ADDING SONG - WE KNOW BEST
Taken out of original show because it made the show "too long." Adding "We Know Best" back into the musical. Makes an important point. Lyrics below:
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We Know Best
Jimmy:
"Aw, come on, Pop! What could you possibly know about marijuana?"
Dad:
"A great deal, thanks to the crackerjack journalism of that great American billionaire, Mr. William Randolph Hearst!"
Mom:"He's dedicated his political influence and many millions of dollars to the noble cause of informing parents about the true dangers posed by the green misery!"
Dad: "Look at these headlines! 'Hashish goads users to bloodlust!' 'If the monster Frankenstein came face to face with marijuana, he would drop dead of fright!' 'Marijuana is responsible for the raping of white women by crazed Negroes!'"
Jimmy:
"Wow! Frankenstein! Is all that true?"
Mom:
"If it weren't, they certainly wouldn't print it in the papers, now would they, silly?"
Clammy-handed darkies with twitching, throbbing hips
Reefer sticks protruding from their gigantic lips
We learn about them from Mr. Hearst
He is white, and he knows best!
Jimmy:
"Gosh all hemlock! What else does Mr. Hearst say?"
Dad:
He warns of the wily Chinese
Mom:
The yellow peril!
Dad:
With eyes that squint and slope
Mom:
From smoking opium!
Dad:
Expanding our lexicons tells us how Mexicans lust for dope!
Mom:
It makes them lazy!"
Placard Girl Direction Change
Actress - Olivia Dunn
Olivia has professional training in physical theatre/movement. Placard Girl will be changed to Fortune Teller in a Machine that "spits out" the fortunes that would usually be on a placard. Fortune Teller can escape from her enclosure for dances.
Stage Design Direction Drafts
New Direction
American Horror Story Season 5 was heavily influenced and inspired by the 1932 film, FREAKS. This is the direction of the piece we are going with, to create a different context of the show. Realistically, if radical ads were targeted towards minorities around this time period, the lecturer would have only cast white actors in this rendition. However we have cast a wide array of people, and instead of the Reefer cast be from "Green Grows the Lilacs" we're looking to change it to "Freaks" or even those who didn't make the audition cut for "Freaks."