Almost anything can be turned into a hit musical. Any cartoon ("The Lion King"), any novel ("Oliver!") or any historical moment ("Miss Saigon") can make it on Broadway given the right director, music and cast. "Urinetown: The Musical," though, is probably the first musical about a bodily fluid to grace Broadway.

The plot goes a bit like this: A small, fictional town experiencing a water shortage is forced to buy drinking water from a giant, evil corporation. Private toilets have been outlawed, and citizens are forced to pay to urinate in public toilets. Eventually, the town's poor rise up against the oppressive evil corporation in an attempt to wrest control of their God-given right to pee where they please. [Read article]

If you like techno, house music, hip-hop or even a little oldies, you can enjoy the music of DJs Jon Matkin and Carlos Roldan.

Matkin and Roldan are both 30-year-old Pima Community College students who spin to their own beat every Tuesday night at Sharks, 256 E. Congress St.

"My style is hip-hop, but I play every genre. I mix it all in and put my own style to it," Roldan said.

Matkin's styles include techno, house music and break beats, which is hip-hop without the lyrics. [Read article]

Wynne Greenwood, front woman for the electro-punk trio Tracy and the Plastics, says she isn't sure why, but performing in front of an audience is more difficult now for the video artist than when the band first started.

"I used to really like to make eye contact with the audience, but now I've gotten shyer and shyer," Greenwood said.

"But what about the other Plastics, Wynne?" you're asking yourself. "Surely they're not scared to rock the mic." [Read article]

He may not be the "King of Arizona," as his concert tomorrow night at Club Congress suggests, but Los Angeles-based rapper MURS is finally returning to familiar territory in the Old Pueblo.

Born and raised in Los Angeles, MURS moved to Tucson in 2000 and resided there for two years. Like many local music heads, he worked at Zia Records, in addition to running his own hip-hop shop on Congress Street called "Heaven." [Read article]

I was absolutely convinced that Hellboy was played by Nick Nolte, and that there was some crazy conspiracy trying to cover up that fact. I couldn't understand why his name wasn't on the posters and why he wasn't on talk shows promoting it.

I recently found out (after seeing the movie) that it was actually some cat named Ron Perlman. But my thought is that maybe this Perlman guy is actually Nick Nolte's alter ego, like Chris Gaines was for Garth Brooks. I am absolutely convinced of it. See the movie and get back to me on that. We can start a revolution. [Read article]

"The Girl Next Door" tries to sell itself as a teen sex romp. Vying for the "American Pie" audience, it puts loads of Elisha Cuthbert cleavage in every trailer and television spot. And to an extent, the ads are true to the movie. There's nudity and sophomoric humor in the film, but it turns out that "Girl" is much more than that. And while I'm sure the ads will attract an audience of Seann William Scott lovers (or Vin Diesel lovers; I think they're the same people), I'm afraid many will miss out. [Read article]

The world of Internet cinema rarely gets its due. Despite millions of viewers every day, most mainstream media organizations just don't get excited about a pudgy Canadian middle schooler's "Star Wars" fantasy, or a Japanese pop group's biblical interpretations. In the interest of giving some much needed hard-copy publicity to up-and-coming cultural icons (and stealing some of Peter Jackson's thunder), here are the best and brightest of Internet cinema. [Read article]

William Hung

Sounds Like: Satan's idea of elevator music.

See Also: Any local karaoke bar.

Inspiration

That's right. William Hung, that funny lookin' Asian guy who gave the all-time worst audition in "American Idol" history, has an album! The album is basically a compilation of Hung's favorite songs, including Elton John's "Rocket Man" and "Can You Feel the Love Tonight," as well as Ricky Martin jams "Shake Your Bon-Bon" and the infamous "She Bangs," which skyrocketed Hung to fame. But the cr�me de le cr�me is definitely the most painful rendition of R. Kelly's "I Believe I Can Fly" ever attempted by a human being. [Read article]

Today

Lecture - UA Museum of Art. "Glamour and Fashion: The Contemporary Beauty Industry." In conjunction with the museum's current exhibit, "The Art of Allure," which features vanities and compacts from the 1900s to today. 2 p.m. 621-7567

Lecture - UA Museum of Art. Slide lecture by Jack Welport: "Odyssey, a Life in Photography." Welport was an original faculty member of the New Photography Program when it began at the UA School of Art. 5:30 p.m. 621-7993 [Read article]