Kristen Bell And Christian Campbell Are Creating A Cannabis “Community” On Hollywood Blvd With ‘Reefer Madness: The Musical’s 25th Anniversary Revival
19.06.2024 - 19:57
/ deadline.com
Nearly a century later, the panic around William Randolph Hearst’s manufactured “Reefer Madness” still has a hold on parts of culture.
When actor and producer Christian Campbell attempted to promote his 25th anniversary Los Angeles stage revival of Reefer Madness: The Musical on Facebook and Instagram, Meta flagged the word “reefer” for reasons that seemed a little too meta. (As a result, be sure to check in at “The Victory Garden” when you come to Hollywood’s The Whitley theatre, where the show opened May 31.)
“The Victory Garden is the outdoor dining and drinking and other post-show experience. We’ve basically created an oasis on Hollywood Boulevard,” Campbell tells Deadline. “It’s a beautiful green, lush space. Come on in, relax.”
In 1999, Campbell first starred as Jimmy Harper in Reefer Madness: The Musical when it debuted in L.A. A parody of the 1936 propaganda film (turned-exploitation film-turned-stoner cult classic), the musical by Kevin Murphy and Dan Studney has returned home as it celebrates its 25th anniversary with a revamped immersive stage production and cannabis lounge.
Campbell is joined by fellow Reefer alums Kristen Bell and Alan Cumming in producing the new adaptation, which is directed and choreographed by Spencer Liff. Anthony Norman and Darcy Rose Byrnes take the reins from Campbell and Bell as star-crossed lovers Jimmy Harper and Mary Lane, along with a new cast that also includes Thomas Dekker, Nicole Parker, J. Elaine Marcos and Bryan Daniel Porter.
Dekker, who gives an inspired performance as hopped-up college dropout Ralph Wiley in the revival, was 9 when he first starred in the Disney series adaptation of Honey, I Shrunk the Kids (1997-2000). Showrunners Murphy and Studney had just begun