{"id":90168,"date":"2026-10-07T17:00:25","date_gmt":"2026-10-08T00:00:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/?p=90168"},"modified":"2026-10-08T07:51:22","modified_gmt":"2026-10-08T14:51:22","slug":"reefer-madness-musical-radio-plays-edgar-allen-poe-frankenstein-ray-bradbury-hg-wells","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/eat-see-do-2\/see\/reefer-madness-musical-radio-plays-edgar-allen-poe-frankenstein-ray-bradbury-hg-wells","title":{"rendered":"\u2018Reefer Madness: The Musical\u2019 and 2 spooky radio plays are showing in Long Beach"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Long Beach theaters are on a roll. The Long Beach Playhouse is staging \u201cReefer Madness: The Musical\u201d beginning this weekend in its Studio Theatre, while the creepy \u201cNight of the Living Dead<\/a>\u201d continues on its downstairs Mainstage Theater.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And Long Beach Shakespeare Company is joining that Halloween spirit this weekend with two eerie radio plays featuring stories by Ray Bradbury and Edgar Allan Poe.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\n\n\n

\u201cReefer Madness: The Musical\u201d<\/a><\/strong> takes a 1936 public-service film called \u201cReefer Madness\u201d about the dangers of marijuana to America\u2019s wholesome youth and flips it on its head in a theatrically hysterical way.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This satirical spoof of that film \u2014with its story and lyrics by Kevin Murphy and music by Dan Studney, first produced in Los Angeles in 1998 \u2014 features clean-cut teenagers in 1936 lured into a den of drug-dealers, fully realizing the film\u2019s purported \u201cdangers\u201d of marijuana in an over-the-top way.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Teens Jimmy and Mary quickly lose their minds and become hallucinatory and addicted after first trying the drug, soon succumbing to the licentiousness of music, sex and criminal behaviors that spiral out of control.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Songs include \u201cJimmy Takes a Hit\/The Orgy,\u201d \u201cMary Jane\/Mary Lane\u201d and \u201cThe Brownie Song.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sean Gray, the Playhouse\u2019s artistic director, said in a statement that the 1936 movie isn\u2019t only about the dangers of marijuana, but has a racist subtext targeting Black musicians and Mexicans.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Long Beach Playhouse’s “Reefer Madness: The Musical” runs Oct. 10 to Nov. 15.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Though the film doesn\u2019t depict people of color, cannabis use at the time was prejudicially associated with Mexican immigrants and jazz musicians. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The film \u2014 originally titled \u201cTell Your Children\u201d \u2014 begins with a foreword calling marijuana a \u201cviolent narcotic\u201d and a danger to youth, causing hallucinations and lack of control over physical impulses leading to \u201cincurable insanity.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The film was recut in 1938<\/a> with additional salacious scenes and released in movie houses as an exploitation feature depicting marijuana use. By labeling it \u201ceducational,\u201d distributors skirted the 1934 Hays Code<\/a>, which prohibited depictions of drug use in films.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Madison Mooney, the Playhouse\u2019s executive director, said the satirical musical is \u201cbrilliantly funny\u201d and celebrates theater through its critique of mass hysteria. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cReefer Madness: The Musical\u201d<\/a> runs Oct. 10 to Nov. 15 at the Long Beach Playhouse, 5021 E. Anaheim St., with shows Fridays and Saturdays at 8 p.m. and Sundays at 2 p.m., plus two lower-priced previews on Thursday, Oct. 8 and Friday, Oct. 9.  For tickets and information, call the box office at 562-494-1014 or visit<\/em> LBPlayhouse.org<\/em><\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Long Beach Shakespeare Company’s October radio-show series starts this weekend at the Helen Borgers Theatre.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

If it\u2019s October, it\u2019s spooky radio-show season at the Helen Borgers Theatre. The Long Beach Shakespeare Company starts its radio series this weekend with a double feature of Edgar Allan Poe\u2019s \u201cThe Tell-Tale Heart\u201d<\/strong> and Ray Bradbury\u2019s \u201cZero Hour\u201d<\/strong><\/a> performed as 1940s-style radio plays.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The shows feature actors in 1940s attire reading dialogue and making their own sound effects for the stories in the KBRD radio studio inside the theater.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Poe\u2019s 1843 short story has a narrator meticulously describing how he killed his employer and buried him beneath the floor \u2014 only to be caught off guard when he hears the man\u2019s heart beating.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In Bradbury\u2019s chilling 1947 \u201cZero Hour\u201d, a young girl and other children play a game called \u201cInvasion,\u201d coordinated by an otherworldly friend. The adults think it is meaningless \u2014 until it isn\u2019t. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The double feature of radio plays will perform Friday, Oct. 9 at 8 p.m., Saturday, Oct. 10 at 8 p.m. and Sunday, Oct. 11 at 2 p.m.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The radio-play series continues the following weekend with \u201cFrankenstein\u201d<\/a> from Oct. 16 to 18, bringing Mary Shelley\u2019s iconic 1818 novel to life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The story depicts scientist Victor Frankenstein creating a living \u201cmonster\u201d in his laboratory, whom he rejects in horror, causing the creature to take revenge, but also search for belonging out in the world.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The series culminates the weekend before Halloween with the theater\u2019s traditional \u201cWar of the Worlds\u201d<\/a> radio show from Oct. 23 to 25, which it has presented annually since 2002. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Actors perform Orson Welles\u2019 infamous 1938 broadcast of H.G. Wells\u2019 novel, which caused real-life panic over a martian invasion due to its \u201cbreaking news\u201d format on the radio.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Having experienced \u201cWar of the Worlds\u201d at the theater myself, I can tell you it is surprisingly suspenseful and unnerving thanks to the company\u2019s expert deliveries and sound effects \u2014 a perfect prelude to Halloween.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For tickets to all October radio shows at the Helen Borgers Theatre, 4250 Atlantic Ave., visit<\/em> LBShakespeare.org<\/em><\/a>. Tickets are $21.50, including fees.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Long Beach Playhouse parodies a PSA on drugs while Long Beach Shakespeare launches its Halloween radio-play series.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":29035,"featured_media":90174,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"newspack_sponsor_sponsorship_scope":"","newspack_sponsor_native_byline_display":"inherit","newspack_sponsor_native_category_display":"inherit","newspack_sponsor_underwriter_style":"inherit","newspack_sponsor_underwriter_placement":"inherit","inline_featured_image":false,"newspack_ads_suppress_ads":false,"newspack_popups_has_disabled_popups":"","_EventAllDay":false,"_EventTimezone":"","_EventStartDate":"","_EventEndDate":"","_EventStartDateUTC":"","_EventEndDateUTC":"","_EventShowMap":false,"_EventShowMapLink":false,"_EventURL":"","_EventCost":"","_EventCostDescription":"","_EventCurrencySymbol":"","_EventCurrencyCode":"","_EventCurrencyPosition":"","_EventDateTimeSeparator":"","_EventTimeRangeSeparator":"","_EventOrganizerID":[],"_EventVenueID":[],"_OrganizerEmail":"","_OrganizerPhone":"","_OrganizerWebsite":"","_VenueAddress":"","_VenueCity":"","_VenueCountry":"","_VenueProvince":"","_VenueState":"","_VenueZip":"","_VenuePhone":"","_VenueURL":"","_VenueStateProvince":"","_VenueLat":"","_VenueLng":"","_VenueShowMap":false,"_VenueShowMapLink":false,"_":"","_author_alias":"","cap-aim":"","cap-description":"","cap-display_name":"","cap-first_name":"","cap-jabber":"","cap-last_name":"","cap-linked_account":"","cap-newspack_employer":"","cap-newspack_job_title":"","cap-newspack_phone_number":"","cap-newspack_role":"","cap-user_email":"","cap-user_login":"","cap-website":"","cap-yahooim":"","newspack_article_summary":"","newspack_email_html":"","newspack_email_type":"","newspack_featured_image_position":"","newspack_hide_page_title":"","newspack_hide_updated_date":false,"newspack_post_subtitle":"The Long Beach Playhouse parodies a PSA on drugs while Long Beach Shakespeare launches its Halloween radio-play series.","newspack_show_share_buttons":"","newspack_sponsor_byline_prefix":"","newspack_sponsor_disclaimer_override":"","newspack_sponsor_flag_override":"","newspack_sponsor_only_direct":"","newspack_sponsor_url":"","newspack_article_summary_title":"Overview:","newspack_show_updated_date":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[32366],"tags":[],"newspack_spnsrs_tax":[],"coauthors":[32310],"class_list":["post-90168","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-see","entry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/90168","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/29035"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=90168"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/90168\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":90188,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/90168\/revisions\/90188"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/90174"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=90168"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=90168"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=90168"},{"taxonomy":"newspack_spnsrs_tax","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/newspack_spnsrs_tax?post=90168"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=90168"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}