Showtime revisits ‘Reefer Madness’

It’s only after Mae slays her weed demons, and whacks Jack, that she comes to Jimmy’s aid with a presidential pardon for him and this gaggle of American icons here on set.

“We bring him back to truth, justice and the American way,” says Gasteyer, sticky, red syrup glistening over her face. “That number is the ultimate parody (showing) how the government has its ordained ideas of what’s right and wrong morally and culturally.”

Murphy and Dan Studney, college pals from Drew University in Madison, N.J., came up with the idea for the stage musical in 1997 while on a road trip from Oakland to Los Angeles.

It opened in 1999 in Los Angeles, became a hit and moved to off-Broadway. But the run was brief, since it opened shortly after 9/11.

'Equal opportunity offensive'
Soon after stepping in as Showtime’s president in July 2003, Robert Greenblatt greenlighted “Reefer” as the channel’s first full-length musical, and Murphy says it couldn’t have come at a better time.

“In today’s social climate, the world has caught up with the themes that we loved in ‘Reefer Madness,” he says.

“It’s so clever because it offends everyone equally,” laughs Cumming, dressed as FDR in a suit and straw hat.

“People who might be offended by a film called ‘Reefer Madness,’ that has a lot of people smoking pot all the time, will be happy that it has an anti-drug message,” Cumming continues.

“And people who are offended that Jesus comes down and does a number will be happy to know that the devil is destroyed at the end. So it’s an equal opportunity offensive film.”

Equally so for the film’s over-the-top acting, Weber says. But that’s intentional.

“The original ‘Reefer Madness’ was such an awful movie so we tried to capture the essence of some of those really bad period performances,” says Weber, dressed as Washington in white wig and tights. “I’ve played bad characters before, and arguably I’ve played them badly, but this one at least I have an excuse.”

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