2010 Fiesta Melodrama: Reefer
The 1924 creation of Zozobra at the hands of William Shuster is a matter of public record, but nothing is sacred in the melodrama, an annual send-up of everything Santa Fe.
In addition to being a painter, Shuster was a patron of the Santa Fe Community Theater, now the Santa Fe Playhouse, so it’s only appropriate that he rise from the dead to grace the stage in its 89th season. In fact, rising from the dead is very nearly what happens. If you like a little anachronism with your pre-vaudevillian slapstick melodrama, you’ll get a kick out of the caricature of Shuster as a pot-smoking, Frankenstein-esque mad scientist.
“Maria and me and Zozo make three,” he sings. And nothing says “reefer” like burning a 50-foot-tall papier-mché puppet. But when his arch-nemesis attempts to found a fake school for the arts—“Anyone gets in who can spell the word ‘art’”—it’s up to Shuster to save the day.
Where: Santa Fe Playhouse
Phone: 988-4262
Address: 142 E De Vargas St.
Website: http://www.santafeplayhouse.org/
In addition to being a painter, Shuster was a patron of the Santa Fe Community Theater, now the Santa Fe Playhouse, so it’s only appropriate that he rise from the dead to grace the stage in its 89th season. In fact, rising from the dead is very nearly what happens. If you like a little anachronism with your pre-vaudevillian slapstick melodrama, you’ll get a kick out of the caricature of Shuster as a pot-smoking, Frankenstein-esque mad scientist.
“Maria and me and Zozo make three,” he sings. And nothing says “reefer” like burning a 50-foot-tall papier-mché puppet. But when his arch-nemesis attempts to found a fake school for the arts—“Anyone gets in who can spell the word ‘art’”—it’s up to Shuster to save the day.
Where: Santa Fe Playhouse
Phone: 988-4262
Address: 142 E De Vargas St.
Website: http://www.santafeplayhouse.org/
