Drugs in musicals ?

My Phychopharmacologist... 'Next to Normal'

Everything in THE WILD PARTY.

"Coffee" in SEE WHAT I WANNA SEE is all about cocaine and Diyanna spends most of the act snorting it onstage.

Tons of stuff in LITTLE FISH.

And then there's THE ACT... while not exactly ABOUT drugs, the influence is so great that... well, I think the show speaks for itself! LOVE it.

P

"White Horse" from THE ME NOBODY KNOWS is about heroin.

Pretty much all of Reefer Madness?

And "The Morphine Tango" from Kiss of the Spider Woman.

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In The Life, we've got Fleetwood who's a coke addict.

In Brooklyn, Taylor's a drug addict.

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"Rolling" from Bare

And though this isn't really official, I once saw this AMAZING production of Macbeth that was set in modern-day Scotland. So instead of being heavy in Shakespeare-speak, it was littered with Scottish idioms and slang. Anyway, if you'll believe me there was a skating ramp and live rock band on stage, mostly just playing instrumental. Now as awful as all this sounds, it was actually pretty good. The best part was during Lady Macbeth's death. The band played their only lyric-heavy song, entitled "Out Out Brief Candle", this song that used Shakespeare's own words and made them into a beautiful, haunting lament. Now here is where the drugs come in. They staged it so that Lady Mac killed herself by heroine overdose. Surprisingly they showed a lot of it, including her getting it out, "heating" it, tying herself off, using the syringe, and as the music reached this crescendo the drugs took their effect and she spun around the room before eventually falling to the floor, dead. It was really affective and one of the best uses of drugs in drama that I have ever had the good fortune of seeing.

Also, if memory serves: speed-the-plow. I'm not sure if it was mentioned, shown, or if was just the manic way Esparza played the role, but I would say cocaine is involved (not alluding to actual cocaine use, just the character).

"Sniff, Sniff," from Marty Short's Fame Becomes Me, is a song about his coke addiction.

"Saturn Returns" from Myths and Hymns is a metaphor for Guettal's drug addiction.

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There's "Don't 'Ah, Ma' Me" - cocaine from The Rink.

Updated On: 6/28/09 at 07:06 PM

The Acid Queen is not a villain in TOMMY. She does exactly what Tommy's Father (or Stepfather as in the film) pays her to do - shoot him up with drugs and/or have sex with him. She does this and nothing more, like a good prostitute. Just because she is flamboyent and "fabulous" does not make her a villain.

Uncle Ernie and Cousin Kevin, on the other hand, are clear villains for they do what they do to Tommy under the pretense they are "watching" and "protecting" him as a cousin and uncle would assumedly do (without torturing and/or molesting him) out of love dictated by premogenature (aka kinship).

The Hawker, I suppose, could be considered a villain for "luring" Tommy's Step-father into the idea that drugs and sex will cure his stepson. But Tommy's Stepfather is more to blame than the Hawker (or the Acid Queen) because he makes the decision on Tommy's behalf to do what he feels must be done. I can understand his desperation but it's Tommy's mother who is really to blame if we must place blame. Or the war.

And Townshend would never agree that drugs are villainous in any way, let alone the Townshend of circa 1969 when he wrote TOMMY.

"Uncle Ernie" and "Cousin Kevin" were the sole songs written by anyone but Townshend (Entwistle and Moon wrote them) because he found the topics hitting to close-to-home and "disturbing" to a victim of childhood abuse who hadn't faced all his demons yet.

P

Updated On: 6/28/09 at 09:04 PM

The Old Dope Peddler - Tomfoolery (certain versions)
You're Getting to be a Habit with Me - 42nd Street (compares love to a drug)
I Get A Kick Out Of You - Anything Goes (it mentions cocaine)
Coffee Break - How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying (if you can count caffeine)
The Rhythm of Life - Sweet Charity (Marijuana, not mentioned in the song, but they're all high)
Out of my Dreams / Dream Ballet - Oklahoma (well, she sniffs smelling salts and then has a vivid dream...jk)

Updated On: 6/29/09 at 05:00 AM

"Happy Dust" in Porgy & Bess although technically it's not a musical.