“I’m Soooo High, Rev. Mary’s Reefer Revue” at Pangea

• Max Berry, Contributing Critic - New York City

Bringing us back to a time when it was legal, Rev. Mary and her All-Man Band take us through a song collection spanning from the 1910s-1950s all about that ever-talked about plant, marijuana.  With a delightful speakeasy feel and a performance full of jazz, blues, and swing, “I’m Soooo High” is a perfect show for anyone who just wants to kick back, enjoy some good music, and maybe celebrate their favorite plant.

Featured: Rev. Mary Photo by Andrew Liebowitz

Rev. Mary herself, is such an entertaining personality on stage. Taking control of the space and qiuping to the audience and to her band, she keeps the party going as they transition from song to song. Each singer was given a chance to show off and each delivered with great results. Rev. Mary’s voice lends itself to the style of “I’m Soooo High” and every song had me moving in my seat. Dan Furman on piano was also extremely impressive, playing the fast paced “jive” tunes with an almost balletic quality. Many times I was momentarily pulled away from the performers to marvel at his skillful impossibly fast piano playing.

Writer/director, Jay Michaels, did a good job of linking the songs together in such a way that it gave a natural progression as well as providing a little historical information about marijuana at that time as well as giving some insight on some of its many nicknames. If you didn’t think you could learn something at a show called “I’m Soooo High” you would be mistaken. It allowed us to participate with the songs in the same way that one would have engaged with them at the time. This made the back-in-time speakeasy feel even stronger.

Rev. Mary and her All-Man Band gave us a fun night of good food and great music. “I’m Soooo High” was well put together and wonderfully performed. If you’re looking for a fun casual night of theatre with good music, enthusiastic performers, and great atmosphere, then maybe you should get “soooo high” with Rev. Mary and her All-Man Band.

“I’m Soooo High,  Rev. Mary’s Reefer Revue” was written and directed by Jay Michaels

It featured: Rev. Mary, Mario Claudio, George Dixon, Nori Naroaka on bass and John Dinello on drums and Dan Furman on piano

It was performed on April 6th at Pangea (178 Second Ave New York, NY 10003)