“It’s based on the ’30s propaganda film. The one that said marijuana will make you sell your babies,” says Dylan Godwin, whose character in the upcoming Reefer Madness, The Musical at TUTS Underground is the master of ceremonies with strains of Joseph McCarthy and Cotton Mather running through him. “It’s very, very over the top,” Godwin says. “Although for my character, it’s very, very real.” Complete with huge splashy dance numbers, the musical features tongue-in-cheek lyrics as well as “misnomers from the ’30s that we now know are not true,” says Godwin, the recipient of the 2014 Houston Theater Award for Best Breakthrough Performance for his role in Good People at the Alley Theatre.
Asked why audiences should turn out for this show in the smaller Zilkha Hall theater at the Hobby Center, Godwin says: “Because it is just a great time. It’s really a brilliant time to be doing the show when marijuana decriminalization is so much in our consciousness with what’s happened in California and Colorado.” The music ranges from an opening martial air to jazz to pop to sock hop to opera, Godwin says. And there’s the added bonus of the song “Listen to Jesus, Jimmy,” sung by a character playing, yes, Jesus.
7:30 p.m. Thursdays, 8 p.m. Fridays, 3 and 8:30 p.m. Saturdays, and 3 p.m. Sundays. Through October 5. Hobby Center for the Performing Arts, 800 Bagby. For information, call 713‑558‑8887 or visit tuts.com. $29 to $53.
Thursdays, 7:30 p.m.; Fridays, 8 p.m.; Saturdays, 3 & 8:30 p.m.; Sundays, 3 p.m. Starts: Sept. 25. Continues through Oct. 5, 2014
This article appears in Sep 25 – Oct 1, 2014.
