When I first saw Urinetown on Broadway, I thought Malthus was possibly a character in a Lloyd C. Douglas novel (like Marcellus or Justus), which, of course, made no sense. Then I figured it might be a type of malt beer (which makes you pee a lot). It was driving me crazy, so I eventually just looked it up when I got home and came upon Thomas Robert Malthus and his theory regarding population growth. Quite an impressive throwaway reference! |