Drugs in musicals ?

[Solstrom]

Posted: 6/27/09 at 6:18pm

Hello !
I'm currently searching all songs in musicals about drugs (as "Haschich" in Hair by exemple).
Could you help me please?

[defyingravity07]

Posted: 6/27/09 at 6:20pm

My Phychopharmacologist... 'Next to Normal'

[lakezurich]

Posted: 6/27/09 at 6:31pm

I personally like "Hashish" from HAIR. What kind-of drug is "Haschich?"

[Pgenre]

Posted: 6/27/09 at 6:36pm

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

[AndAllThatJazz22]

Posted: 6/27/09 at 7:40pm

'Hashish' in Hair.

'Walking in Space' from Hair could work because they are all supposed to be high in that song.

Literally every song in 'Bright Lights, Big City' has drug mentions in it.

[Jon]

Posted: 6/27/09 at 7:42pm

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

[blaxx]

Posted: 6/27/09 at 7:46pm

A few songs in Passing Strange.

[SporkGoddess]

Posted: 6/27/09 at 8:00pm

Pretty much all of Reefer Madness?

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

[bwayfan7000]

Posted: 6/27/09 at 8:01pm

I can't believe no one has mentioned RENT! There are drug references throughout, but most notably in, I believe, Christmas Bells, with the long list of drugs that the addicts want from the dealer. Also, in places like Another Day, when Roger asks Mimi "...why do you need smack?" etc.

[Mattbrain]

Posted: 6/27/09 at 10:30pm

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

In Brooklyn, Taylor's a drug addict.

[Gothampc]

Posted: 6/27/09 at 10:55pm

Amyl nitrate in Nunsense

heroin in Mack & Mabel

Acid Queen in Tommy

Updated On: 6/27/09 at 10:55 PM

[mormonophobic]

Posted: 6/28/09 at 1:23am

"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).

[Solstrom]

Posted: 6/28/09 at 7:45am

Thanks so much and sorry for the typing mistake...Well, I really need of title of songs and the name of the musical, not situation or character's addict (even if it's always good to know)...Did you know others songs ?

[sally1112]

Posted: 6/28/09 at 10:52am

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

[Lohania]

Posted: 6/28/09 at 11:12am

"Everybody Today Is Turning On" from "I Love My Wife." Good clip of this song being performed on network TV by Bea Arthur and Rock Hudson:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e3VbSfQ3nAM

[Pippin]

Posted: 6/28/09 at 11:13am

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

[Pgenre]

Posted: 6/28/09 at 4:55pm

THE FROGS

ONSTAGE: "All Aboard" - weed

OFFSTAGE: Kattan - blow

P

[ghostlight2]

Posted: 6/28/09 at 7:06pm

There's "Don't 'Ah, Ma' Me" - cocaine from The Rink.
Updated On: 6/28/09 at 07:06 PM

[mybigsplash]

Posted: 6/28/09 at 8:53pm

ACID QUEEN from The Who's Tommy. But Then again every song in Tommy is about drugs. But Acid queen is one of the great Broadway villain songs of All time!

[Pgenre]

Posted: 6/28/09 at 9:04pm

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

[ghostlight2]

Posted: 6/28/09 at 9:59pm

Ain't Misbehavin' - The Viper Rag - marijuana.

[Fan123]

Posted: 6/29/09 at 5:00am

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

[Solstrom]

Posted: 7/1/09 at 3:40am

Thanks so much for all !

[DMsquared2]

Posted: 7/1/09 at 4:37am

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

[millie_dillmount]

Posted: 7/1/09 at 8:15am

"Initials" from Hair also has some drug references.

Updated On: 7/1/09 at 08:15 AM