| Readings of "Vape! The Grease Parody" starring Butler, Carpinello, Kritzer, Lawrence, Leavel, Milligan, Perez, and Remy....11/22 at Theater 555 | |
| Posted by: Official_Press_Release 02:26 pm EST 11/20/24 | |
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| VAPE THE GREASE PARODY KERRY BUTLER, JAMES CARPINELLO, LESLIE RODRIGUEZ KRITZER, TAMIKA LAWRENCE, BETH LEAVEL, BONNIE MILLIGAN, JOEL PEREZ, AND JELANI REMY To star in readings of a HILARIOUS new musical Book by Catie Hogan and Sketchworks Comedy Lyrics and Additional Material by Billy Recce and Danny Salles Directed by Jack Plotnick Friday, November 22 Theater 555 (555 W. 42nd Street) Vape! The Grease Parody, a new musical by Catie Hogan & Sketchworks Comedy, with lyrics and additional material by Billy Recce (A Musical About Star Wars; FIVE: The Musical Parody; Fowl Play) and Danny Salles (TV's "Joan and Melissa"; K"athy Griffin: My Life on the D List"), will be performed at industry-only readings on Friday, November 22 at Theater 555 (555 W. 42nd Street). Vape! is directed by Jack Plotnick (Disaster!; Space Station 76) and produced by Sketchworks Comedy, with Seth Rudetsky (Disaster!; The Ritz; Grease) serving as a creative consultant. Vape! is a hilarious send-up of the iconic musical Grease. The show pokes loving fun at all of the wonderful moments, characters, and plot-holes from the original while taking a satirical look at the state of youth culture today - which may have evolved, but never really changes. Vape! was legally declared a parody by the Southern District of New York in 2022. 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 ruled that Vape! is, indeed, a parody. Vape! readings will feature a star-studded cast of Broadway favorites: Tony® Award nominee Kerry Butler (Xanadu; Hairspray) as Sandy, James Carpinello (Little Shop of Horrors; Saturday Night Fever) as Danny, Tony® Award nominee Leslie Rodriguez Kritzer (Spamalot; Beetlejuice) as Marty, Tamika Lawrence (The Heart of Rock and Roll; Caroline or Change) as Frenchie, Tony® Award winner Beth Leavel (The Drowsy Chaperone, The Prom) as Rizzo, Tony® Award winner Bonnie Milligan (Kimberly Akimbo; Head Over Heels) as Jan/Putzie, Joel Perez (Fun Home, Hazbin Hotel) as Kenickie, and Jelani Remy (Back to the Future, Ain't Too Proud) as Sonny/Cha Cha/Tom. "We are beyond thrilled to present Vape! to the theatrical industry with such an amazing company of actors," said Sketchworks Comedy owner Brian Troxell. "This is such an incredible group." Catie Hogan, who wrote the original version of Vape! in 2018, marvels at the show's evolution, " Vape! began with a performance at a black box in Atlanta, and it is now being presented in New York City by top Broadway professionals. I could have never envisioned such a journey for our legally declared parody!" Vape! features musical direction & arrangements by Lena Gabrielle (SIX, Emojiland, FIVE: The Parody Musical). Brent Michael Jones ( Perfect Crime) is the Stage Manager and Mark Osgood is the assistant stage manager. Vape! is general managed by Visceral Entertainment. BIOS 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. 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. Billy Recce (Lyrics & Additional Material) 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 Theater/St. Luke's/Theatre Row), Singfeld (Music and Orchestrations; Jerry Orbach Theater), 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 Material) 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. |
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