Neve Campbell Makes a Rare Musical Appearance
In a Cast Featuring  Kristen Bell, Christian Campbell, Ana Gasteyer,
John Kassir and Robert Torti

 

New York, NY, March 18, 2004 -- Tony Award® winner Alan Cumming (Broadway's "Cabaret," "X2: X-Men United") and Steven Weber ("The D.A.," Broadway's "The Producers") have been signed to star in SHOWTIME's screen version of the cult Off-Broadway stage musical, REEFER MADNESS, which Entertainment President Robert Greenblatt recently greenlighted as his first SHOWTIME Original Picture.  Actress and classically-trained dancer Neve Campbell ("Scream," "Party of Five," "The Company") will make her television musical debut playing a featured role that was tailor-made for her and she will perform one of the film's most rousing production numbers.

 

Also, Kristen Bell and Christian Campbell (Neve's brother), who co-starred as the hilarious star-crossed young lovers in the Off-Broadway production of "Reefer," will reprise their roles in the movie version, as will John Kassir and Robert Torti.  In addition, Ana Gasteyer ("Saturday Night Live," Broadway's "Rocky Horror Picture Show") will star opposite Steven Weber.  Inspired by the cult 1936 anti-marijuana propaganda film, REEFER MADNESS will be a highly-stylized screen adaptation of the stage musical described by Greenblatt as a cross between "Grease" and "The Rocky Horror Picture Show."  The film begins production in April 2004.

 

Alan Cumming will star as "The Lecturer," a finger-wagging authority figure who preaches to Smalltown USA parents about the evils of reefer and narrates portions of the film.  His award-winning signature role as the Emcee in Sam Mendes and Rob Marshall's long-running revival of "Cabaret" on Broadway catapulted Cumming to prominence on the musical stage and soon led him to Hollywood.  He recently appeared in TNT's updated version of "The Goodbye Girl," and he will voice one of the characters in the upcoming "Garfield: The Movie" from 20th Century Fox.  He also starred in "The Anniversary Party," "Romy and Michelle's High School Reunion" and all three films in the "Spy Kids" franchise.

 

Steven Weber will portray "Jack," the slick and seductive marijuana pusher who runs The Reefer Den and keeps the locals hooked on "the stuff."  Jack frequently trolls for youthful new victims to convert to his hopped-up harem of smoke-addled teens.  Weber is currently starring as Los Angeles District Attorney David Franks in the mid-season ABC series, "The D.A.," and he is well known for playing quick-witted pilot Brian Hackett on the long-running NBC series "Wings."  He also had a recurring role in the critically acclaimed drama "Once And Again," and will be seen in David Ogden's upcoming thriller, "Inside Out."  Equally at home in musicals, Weber was recently hand-picked by Mel Brooks to star on Broadway as Leo Bloom in the mega-musical "The Producers"; and in Los Angeles he starred as Berger in Reprise's smash hit production of the musical "Hair."

 

Neve Campbell will appear in the film as "Miss Poppy," the singing and dancing proprietor of the neighborhood five-and-dime, a local teen hangout where wholesome kids indulge in the risqué rhythms of "swing-jazz" music.  Once a professional ballet dancer, Campbell recently starred in and produced Robert Altman's ensemble ballet drama "The Company."  Next she will appear opposite Christian Slater in Peter Richardson's upcoming film "Churchill: The Hollywood Years."  She also starred with Jeremy Irons in SHOWTIME's F. Scott Fitzgerald biography, LAST CALL, and the "Scream" trilogy.  Her role as Julia Salinger on "Party of Five" endeared her to audiences for six years.

 

Kristen Bell re-teams with Campbell as Jimmy's innocent girlfriend "Mary," who tries in vain to save Jimmy from the terrible influence of marijuana.  Bell recently starred as the title character in the Lifetime movie "Gracie's Choice," and can currently be seen in theatres in David Mamet's thriller "Spartan."  Bell also starred on Broadway as "Becky" in "The Adventures of Tom Sawyer," and appeared in the workshop of "Hairspray," directed by Rob Marshall ("Chicago").

 

Christian Campbell will again play "Jimmy," the clean-cut, boy-next-door who falls prey to the demon weed and becomes trapped in a twisted downward spiral of reefer, sex, and mayhem. Campbell's recent credits include the independent film "Trick" and the FOX series "The $treet."  He has also recently been cast in "All My Children."

 

Ana Gasteyer will portray "Mae," the Reefer Den hostess who is abused by her slick, pusher boyfriend Jack.  Mae is initially too weak and too dependent on "the stuff" to do the right thing, but she eventually makes a bloody and triumphant stand.  Gasteyer appeared for several seasons on "Saturday Night Live," and is known for her Martha Stewart parody.  She also starred opposite Penélope Cruz in "Woman On Top," and appeared in Nancy Meyers' "What Women Want."  She will soon be seen opposite "Saturday Night Live" castmate Tina Fey in "Mean Girls."

 

John Kassir reprises his role as "Ralph," a psychotic ex-college student who communicates primarily with cackling maniacal laughter and eventually turns into a reefer-fueled cannibal zombie.  Kassir, who began his career while street-performing in front of the Metropolitan Museum, was plucked from the pavement to create "Kenny" in the off-Broadway hit, "Three Guys Naked From The Waist Down" (Drama Desk, Outer Critics Circle nominations). He also portrayed "Shemp" in ABC's "The Three Stooges," produced by Mel Gibson, and was the voice of the Crypt Keeper on the Emmy®-nominated "Tales From the Crypt."

Robert Torti will again play "Jesus," who appears in one of the musical's most outlandish production numbers, giving an entirely new meaning to the notion of Jesus Christ as a "superstar".  Torti earned a Tony nomination for his Broadway debut as "Greaseball" in "Starlight Express." Other Broadway credits include "Pharaoh" in "Joseph And The Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat," a role which he reprised in the film version opposite Donny Osmond.  Torti also appeared in Tom Hanks' film "That Thing You Do," and was a series regular on "The Drew Carey Show."

 

Garnering strong critical acclaim for its off-Broadway run in 2001, REEFER MADNESS took Los Angeles theatergoers by storm in the 1999-2000 season and broke records at the Hudson Theatre. It also swept the Los Angeles Drama Critics Circle, Backstage West Garland and Los Angeles Theatre League Alliance Ovation awards, winning Best Musical or Best Production honors from all three organizations.

Filled with a highly original score of songs and rousing musical sequences, the stage version quickly developed a cult audience that knew every lyric and line of dialogue in the show.  When the original Los Angeles production closed, it had run 150 performances and was the longest-running show of its size in L.A., as well as one of the longest-running shows in L.A. history.  It then won an unprecedented 20 of its record 22 award nominations from the various Los Angeles critics groups, often beating out big-budget commercial productions such as Fosse and Cabaret in head-to-head competition. The show also appropriately won "High Times" Magazine's Production of the Year award.

 

As previously announced, the stage version's creative team will also translate REEFER MADNESS to film, including veteran director Andy Fickman, writer Kevin Murphy (book and lyrics) and Dan Studney (book and music), all of whom will executive produce.  Fickman, Studney and Murphy all received Ovation and Los Angeles Drama Critics Circle awards for the stage version.

 

The film is the first project in a new partnership between Showtime and Apollo Screen, a relationship that was facilitated by industry veteran Jim Veres who will serve as Executive Producer of the movie along with Jan Korbelin, Managing Director and CEO of Apollo Screen, a German funding and production company. REEFER MADNESS is a Dead Old Man/Apollo Screen production.

 

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