Theater Pizzazz’s Eyal Solomon in conversation with Casey Holloway and Catie Hogan, creators of “Vape! The Grease Parody”
Vape! The Grease Parody reimagines the iconic world of Grease for 2025, rife with vape clouds, woke sensibilities and influencer dreams. The show was born in Atlanta through SketchWorks, where writer Catie Hogan and director Casey Holloway first teamed up after seeing a Grease anniversary production — and, as they joke, after “maybe one or two glasses of wine.” Holloway and fellow performers called Hogan and asked her to write a parody. Though Hogan was known more for sketch comedy, political satire, and even financial humor — she runs the newsletter Cents of Humor — she took on the challenge and spent the summer building the show’s characters and exaggerating the original’s plot points through a modern lens.
The result is a world where the students of Rydell High chase clout instead of cool points. Frenchie doesn’t dream of beauty school; she dreams of online fame. “Teenagers evolve, but not really,” Hogan explains. Their problems — identity, acceptance, belonging — stay the same across decades, but today’s version comes wrapped in hyper-digital pressure.
Holloway notes that part of the comedy comes from dropping 2025 sensibilities into the squeaky-clean world of Grease. It really doesn’t work — and that’s what makes it hilarious. The team also wanted to highlight how absurd modern teen culture can feel when seen in exaggerated form.
The show’s path wasn’t without conflict. A cease-and-desist from the Grease rights-holders briefly delayed the production, but the creators had meticulously designed Vape! as a protected parody. “Always have a rule-follower in your group,” Holloway laughs.
Now, as Vape! has its Off-Broadway run, Hogan and Holloway say they still laugh every time they watch it — and audiences do too, from start to finish.
