold‘s brassy voice and sharply streetwise attitude make up for the previous number’s lack of clarity. The self- assurance of the lead actors is what makes this production so strong. Each actor brings a distinct voice to the show while creating a cohesive cast dynamic. It’s a challenging production for the chorus, too, since it does double duty on stage and performs extended dance sequences. Mary Corsaro, associate professor in the Department of Theatre Arts, recreated a sense of the original Broadway production’s choreography without simply copying it.

Once “Urinetown” gets flowing, the ensemble’s timing picks up and skewers the fourth wall, engaging the audience and making bathroom humor witty and fresh. The show’s big burst of energy is in the second act, when the rebels retire to their secret hide-out to dance the angst away in a Broadway-hit pastiche.

If the singing feels undermic’d and dictionless during the opening number, the performers may be saving up for Act II. “Snuff That Girl” and “Run, Freedom, Run,” both of which make multiple references to popular Broadway musicals, are vocally demanding. The cast, led by standout vocalists junior Jonathan Burke and freshman Elysia Shutrump, is up to the challenge, and the result is exhilarating.

Music director Mark Kaczmarczyk, assistant professor of music performance, provides a solid foundation for the vocalists with the five-piece pit orchestra, which is out of sight but never out of tune.

“Urinetown: The Musical” asks whether short-sighted philanthropy is better than oppressive yet effective corporate regulation. For all who hate Big Brother bureaucracy and enjoy well-thought-out scatological brilliance, “Urinetown” is the ultimate Broadway musical.

It’s a self-referential, irreverent, pee-punning, quality theatrical experience and the best-produced musical Dillingham has put on in years.

“Urinetown: The Musical” will be performed at 8 p.m. tomorrow and Saturday and at 2 p.m. Saturday in the Hoerner Theatre. Tickets range from $7 to $10 and can be purchased at the door, at www.ithacaevents.com, or by calling the Ithaca College Theatre Box Office at 274-3224.