‘Vape! The Grease Parody’ is a Puff of Comical Air 

“No vaping, no gaping, no videotaping!” are the rules of “Vape! The Greasy Parody,” a raucous reimagining of 1978 musical “Grease,” leaving the audience gasping for air between laughs —  even more than they would hitting a blinker. 

From the initial steps into the Apollo Theater, the audience is spat into the halls of Rydell High, the fictional setting of the ‘50s-era rom-com. Its lobby is adorned with graffitied club posters, weathered school policies and tongue-in-cheek fliers. Even the bathroom had signage in line with the spoof.

Apollo’s thrust theater is transformed into a high school auditorium, with championship banners and streamers hanging above faux wood flooring, all plastered with big, red “R”s. Accessible to the audience, a “Grease”-themed photo op and cornhole set up flank the stage, with members of the show’s cast playing alongside viewers.

Immediately breaking the fourth wall, the show is framed as a viewing of the original film before descending into nicotine-filled chaos. 

Gone are the flasks of whisky and packs of Camels, replaced with cans of White Claw and mango Juul Bars.

Sandy, played by Jenna Smith, is no longer an Australian outsider, but a beached mermaid who — somehow — meets the vape-obsessed, leather jacket-wearing Danny (Will Leonard).

The skeleton of the original’s plot remains, as well as its songs — albeit with all of their lyrics replaced to better suit the caricature. The ballad “Hopelessly Devoted to You” is spoofed as “Hopelessly Gaslighted,” vapes metamorphosed into kazoos.

The rest of the eight-person billing functions less like a traditional theater cast and more like an improv troupe, with the majority of the actors taking on multiple roles. 

Shea Hopkins’ performance as Danny’s right-hand “T-Bro,” Kenickie, is complemented by a myriad of other comedic characters, such as a creepy prom emcee and an accident-prone blonde hand puppet. 

Suzanne Sole’s take on clearly middle-aged student, Rizzo, is played almost completely straight. She also portrays the school’s principal, at one point simultaneously performing as the two characters during a fight. 

The theater is hotboxed by joke after joke, with referential and physical comedy compounded by relentless visual gags — almost enough to induce nic sickness. Greased Lightning is scrapped for a mint green Prius, a snack shack is swapped with a literal vape bar and in an influencer dream sequence, angels’ halos are replaced with ring lights, their wings changed for portable light reflectors.

However, some quips get lost in the haze, especially when they try to lampoon Gen Z culture. Cringe-worthy “what’s the tea” greetings and incessant social media references clog “Vape!”’s cart, detracting from the outlandish environment. 

“Vape! The Grease Parody” is at its strongest when it leans into its own nonsensical silliness, allowing its actors to take the comical reins. And luckily, it rarely stops to take a t-break. 

“Vape! The Grease Parody” plays at the Apollo Theater through Jan. 3. Student tickets are available for $20 with code STUDENT online or by showing a student ID at the box office.