CURTAIN CALL: REEFER MADNESS COMING TO GUELPH

Chronics Rejoice

/"It's going to be outrageous, it's going to be vulgar, it's going to
be hilarious, but most of all it's going to make you think." Adam Pellerine/

"Every single position in this production is a volunteer position,"
said Adam Pellerine Tuesday evening, referring to the upcoming
production of Reefer Madness that he will be directing. "We are
expecting a team of 60-70 people," elaborates Pellerine, "It's great
because first year students work with fourth year students and get a
different perspective."

I met with Pellerin and the Executive Producer of Curtain Call
Productions, Brian Cunha minutes before casting auditions for Reefer
Madness started in the Mackinon building. The two seemed excited and
confident about the upcoming year with 130 people auditioning and a
weeks worth of decision making about the cast and crew.

"Our focus this year," Cunha says, "is to get our name out there and
get people to know that we are an established theatre company and we
can do really great productions right here on campus." Curtain Call
Productions has actually been around longer than you and I, probably
put together. The company started back in 1957 with performances
created and carried out by students. In seeking notoriety as a theatre
company, Curtain Call started to perform main stage musicals to appeal
to larger and more diverse audiences.

"With choosing Reefer Madness we were looking to take a risk," says
Pellerine, "It's a political piece and its important for us to not
just entertain, but to also have people question assumptions and not
believe everything they hear."

If your not familiar, Reefer Madness was originally a drug scare film
that came out in 1936 to educate parents on the harmful effects of
marijuana. The film is a depiction of the devastating events that will
ensue if your teen starts to smoke pot. The list includes a hit and
run accident, rape, manslaughter and suicide. I don't know about you,
but I usually just get the munchies and listen to music.

The film didn't become popular until the 1970s, becoming an ironic and
unintentionally comedic cult classic for cannabis smokers. The film
was adapted into a musical in 2001 and will appear on stage in Guelph
later this year!

Coming to the performance, the audience can expect "a show that is
going to be better then the last ... it's going to be outrageous, it's
going to be vulgar, it's going to be hilarious, but most of all it's
going to make you think," says Pellerine.

Like any production from Curtain Call, Reefer Madness will be a group
effort. "Choosing this production was a totally democratic decision,"
says Cunha, who has been volunteering up to 30 hours a week to ensure
the success of the musical.

Cunha wanted to clear up the "misconception that you have to be part
of the theatre program to get involved with Curtain Call." In fact,
Cunha asserts that many of the students that are auditioning for the
musical have backgrounds in science and are not involved in the
theatre program.

Also, Curtain Call affords students opportunity beyond the performing
cast. If you are weary of the spotlight, maybe you can try your hand
as, well, a stage hand: Pellerine says that to pull off a musical of
this size and complexity they need "vocal directors, stage managers,
tech directors and the list just goes on and on."

Pellerine and Cunha are willing to have anyone with an interest in
theatre to come out and get involved.