‘Reefer Madness’ a celebration of ‘American ridiculousness’

Michael Karraker is inviting you to “take a hit” on the live musical spoof of notorious 1938 anti-marijuana film “Reefer Madness,” opening Friday, Oct. 7, at Roxy’s Downtown, and enjoy the outrageous silliness that used to pass for dire societal warnings.

“One puff and people supposedly would go crazy or kill their neighbor, like they were suddenly heroin addicts or on a crazy pill,” said Karraker, known mostly for his comic acting in the Wichita area, who is directing this 1998 romp with book/lyrics by Kevin Murphy and music by Dan Studney.

“It’s in the same league as ‘Little Shop of Horrors’ or ‘Evil Dead: The Musical.’ We want to put it in the mix for the Halloween season,” the director said.

“It’s so far-fetched that there is no moral value to it,” said Karraker, who did some research into the original film after he “fell in love” with the musical spoof. “Today, it’s just campy, goofy fun. And the musical is perfectly pitched.”

“Reefer Madness” became the rallying cry of a war on drugs that is still going on today, even though some states like Colorado have legalized marijuana for recreational purposes, Karraker said.

“I want people to laugh and enjoy the show because it is a celebration of American excess, American ridiculousness,” he said. “Our ‘high’ in the show is humor.”

The show is set in 1938 where a stern authoritarian known only as The Lecturer (played by veteran comic actor Kyle Vespestad) is warning about the “evils” of a new menace threatening the American Way of Life: marijuana, also known as Demon Weed. He illustrates his point by introducing Jimmy (Daniel Hughes) and Mary (Jessica Curtiss), a lovable pair of wholesome teens who hold hands, sip hot cocoa and think pure thoughts when studying “Romeo and Juliet.”

But then the Lecturer shows what happens when Jimmy and Mary are lured into the Reefer Den, where the denizens include drugged-out hostess Mae (Megan Parsley), her abusive pusher boyfriend Jack (Damian Padilla), psychotic ex-student Ralph (Dylan Lewis), who is reduced to communicating through maniacal laughter, and the hopeless Sally (Keely Connolly), a single mom who constantly sells her body for her next hit.

The dire warnings are all geared to watching Jimmy turn from a “good egg” into a “bad apple” – with music like “Down at the Ol’ Five and Dime,” “The Stuff,” “Listen to Jesus, Jimmy” and “Tell ’em the Truth.”

Others in the cast – one of the largest in Roxy’s history – include Beth Shimkovitz, Jerry Wehry, Erin Mundus, Logan Graves, Miles Mattal and Melanie Calvery. Rich Bruhn is music director, Kyle Vespestad is choreographer and Dora Arbuckle is costumer.

Even though “Reefer Madness” is a spoof, because of the adult material, Roxy’s is putting a rating of R-17 on this show.

Director Karraker is encouraging his cast members to go as over-the-top and campy as they want to boost the laughs. But the actors playing two of the more colorful characters are taking different approaches.

“Jack (the drug dealer) is a one-note villain with no redeeming qualities,” said Damian Padilla, who is no stranger to over-the-top satire as star of “Evil Dead: The Musical” plus more realistic recent portrayals in “Party of One” and “Fly By Night” at Roxy’s.

“I have crafted him to be suave, debonair and smooth-talking, but he has no depth. He’s all surface flash. He’s strictly self-indulgent. Half the fun of the show is seeing how dastardly he’ll become,” Padilla said with a laugh.

For Megan Parsley, over-the-top isn’t the way to approach her role of Mae, the Reefer Den hostess.

“She’s not really a villainess, more of a victim because Jack is also her dealer. I see her as weathered, aged and bitter,” said Parsley, familiar from numerous shows at Mosley Street Melodrama (“Little Miss Moonshine,” “Sedgwick County Bandstand”) and the recent “Beehive” at Roxy’s.

“She actually ends up being kind of a hero. She has the biggest growth of any of the characters to change and save the day. I don’t like that she is weak and pushed around at the beginning, but I like that she finds strength and redemption,” Parsley said.

“There is room for melodrama,” she said. “But because satire is based in truth, you can’t go so over-the-top that the audience loses track of the reality you’re making fun of.”

This story was originally published September 30, 2016 at 3:38 PM with the headline "‘Reefer Madness’ a celebration of ‘American ridiculousness’."