Jack Plotnick
Actor, writer, director, producer and acting teacher Jack Plotnick co-wrote and directed the Broadway musical Disaster! (NYT Critics Pick!), and the Sony Pictures feature film Space Station 76 starring Patrick Wilson, Liv Tyler and Matt Bomer. Plotnick executive produced and starred in the feature film (and cult hit!) Girls Will Be Girls, featured on Netflix. He also produced, directed and acted on the Lifetime Television comedy series “Lovespring International.”
As an actor he’s had regular and recurring roles on “Grace and Frankie,” ”Z Nation,” “The Mentalist,” “Buffy the Vampire Slayer,” “Reno 911,” “Action,” “Ellen” and ‘“Drawn Together,” plus appearances in films Meet the Fockers, Down With Love, Rubber, Wrong and Gods and Monsters.
Currently, Plotnick is represented Off-Broadway with Vape! The Grease Parody, which launched a 10-week Off-Broadway engagement, Thursday, October 30 at Theater 555 (555 W 42nd St, NYC) and officially opened on Monday, November 3.
After originally premiering in Atlanta in 2018, Vape! was scheduled to premiere in NYC in August 2019. Ten days before the first performance, the rightsholders of Grease served Sketchworks Comedy a cease-and-desist letter, claiming Vape! violated their copyright. As a result, Sketchworks Comedy filed a lawsuit against Grease, believing that they were protected under fair use law. After a two-and-a-half year legal battle, Chief Judge Laura Taylor Swain of the Southern District of New York ruled that Vape! is, indeed, a parody. After winning the lawsuit, Vape! made its triumphant return to NYC earlier this year in a star-studded one-night-only concert at Town Hall NYC.
Vape! is a new musical by Catie Hogan & Sketchworks Comedy, with Lyrics & Additional Book by Billy Recce (A Musical About Star Wars; FIVE: The Musical Parody, Fowl Play) and Danny Salles (TV’s “The Middle,” “Kathy Griffin: My Life on the D-List”), and features choreography by Ashley Marinelli (Stranger Sings! The Parody Musical, A Musical About Star Wars). Jack Plotnick directs an ensemble featuring Ryan Avoux as Kenickie, Dante Brattelli as Sonny, Jen Clark as Jan, Meg Guiney as Marty, Scott Silagy as Danny, Slee as Rizzo, Kristen Amanda Smith as Frenchy and Lara Strong as Sandy. Produced by Sketchworks Comedy, with Seth Rudetsky and James Wesley Jackson serving as creative consultants, the show will run through January 4, 2026. *Murdoch: The Final Interview, which opened this September 28th, continues its run at Theater 555 in a repertory schedule with VAPE! through December 28th.