San Jose Stage Company Presents REEFER MADNESS, Beginning 6/5
By: Kelsey Denette
San Jose Stage Company presents Reefer Madness: The Musical. This irreverent and smokin' hot musical is a satirical toke on the 1936 anti-cannabis propaganda B-movie that has become a cult classic. Raucous and outlandish, Reefer Madness: The Musical is the summer "Hit" you'll definitely want to hold in for as long as you can.
The book is written by Kevin Murphy and Dan Studney, with music by Dan Studney and lyrics by Kevin Murphy. Reefer Madness began its cinematic life as a 1936 cautionary film entitled Tell Your Children. It was financed by a small, earnest church group, and was intended to scare any parent who viewed it. However, soon after the film was shot, however, it was purchased by the notorious exploitation film maestro Dwain Esper, who took the liberty of cutting in salacious insert shots and slapping on the sexier title of Reefer Madness, before distributing it on the exploitation circuit. After a brief run, the film lay forgotten for decades. There was no concept of "after market" in those days, especially for films that existed outside the confines of the studio system, and were therefore considered "forbidden fruit." For this reason, neither Esper nor the original filmmakers bothered to copyright the movie, and it eventually fell into the public domain.Videos