(EXPERIENCE MAGAZINE ) — New York City, New York — Vape! The Grease Parody, will play a one-night-only, star-studded benefit concert on Tuesday, March 11 at 7:30PM at The Town Hall (123 W. 43rd Street, NYC). Produced by Sketchworks Comedy and Visceral Entertainment, with Seth Rudetsky and James Wesley Jackson serving as creative consultants, net proceeds from the event will benefit the Entertainment Community Fund. Tickets are on sale now at VapeTheMusical.com or TheTownHall.org.
Vape! is a hilarious send-up of the iconic and timeless musical Grease. The show pokes loving fun at all the wonderful moments, sexual innuendos, outrageous characters, rivalries and secret romances from the original, while taking a satirical look at the state of youth culture today, which may have evolved, but never really changes.
Under the direction of Jack Plotnick (Disaster!, Space Station 76) and hosted by Seth Rudetsky (Disaster!, The Ritz, SiriusXM Radio), Vape! features a cast of stage and screen stars including Tony Award nominee Kerry Butler (Hairspray, Xanadu, Catch Me If You Can) as Sandy; James Carpinello (Saturday Night Fever, Xanadu, Rock of Ages) as Danny; Ann Harada(Schmigadoon, Avenue Q) as Jan; Emmy Award nominee Jackie Hoffman (TV’s “Feud: Bette and Joan,” Hairspray, The Addams Family, On The Town) as Rizzo; Aisha Jackson(The Notebook, Once Upon a One More Time) as Frenchie; Joel Perez (Fun House, Sweet Charity) as Kenickie; and Jelani Remy (Ain’t Too Proud, Back To The Future) as Sonny.
Vape! is a new musical by Catie Hogan & Sketchworks Comedy, with Lyrics & Additional Book by Billy Recce (A Musical About Star Wars; FIVE: The Musical Parody, Fowl Play) and Danny Salles (TV’s “Joan and Melissa,” “Kathy Griffin: My Life on the D List”).
After originally premiering in Atlanta in 2018, Vape!was scheduled to premiere in NYC in August 2019 at Improv Asylum. Ten days before the first performance, the rightsholders of Grease served Sketchworks Comedy a cease-and-desist letter, claiming Vape! violated their copyright. As a result, Sketchworks Comedy filed a lawsuit against Grease, believing that they were protected under fair use law. After a two-and-a-half year legal battle, Chief Judge Laura Taylor Swain of the Southern District of New York ruled that Vape!is, indeed, a parody.
Vape! features Music Supervision and Arrangements by Lena Gabrielle; Costume & Props Design is by Brendan McCann; Lighting Design by Jamie Roderick; and Sound Design by Shannon Slaton. General Management is by Visceral Entertainment.
The Entertainment Community Fund, formerly The Actors Fund, is a national human services organization that addresses the unique needs of people who work in performing arts and entertainment with services focused on health and wellness, career and life, and housing. Since 1882, the Fund has sought to ensure stability, encourage resiliency and be a safety net for those who shape our country’s cultural vibrancy. Learn more at entertainmentcommunity.org.
SKETCHWORKS COMEDY includes CATIE HOGAN, LEANNA ADAMS, JOHN BABCOCK, CASEY HOLLOWAY, JULIE SHAER and BRIAN TROXELL (Original Writers/Producers). Sketchworks has been entertaining Atlanta audiences with award-winning sketch comedy since 2001. Their ensemble features some of Atlanta’s top working professional writers and actors, who have been featured all over the film, TV, and commercial landscape. Vape! The Grease Parody is their first foray into musical parody. You can find out more at sketchworkscomedy.com.
JACK PLOTNICK (Director) co-wrote and directed the Broadway musical Disaster (NYT Critics Pick!), and the Sony Pictures feature film “Space Station 76”. He executive produced/starred in the feature film (and cult hit!) “Girls Will Be Girls”, on Netflix now! As an actor he’s had regular and recurring roles on “Grace and Frankie”,”Z Nation”, “The Mentalist”, “Buffy the Vampire Slayer”, “Reno 911”, and ‘“Drawn Together”, plus appearances in films “Meet the Fockers”, “Down With Love”, “Rubber”, and “Gods and Monsters”.
BILLY RECCE (Lyrics & Additional Book) is an award winning, billboard charting composer/lyricist, playwright and performer living in New York City. Off-Broadway/NYC: Fowl Play (Book, Music and Lyrics), Four simultaneously running musicals in the ’23-’24 season including FIVE: The Parody Musical (Music and Lyrics; Theatre 555), A Musical About Star Wars (Music and Lyrics; AMT Theatre/St. Luke’s/Theatre Row), Singfeld (Music and Orchestrations; Jerry Orbach Theatre), Balloon Boy: The Musical (Book, Music and Lyrics; Youngest Writer ever selected for NYMF, International Thespian Festival). In development: the Heidi Fleiss musical Little Black Book (Book, Music and Lyrics; Concept Album available everywhere.) Billy has written or co-written songs for Bernadette Peters, Mandy Patinkin, Laura Benanti, Jessica Vosk, Lillias White, Alice Ripley, Orfeh, Paige Turner, RuPaul’s Drag Race Finalist Rosé, and Tituss Burgess. Billy’s songs have been heard internationally and at The New Amsterdam, Broadway In Bryant Park, Cadogan Hall, Tilles Center, Lincoln Center, The Kennedy Center, Ars Nova, Irish Rep, The York Theatre, The Signature Theatre, 54 Below, The Green Room 42, and the Edinburgh Fringe. He is a Two Time MAC Award winner, an Orchard Project Greenhouse member, a Relentless Award semi-finalist, a Eugene O’Neill Finalist, a NAMT finalist, a Two Time Wallowitch Award finalist, and a Jonathan Larson Grant Finalist. Billy is currently under commission with EST/Sloan Project, and several production companies.
DANNY SALLES (Lyrics & Additional Book) is writer/director/producer for television and theater. He directed the holiday movie, “The Christmas Thief” for ION TV and 4 seasons of the ABC comedy “The Middle”. He was showrunner and director on various comedic TV reality series: Joan Rivers’ “Joan and Melissa” (WeTV), “Kathy Griffin: My Life on the D-List” (Bravo, Emmy nomination) and “Todrick” (MTV), and last year’s “Recipe for Change” (YouTube). For the stage, Danny recently directed the musical The Perfect Game and he wrote book and lyrics and directed the musical comedy satire The First Annual Trump Family Special in LA and Off-Broadway starring Gina Gershon. Danny is Director of Creative Development at Visceral Entertainment.
Come check it out! Click here for tickets VapeTheMusical.com or TheTownHall.org
