They go together! Alum from the original Broadway, national tour, and revival cast of Grease reunited at the November 11 performance of Vape! The Grease Parody, now playing at Theatre 555 Off-Broadway. See photos from the special event in the gallery below.
On hand to catch the new satirical show were Marilu Henner (Marty in the show's original Chicago run pre-Broadway, and later a replacement in the part on Broadway), Jerry Zaks (a replacement Kenickie during the original Broadway run), Walter Bobbie (the original Broadway Roger), Ilene Kristen (the original Broadway Patty Simcox), Michael Lembeck (Sonny on the first national tour), and Carlos Lopez (Sonny in the first Broadway revival), along with Ken Waissman, who produced the musical's original Broadway run.
The musical officially opened its 10-week limited engagement at Off-Broadway's Theater 555 November 3. The cast features Ryan Avoux as Kenickie, Dante Brattelli as Sonny, Jen Clark as Jan, Meg Guiney as Marty, Scott Silagy as Danny, SLee as Rizzo, Kristen Amanda Smith as Frenchy, and Lara Strong as Sandy. Casting is by Cindi Rush.
The musical is written by Catie Hogan and Sketchworks Comedy, with lyrics and additional book by Billy Recce and Danny Salles. Following a world premiere in Atlanta in 2018, the musical had been slated to come to NYC in 2019, only for a protracted legal battle with the rights holders of Grease to thwart those plans. Following a successful lawsuit defending the work's right to exist under parody laws, the musical made its NYC premiere with a one-night-only concert at Town Hall in 2024.
Jack Plotnick (Disaster!) is directing the production, which features choreography by Ashley Marinelli, music supervision and arrangements by Lena Gabrielle, scenic design by David Goldstein, costume design by Matthew Solomon, lighting design by Zach Pizza, sound design by Daniel Lundberg, and prop design by Brendan McCann. Visceral Entertainment serves as executive producer and general manager. Alex Dash and Ian McQueen are stage managers.
Tickets are at VapeTheMusical.com.