Vape! The Grease Parody Reviews

Chicago Tribune - Recommended

"...But, happily, “Vape!” is very funny. This show from New York has arrived in Chicago, ground zero for “Grease” and the town where the show’s creator, Jim Jacobs, once gave this agog critic a driving tour of the actual Northwest Side homes of Sandy and Danny. I actually thought there were more laughs in this tawdry parody than in “Titaníque,” and people are paying Broadway prices for all that entertaining Celine Dion nonsense."

Chicago Reader - Not Recommended

"...Y’all, I sat through the entire 90 minutes of that production and honestly still don’t know. I don’t know why there was a merch table in the lobby. I don’t know why there were so many jokes about teachers molesting students. I don’t know why the mere presence of a trans person was repeatedly used as a punchline. Cynically, I ultimately think this is a show for boomer parents who still have Grease on DVD and “just don’t understand the whole pronoun thing.”"

Around The Town Chicago - Recommended

"...The show is roughly 90 minutes of fun and spoofing the actual story of these greasers and looking at each character in a whole new light. There are some very cute bits, and some very talented performers who appear to be having as much fun as the audience. The opening audience was composed of some very young members ( let's say in their 30's) as we as a few of us elders ( who lived during the times that "Grease" is about."

Chicago Theatre Review - Recommended

"...One of the most popular of all the American musical classics is Jim Jacobs’ and Warren Casey’s much-enjoyed, much-produced, tuneful and nostalgic satire of Chicago high school life during the 1950’s. And unless you’ve been living under a rock you know that the musical was adapted in 1978 into the highest grossing movie musical of all time. It starred Aussie actress and pop star, Olivia Newton-John, and “Saturday Night Fever” favorite actor/singer/dancer, John Travolta. So, in addition to becoming an international staple for both amateur and professional theatre groups alike, the film has gone down in history as an international favorite flick."

Buzz Center Stage - Somewhat Recommended

"...Vape! The Grease Parody, currently running at Chicago's Apollo Theater through January, takes a satirical swing at the iconic 1978 film. The production leans heavily into campy, low?brow humor, poking fun at the original and the characters who appeared in it - Danny Zuko and Sandy Olsson, made famous by John Travolta and Olivia Newton?John, their respective groups, the T?Birds and the Pink Ladies, and a parade of other colorful personalities. Vape! attempts to capture the same irreverent energy that made recent parody hits like Titanique and Schmigadoon! work, but it struggles to carve out its own distinct identity."

The Fourth Walsh - Highly Recommended

"...Who doesn’t remember the cult classic movie starring John Travolta and Olivia Newton John? A boy and girl meet and fall in love during the summer. Complications arise when they return to school. He’s a T-Bird greaser and she’s a wholesome Australian exchange student. To be together, someone must change. This beloved musical, set in the 1950s, debuted in the 1970s and has gotten a modern day makeover. After a successful Off-Broadway run, VAPE! brings its satire to Chicago."

Third Coast Review - Recommended

"...Vape! The Grease Parody arrives at the Apollo Theater with a playful wink, fully aware that in Chicago-where Grease first took shape-this kind of parody is practically a homecoming. First created by Atlanta's Sketchworks Comedy with lyrics by Billy Recce and Danny Salles, Vape! is an affectionate, proudly ridiculous riff on the original that fires jokes at such a rapid clip you barely have time to register the ones that miss. The next one lands. And the next."

Entertaining Chicago - Highly Recommended

"...A loving send-up of a beloved musical, Vape! The Grease Parody takes the familiar world of Rydell High and gleefully pulls apart its characters, songs, and questionable choices to make an entertaining tale of its own."

Curtain Call Chicago - Somewhat Recommended

"...Vape! The Grease Parody playing at the Apollo Theater Chicago is a fast moving, high energy, punchline/ homage-a-minute spoof that has its moments, but never quite justifies its length as a play, beyond nostalgia and punchlines. I love the movie Grease (even played Teen Angel once in a professional community production), but here, the humor, much of it not for young people, is entertaining to be sure, but might find a more comfortable fit as a sketch on the stage of an improv theater. Certainly the cast is up to the task of taking the show in an improv direction where a clear point of view isn’t as expected."