Reefer Star to Produce Austin Pendleton-Directed NY Revival of Weller's Loose Ends
By Ernio Hernandez
09 Feb 2005
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Austin Pendleton
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Christian Campbell, star of the forthcoming screen version of the musical Reefer Madness, is planning to produce a revival of Michael Weller's Loose Ends Off-Broadway.
"Austin Pendleton is set to direct," actor-producer Campbell told Playbill.com following the Feb. 7 "All My Children" benefit at Town Hall. Steven Sendor (Uncle Bob) will produce with him under Rebellion Productions.
Loose Ends follows the tumultuous relationship of a world-travelling man and woman in the 1970s from their first meeting on a beach in Bali to their marriage in Boston to an unexpected revelation when they are reunited in New York.
The play made its world premiere at the Arena Stage in Washington, D.C. in Feb. 1979. The Alan Schneider-directed production moved to Broadway's Circle in the Square where it opened May 25, 1979. Roxanne Hart and Kevin Kline starred as the lead couple in a cast that also included Jay O. Sanders and Jodi Long. The play was revived Off-Broadway in 1988 with Terry Kinney, Jane Kaczmarek and Laurence Fishburne.
Pendleton is an actor and Tony Award-nominated director who has appeared on Broadway in The Diary of Anne Frank, Grand Hotel, Doubles and The Little Foxes. Seen in such films as "My Cousin Vinny," "Amistad" and "A Beautiful Mind," he also lent his voice to the animated "Finding Nemo." Pendleton directed Weller's Spoils of War Off-Broadway in 1988 — which later transferred to Broadway.
Campbell starred in the Off-Broadway musical Reefer Madness and reprises that turn in the upcoming Showtime movie version — which debuted at this year's Sundance Film Festival and is set to air on the cable network in April. Original Off-Broadway co-stars Kristen Bell ("Veronica Mars"), John Kassir and Robert Torti join him in the Dan Studney-Kevin Murphy musical satire of the 1936 cautionary film meant to discourage young people from using marijuana. Campbell's sister Neve Campbell ("Party of Five," "The Company") is also featured in the film with Alan Cumming (Cabaret), Steven Weber (The Producers), Amy Spanger (Urinetown, Chicago) and Ana Gasteyer (The Rocky Horror Show). For more info, visit the official website at www.sho.com.
The stage and screen star sang an original Laurence O'Keefe (Bat Boy) tune titled "Sensitive Song" at the 35th anniversary celebration of the soap opera "All My Children." The event — in which Tonya Pinkins (Caroline, or Change), Susan Lucci (Annie Get Your Gun), special guest Kathy Brier (Hairspray) and other stars sang showtunes — was a benefit for Broadway Cares/ Equity Fights Aids.
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