REEFER MADNESS FAQ 2008

Q: IS THERE A MOVIE OF THE MUSICAL REEFER MADNESS?

A: Yup. It was adapted for the screen by Kevin & Dan and directed by Andy Fickman. It stars stage show alums John Kassir, Christian Campbell, Kristen Bell, Harry S. Murphy, Michael Goorjian and Robert Torti, joined by new cast members Alan Cumming, Ana Gasteyer, Amy Spanger, Steven Weber and Neve Campbell. It airs periodically on Showtime. The DVD was released November 2005 and is available for purchase through many online vendors, including www.amazon.com.

Q: WHAT BONUS MATERIAL IS ON THE DVD?

A: The DVD includes a copy of the original 1936 black and white film, a short making-of documentary “Grass Roots” that aired on Showtime and an audio commentary track with Christian Campbell, Amy Spanger, Andy Fickman, Kevin Murphy and Dan Studney. Also, the first printing of the DVD was treated so the out case smelled like yummy pot brownies. Go figure.

Q: CAN I BUY A CD OF REEFER MADNESS MUSIC?

A: Yes! It’s taken forever, but Dan and Kevin have been busting ass trying to get the rights clear for the CD. A deal has been struck with boutique label Sh-K-Boom to release a special collector edition of the original movie soundtrack, packaged with a re-issue of the original Los Angeles Cast Album. The movie soundtrack has been re-edited, re-mixed and re-mastered for CD and sounds terrific. We’re also including five bonus karaoke “sing-along” tracks with vocals removed. Once released the album will be available everywhere, including iTunes. Visit www.ghostlightrecords.com to order it. For more information, here.

Q: CAN I BUY THE PLAYSCRIPT TO REEFER MADNESS?

A: Yes. It’s $12 plus $3 shipping. Send $15 via www.Paypal.com to Kevin@reefermadness.org. Be sure to include a mailing address and indicate that you want the script.

Q: CAN I BUY THE SHEET MUSIC TO REEFER MADNESS?

A: Yes. It’s $45 plus $6 shipping for the entire piano/vocal score. It contains most of the music and lyrics from the 2001 Off-Broadway production with complete piano charts. Email $51 to Kevin@reefermadness.org through www.paypal.com and you’ll get your score in the mail. Be sure to include your mailing address.

Q: DOES THE PIANO/VOCAL SCORE CONTAIN “MARY JANE/MARY LANE”?

A: “Mary Jane/Mary Lane” was written especially for the film. Since we liked the song so much (and since it won an Emmy Award), we worked it into the stage show. It replaces “Dead Old Man.”

Q: CAN I GET A COPY OF THE LYRICS TO REEFER MADNESS?

A: The L.A. cast album contains the complete lyrics for that production in the CD booklet. Several songs were added, and many existing lyrics were revised for the 2001 production, as well as the film. A complete set of definitive REEFER lyrics can be purchased by emailing $6.00 to Kevin@reefermadness.org via www.paypal.com. The lyrics will be emailed to you as an Adobe PDF file. Free viewer is available from www.adobe.com.

Q: HOW DOES MY THEATRE COMPANY OBTAIN THE RIGHTS TO PRODUCE REEFER MADNESS: THE MUSICAL?

A: Stock, amateur and professional performance rights for REEFER MADNESS: THE MUSICAL are available and should be referred to Rodgers & Hammerstein Theatricals (www.rnh.com).

AMATEUR CUSTOMERS
Requests for Performance Rights, Perusals, Return of all Materials and all Inquiries:

R&H THEATRICALS
229 West 28th St. 11th floor
New York, NY 10001
Ph: (800) 400-8160
Fax: (212) 268-1245
e-mail: theatre@rnh.com

PROFESSIONAL CUSTOMERS
Request for Performance Rights, Perusals, Signed License Agreements, all Payments and all Inquiries:

R&H THEATRICALS
229 West 28th St., 11th Floor
New York, NY 10001
Ph: (212) 541-6600
Fax: (212) 586-6155
e-mail:protheatre@rnh.com

CONCERT CUSTOMERS
All Requests, Return of all Materials and all Inquiries:

The R&H Concert Library
229 West 28th St. 11th floor
New York, NY 10001
Ph: (212) 268-9300
Fax: (212) 268-1245
e-mail: concert@rnh.com

Q: I SAW THE SHOW IN NEW YORK AND THE SCORE WAS DIFFERENT FROM THE CD. WHAT'S THE DEAL WITH THAT?

A: Like we said above, REEFER MADNESS has undergone significant revisions since it originally opened in Los Angeles. Some of these changes were incorporated near the end of the LA run, some were tailored specifically for the New York production, and some were done for the movie. Here's a quick rundown:

LOS ANGELES VERSION #1

The play originally opened on April 29, 1999 at Gary Blumsack’s Hudson Backstage Theatre in Hollywood. The original Los Angeles cast CD features the score as it was performed for the first ten months of this run. The only exception is the song “We Know Best” which was deleted two weeks after we opened. The song appears on the Los Angeles CD as a bonus track.

LOS ANGELES VERSION #2

Near the end of the Los Angeles run, the play was optioned by the Nederlander Organization and Verna Harrah, with the intention to transfer the production to New York. They paid for the production to shut down for two weeks of rewrites and rehearsals. At this point, new choreographer Paula Abdul came aboard.

• The Mary ballad “Lonely Pew” was added to the first act.
• Mr. Poppy (The Lecturer) was given a bump-and-grind pole dance reprise of “Five and Dime.”
• “The Trial” was deleted.
• Mary's dying moments triggered a sad reprise of “Romeo and Juliet” for the lovers.
• An interminable Act Two book scene in which Sally and Ralph are killed was musicalized into an up-tempo ensemble song titled “Murder!”
• A scene in which all the dead character recite ridiculous-but-true quotes was cut and replaced with a new song about the excesses of propaganda called “Tell 'Em the Truth.” This song brought George Washington, Uncle Sam, The Statue of Liberty into the show. This scene also introduced the new character of President Franklin Delano Roosevelt and a shamefully cheap “Annie” joke.
• “The Orgy” was revamped with new choreography by Paula Abdul.

NEW YORK VERISON

Soon afterwards, the Los Angeles production shuttered for good in preparation for the move to Off-Broadway. During rehearsals in New York, Kevin and Dan made some additional changes to the play. Here are the major ones:

• “The Monkey Song” was cut and replaced with “The Brownie Song.”
• The muezzin duet was cut from “The Orgy” because we couldn’t find two performers who could sing that high AND dance AND understudy the lead roles.
• A solo Jack counterpoint was added to the “Act One Finale” to heighten tension at the first act break.
• The Act Two opening “Jimmy On the Lam” was given a conceptual overhaul which added Ralph, Mae and Sally as a jazz backup trio and set up “The Brownie Song.”
• “Five and Dime (Reprise)” was cut in NY previews.
• The ending of the “Jesus (Reprise)” was changed to provide a better applause button.

FILM VERSION

Kevin and Dan adapted “Reefer” for the screen. Their screenplay made many changes to the plot and the score. Adjustments to the score included:

• Lyric revisions in existing songs “Five & Dime,” “Orgy,” “Murder” and “Tell ‘Em the Truth” (now called “The Truth”).
• The Five & Dime’s Mr. Poppy was given a sex change and became Miss Poppy to create a role for Neve Campbell.
• The muezzin duet returned to “The Orgy.”
• “Dead Old Man” was replaced with “Mary Jane/Mary Lane.” This was done because Kevin & Dan felt the former was a visually static solo. That kind of number works better on stage than on film. They thought “MJ/ML” would be more visually interesting.
• “Act One Finale” and “Jimmy On the Lam” were deleted because there is no need to build to an act break and reset the action after intermission in the continuous medium of film.
• The reprise of “Listen to Jesus” was deleted (to keep things moving along).
• In the stage version, the reprise of “Reefer Madness” has different lyrics. In the movie, the end credit reprise of the title song has a different arrangement, but uses the same lyrics as the version that appears earlier in the film.

FINAL PUBLISHED VERSION

After the movie was released, Dan and Kevin proved unable to resist the temptation to fiddle with the show one more time. Here are the major changes from the NYC stage version:

Many plot and lyric revisions made for the movie were retroactively written into the stage show. These changes include Sally driving the car that kills the old man, a happy ending (of sorts) for Mae and Jimmy, Mary’s ascension to heaven, Ralph joining Jimmy for the church break-in scene, and the bonfire sequence.

• Mr. Poppy is once again all man, and played by the Lecturer.
• “Mary Jane/Mary Lane” now permanently replaces “Dead Old Man.”
• “Five and Dime (Reprise)” was reinstated.
• The final reprise of “Reefer Madness” was cut. “The Truth” now ends the show.