GREASEY

GREASEY

Mukta Phatak, Susanna Jaramillo, Skye Pagon

It’s 2023 and the local theater club at the predominantly South Asian high school in Edison, New Jersey is putting on GREASE!

The classic American assimilation musical makes waves with the student actors, their high school society, and the immigrant parent audiences who are in their own adolescent years in this new country. There’s high school drama, life imitating art, and everyone is forced to ask — what does it truly take to fit in?

A solo show inspired by the real-life production of GREASE at JP Stevens High School in Edison, NJ — also known as Little India. Drawing from a series of interviews of the cast, parents, and the surrounding community, as well as the playwright’s own experiences as a brown Jersey girl and certified theater kid, GREASEY is a tapestry of vibrant and brave South Asians, and what it takes to define yourself as an immigrant in America.

WEDNESDAY, SEPT 23 DOORS @ 6:30PM | SHOW @ 7:00PM ARS NOVA 511 W 54TH STREET

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Mukta Phatak

Mukta Phatak (she/her) is an actor, playwright, and teaching artist based in NYC. She is a project-seeker and much of her work blossoms from the creative communities she cultivates. Through her art she strives to be a force for wonder, justice and play. Selected acting: “Maya” (Prospect Musicals), “Lottie and the Deep Blue Sea” (PRISM Festival), “The Wrong Box” (Pendragon Theatre), “Shiv’s Project” (CoLab Arts), “8mins20secs” (CultureLabLIC), “A Midsummer Night’s Masala” (The Old Globe). Plays: “You Can Sit With Us” (WP Theater), “GREASEY” (46 Minutes Collective), “Made in Pakistan” (Ancram Opera House), “The Night Diary” (Children’s Theatre of Charlotte), “Don’t Turn Around Now” (Episodic Theater Project).

Susanna Jaramillo

Susanna Jaramillo (she/they) is a Queens-based director who believes in radical inclusion. She aims to create work that subverts our expectations of identity and uplifts voices that are left out of the theatrical canon. Their work lives in a world of sensorial extremes and seeks to interrogate the societal structures that limit us. As a creator, associate, and stage manager, Susanna has worked with The Public, Mercury Store, The Geffen Playhouse, MCC Theater, Roundabout, Second Stage, The Atlantic, JACK, The Fisher Center at Bard, The Workshop Theatre, The Motor Company, Keen Company, and educationally PPAS.

Skye Pagon

Skye Pagon (she/her) is a Brooklyn-based producer, director, and arts administrator. She received her BFA in Drama from New York University. She has produced shows and events at Lincoln Center, The Tank, the Tada! Youth Theater, and Hedgepig Ensemble. She served as a founding Curator for Expand the Canon, an annual shortlist of classical plays aimed at expanding gender diversity in the classical theater canon. She currently works on the Programming team at Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts. WP Producer’s Lab 2024–2026.

Where does the show take place?

This show will take place at Ars Nova, located at 511 W 54th Street, New York, NY 10019.

What is the seating set-up & how do I get the best seats?

Seating is general admission and first-come first-served. So, the earlier you arrive at the theater, the more choice you’ll have about where you sit! (Bonus: the most affordable drinks in Midtown are at Bars Nova!)

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