ATLANTA, Ga. – Atlanta’s Sketchworks Comedy has raised the curtain on its manufacturing of Vape: The Musical once more, marking the tip of prolonged authorized motion over the parody of the traditional musical “Grease.”

Creatives from Sketchworks Comedy say they had been first impressed to create a parody of “Grease” again in 2017, after seeing an expert manufacturing of the present right here in Georgia. 

“All of us bought collectively and thought, you recognize what? We have to do one thing with this. We have to make a parody of this, the place it’s current day. However form of placing a spin on it, the place it’s concerning all this stuff that don’t actually maintain up in the present day,” says Sketchworks co-owner Julie Shaer.

“Vape: The Musical” opened to acclaim in 2018, and resulted in an invite to mount the present in New York the next 12 months. That’s when the staff was served with a stop and desist letter from Harmony Theatricals, which represents the rights-holders of Grease. In accordance with that e-mail, “Vape: The Musical” was an “unauthorized” manufacturing of “Grease.”

“It’s a parody. It’s not an unlicensed efficiency of Grease, it’s not a sequel of Grease, it’s not a efficiency of ‘Grease.’ It’s…it’s personal factor,” says Sketchworks co-owner Brian Troxell. “We had been in the best. And the one technique to make that stand was to file a lawsuit in opposition to the rights-holders of Grease.” 

The case traveled by means of the court docket system for the following three years, however lastly, this previous Might, the Sketchworks staff obtained the information they’d been ready for.

“I used to be at a stoplight, checking my e-mail, and it simply got here in. From our lawyer. It mentioned, ‘You gained.’ I needed to pull over in a parking zone and simply scream, cry tears of pleasure,” says Troxell. “There are 4 components for figuring out whether or not one thing is honest use, and Decide Swain present in our favor on all 4 of them.”

Now, Vape: The Musical is again, with remaining performances going down at The Village Theatre on Oct. 14, 15, 21 and 22. Unique solid member Andrea Lainge says there’s a sense of aid among the many solid and crew.

“It at all times lingered at the back of my thoughts, like, how one thing so nice may very well be shut down so quick. And I at all times needed to place it again on its legs, too. So, I’m so glad this taking place. Glad the lawsuit is lastly over. And, yeah, simply glad to be again,” says Lainge.

We reached out to Harmony Theatricals for touch upon the lawsuit however didn’t obtain a response. 

For extra info on “Vape: The Musical,” click on right here.