"Reefer Madness" delivers high-level performance

Author: Tristan Axelrod

It has been a long time since I last attended a Middlebury College Musical Players (MCMP) show, and I must admit that this is because my prior experiences with the group as a participant and audience member were less than satisfactory. The Middlebury College Musical Players are susceptible to a number of continual problems, as they lack the funding, training and facilities of the Theatre Department. However, in the best of cases, such as this past weekend, their outsider status affords them the opportunity to avoid the pedantic baggage of the high academic arts and celebrate theater in its truest and most accessible forms.

"Reefer Madness" restored my faith in MCMP, as well as my sagging faith in student-organized extracurricular projects in general. Although the cast was stellar, it was not the cast that made the show - it was the phenomenal efforts of a number of behind-the-scenes players who kept everything organized, coherent and smooth that made this one of the best artistic productions I have experienced at Middlebury.

Presented last weekend in the embarrassingly cramped Château theater space, "Reefer Madness" is a musical based off a 1930s anti-drug propaganda film. If you are not familiar with it, you can YouTube it. The program notes describe it best - "The seeming lack of continuity, overly dramatic acting, impossible situations and incredible transparency are strangely reminiscent of, dare we say it? Musical Theater." It was a great choice for MCMP because the music is great, the theme is relevant and the show in general requires a lot of overacting and enthusiasm.

I will not get into the controversy of the Château space - suffice to say it was terrible and not at all ideal as a venue for this production - but MCMP proved that they could persevere through sheer determination and love of the medium, and hopefully they have earned the right to claim the Hepburn Zoo or some other large venue for years to come. Most of my critiques of the show relate to the space - the ensemble vocal arrangements were muddy, lyrics went completely unheard unless the singer faced your seating section, and you could occasionally hear the crew. There does not seem to be much more they could have done about it.

Martina Bonolis '10 as director brought the show together. The show's timing was excellent, and the thematic material, music, choreography, lighting and design came together with an effortlessness that belies some serious organizational expertise. The efficiency of transitions and cues and the number of great ensemble performances illustrated her mastery of personnel. Bonolis' thematic and logistical choices were moderate and probably somewhat derivative, but ultimately led to a highly enjoyable production.

Musical director Douglas McRae '08 brought out the show's zany and energetic score with great precision while encouraging idiomatic embellishment from a band that featured Charlie Freundlich '10 on bass and Heidi Schmidt '10 on piano. McRae gets special acknowledgment for having to sing the entire score in order to coordinate the band with the cast due to spatial concerns that limited vision. He also deserves respect for filling out missing instrumental parts with a melodica, the bizarre keyboard/harmonica hybrid popularized by Ben Folds in the 1990s.

Perhaps the most impressive behind-the-scenes player in this production was choreographer Max Kanter '10.5, whose work on "Reefer Madness" was stunning. The ensemble's coordinated efforts were so sexually charged, eccentric and intricate in such a small space that audience members were literally aghast.

The cast served the show very well. RJ Adler '11.5 and Amie Pendleton-Knoll '11 were perfectly bland and na've as your stereotypical middle-America golden couple. Adler completed the first act without his shirt and somehow through the character's frenetic ignorance he rendered the backstage error amusingly appropriate. 'Lecturer' Roberto Ellis '09 maintained the show's energy with expert transitions and seamless integration into numerous faux-wholesome utility positions. The utility roles proved the strong suit of the cast, with fantastic featured input from Elizabeth Goffe '10 in several roles. Schuyler Beeman '10 merits special credit as an over-the-top gay Jesus who saved the show from faltering energy in the later portion of Friday's 11 p.m. show. Phil Ziff '10 seemed to have been given numerous small and bizarre roles due to his capacity for startling and hilarious facial and vocal contortions, a casting strategy that he validated with contagious delight.

This past weekend's MCMP show was a triumph of resolution and physical and intellectual effort on the part of numerous people. Three dollars was hardly an adequate price for the solidarity of a Middlebury community brought together by a shared love for slapstick, funny faces, song and dance and the ridicule of certain conservative values.