Campy Spoof REEFER MADNESS Comes To Bluebarn Theatre Opens 6/18-7/11

BLUEBARN Theatre will end their season with the campy spoof, Reefer Madness - the Musical, which opens June 18 and runs through July 11 (no show on July 4th). BLUEBARN's Artistic Director, Susan Clement-Toberer directs the hilarious send-up of the original 1936 cult classic, Reefer Madness. The musical comedy showcases costumes by Jenny Poole, scenic design by Martin Scott Marchitto, lighting design by Carol Wisner, musical direction by Mitch Fuller, and choreography by Roxanne Nielsen. Shows run Thursdays-Saturdays at 7:30 p.m. and Sunday, June 28 and Sunday, July 5 at 6 p.m. There will be no show on July 4. Ticket prices are $25 for adults; and $20 for students, TAG members, seniors 65+, and groups of 10 or more.

Reefer Madness - the Musical is inspired by the notorious 1936 anti-marijuana propaganda film, Reefer Madness. The show is a tongue-in-cheek raucous musical comedy about clean-cut kids who fall into a twisted, hilarious downward spiral of reefer, sex and mayhem.
With book and lyrics by Kevin Murphy and music by Dan Studney, the show opened in Los Angeles in 1998 for what the producers thought might be a two-week run. Instead it played to packed houses for over a year and a half, captivating audiences and critics alike, winning 20 theater awards and breaking records. Many devoted fans came back time and again, dressed in costumes and shouting out the lines. In September of 2001, Reefer Madness - the Musical debuted Off-Broadway and closed shortly thereafter. A made for TV movie was made for Showtime in 2005. 

Reefer Madness - the Musical showcases the talents of some of Omaha's finest theatre veterans, as well as some of Omaha's brightest young newcomers. UNO student, Paul Hanson, and Jenn Witt (COMPANY, Omaha Playhouse) will play the star-crossed lovers "Jimmy" and "Mary." Iowa Western Community College theatre instructor, Martin Scott Marchitto, who has designed sets for BLUEBARN's The Goat or Who is Sylvia? and Wit, makes his Omaha stage debut in the role of the "Lecturer." The musical's villains are all made up of some of Omaha's most celebrated theatre veterans including: Theresa Sindelar (Bat Boy, Matt & Ben, Omaha Playhouse), Ryan Pivonka (TICK!TICK!BOOM!, Stages of Omaha), Bailey Carlson (Urinetown, Omaha Playhouse), and Ben Beck (Wit, BLUEBARN Theatre). Rounding out the cast is KrystAl Kelly, Nora Shelton, Courtney Stein, Teri Fender, Megan Lubeck, Eddie Wayne, Jason DeLong, Steve Krambeck, Jared Michael Walter, and Jorge Ambriz. 

The BLUEBARN Theatre began in the late 1980s with graduates from the Professional Theatre Training Conservatory at the State University of New York at Purchase. Seeking to continue the deeply shared artistic aesthetic and practice that they had developed from their conservatory training, and also create theatre outside the constraints of New York City's commercial market, founding members Mary Theresa Green, Nils Haaland, Kevin Lawler, and Hughston Walkinshaw joined forces with Bemis Center for Contemporary Arts to produce their first play.

In 1998, the 10th anniversary season, the BLUEBARN moved into its current home, a beautiful ninety-seat proscenium arch theatre in Omaha's Old Market. The BLUEBARN also opened the Abbott/Pinkoff Gallery, providing local visual artists a place to display their work.

Now in its 20th season, the BLUEBARN has established itself as one of Omaha's premier contemporary theatre companies. After producing over 80 plays since 1989, the BLUEBARN's reputation for high quality entertainment and pursuit of stories that challenge both the theatre artists and patrons is solid.

Theatre without boundaries...
The Downtown Space
614 South 11th Street n Omaha, NE 68102 n
tel (402) 345-1576
www.bluebarn.org