Johnny Appleweed -- New Stoner Political Musical

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NEWS FROM NEW LINE
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"JOHNNY APPLEWEED"
THE GREAT AMERICAN STONER
MUSICAL COMEDY POLITICAL SATIRE

New Line Theatre will open its sixteenth season of provocative, adult, alternative musical theatre with the new musical satire JOHNNY APPLEWEED, with book, music, and lyrics by Scott Miller. The show runs October 12-November 4, 2006, at the ArtLoft Theatre in St. Louis.

Fiercely funny and outrageously original, Johnny Appleweed is a fearless political satire of America in the new millennium, guaranteed to outrage while it amuses, the first musical ever to make a serious case for the spiritual, existential, and psychological properties of marijuana. Through the lens of this pot-friendly worldview, the show takes aim at hot-button issues like increasingly rabid American religious fervor, American party politics, the War on Terror, the American culture of violence, gun control, gay marriage, sexual oppression, obscenity, and more, all through the eyes of the laidback, neo-mythic purveyor of pot Johnny Appleweed, an itinerant philosopher-stoner, who argues that only through the mind-expanding properties of marijuana can we truly see the Larger Truths, so that we can finally solve our problems and move our civilization forward. The show has been described as a heady mix of Hair, The Daily Show, the films of Kevin Smith, Waiting for Godot, and The Wizard of Oz.

In the show, Johnny is on his way to Washington D.C. to tell the President he's mucking up our country and has to stop. Over the course of the first act, Johnny meets up with a Christian-Republican closet-case, a lesbian performance artist, Jesus Christ himself, and a perky former televangelist. In Act II, this gang of five finally meets the President and they set about trying to convince him to change his political ways. One of the friends, the closet-case Mark, becomes the story's hero, and his journey becomes a classic hero myth, not unlike those that have been passed down through the centuries, with the requisite "wise wizard" (Johnny) a magic amulet (marijuana), and other trappings of the great elemental myths.

Johnny Appleweed has one central agenda as a political document, insisting that American democracy only works if its citizens are thoroughly and thoughtfully engaged in the business of the nation. American government is indeed of the people, by the people, and for the people, and too many of us forget those first two parts, that we all have work to do in keeping our democracy healthy and alive. Like many artists, poets, and philosophers who've gone before him, Johnny believes that marijuana is both a facilitator and catalyst for political and social understanding and change. Though marijuana is not the only concern of Johnny Appleweed, the show does suggest that the plant can, in many cases, open users' minds to new ways of thinking and perceiving, new revelations, new and deeper understanding of ourselves and our world, which can in turn help us solve the other problems facing us. It’s no accident that some of the greatest art of the 20th century was created under the influence of marijuana, opening up new, important, insightful visions of our world and existence. For more info on the show, go to www.appleweed.com

But Johnny's roots go way back. Back in the 1930s, mainstream theatre became intensely political, with shows like Waiting for Lefty, The Cradle Will Rock, Power, One Third of a Nation, It Can't Happen Here, and many others. Once America entered World War II, rabid patriotism overpowered political dissent, and agitprop theatre (short for agitational propaganda) faded away. The post-war 1950s brought prosperity and conformity to America like never before, and political dissent faded further. But when the 60s arrived, theatre returned to fiercely political drama and satire, with shows like Hair, Viet Rock, Cabaret, McBird, US, and many others. The trend continued into the 1970s, but the materialism of the 80s and the dot-com prosperity of the 90s lessened the public appetite for political theatre once again. Then came the September 11 terrorist attacks, and the Bush administration. Now, political theatre is back again, and it's healthier than ever, both here and abroad.

Scott Miller, author and composer of Johnny Appleweed, has written eight musicals and two plays, all of which have been produced. His play Head Games has enjoyed successful runs in St. Louis, Los Angeles, London, and at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival in Scotland. Miller has also written five books on musical theatre and is the artistic director of New Line Theatre in St. Louis. His latest book, "Strike Up the Band: A New History of Musical Theatre," will be out in fall 2006.

New Line Theatre is a professional company dedicated to involving the people of the St. Louis region in the exploration and creation of innovative, provocative, socially and politically relevant works of the musical theatre. New Line receives funding from the Regional Arts Commission, the Missouri Arts Council, and the Arts & Education Council of Greater St. Louis. For more about New Line, go to http://www.newlinetheatre.com/contact.html

JOHNNY APPLEWEED runs October 12-November 4, 2006, at the ArtLoft Theatre, 1529 Washington in downtown St. Louis, less than two miles east of the Fox Theatre, on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday evenings at 8:00 p.m. June 1 is a preview. Tickets are $18 for adults and $15 for students and seniors on Friday and Saturday nights. Tickets are $15 for adults and $10 for students and seniors on Thursday nights. Tickets go on sale in August through all Metrotix outlets, including Famous Barr stores, the Fox Theatre, and select Schnucks stores. All programs are subject to change.

For other information about the season, call 314-773-6526 or visit New Line Theatre's full-service website at www.newlinetheatre.com. All programs are subject to change.