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.
