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.
ANT Fest shows will premiere on Ars Nova Supra later this fall. Ars Nova Supra is our digital platform where you can stream all of our one-night shows on-demand. For the low price of $15/mo, you can access an entire seasons worth of comedy, music and theater from our groundbreaking artists, and additionally you can cancel your subscription anytime!
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 (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 (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.
This show will take place at Ars Nova, located at 511 W 54th Street, New York, NY 10019.
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!)
The only way to guarantee you reserved seats is to become a Super Nova. Super Novas never hear “sold out,” get reserved seats in prime locations, and make fair wages and accessible tickets possible. Learn more about becoming a Super Nova here!
If a performance is sold out, you can join a standby line for day-of-show tix made available by minute cancellations and no-shows. Standby will begin 1 hour prior to curtain and will form outsideFolks from the standby line will be admitted into the show on a rolling basis as availability is confirmed.
Additionally, Supra is never sold out! If you can’t make the show in-person, you can always stream online for only $15/mo, which gets you unlimited streaming access to performances from the last year. You can cancel your membership anytime by emailing contact@arsnovanyc.com.
Yes. The processing fees are charged by our ticketing and credit card processors, and increase along with the base price of your ticket.
All sales are final – there are no refunds or exchanges.
If you’re unable to use your tickets, you may donate them in exchange for a letter of tax credit by emailing tix@arsnovanyc.com.
Ars Nova is uncensored. We provide content advisories — to the best of our ability — to inform audiences when shows contain racial violence, racist language, sexual violence or nudity. We provide information about this type of content in advance, based on our core values, so that each audience member can make an informed decision about if and how they’d like to engage with that content. We welcome artists to share additional information about their shows based on their own core values.
Ars Nova is wheelchair accessible. If you wish or need to remain in your wheelchair throughout the show, our staff will remove the theater chair. This can be done by letting us know your needs/plans in advance; just email Taylor Rey. It can also be done without prior notice when you arrive! If you wish to transfer to the theater seat from your wheelchair, we are happy to store your wheelchair or motorized mobility aid in the lobby during the performance. The House Manager will return your mobility device to you at the end of the performance as this show has no intermission.
About 25% of the seating is on the ground floor of the theater and does not require using stairs to access. There are five six-inch steps to get into the building.
All remaining seats require no less than one and no more than three steps to access.
Licensed service animals (any dogs that are trained to do work or perform tasks for people with disabilities) are welcome at Ars Nova. They must rest in your seating area throughout the performance and are unable to occupy the aisle. Please bring proof of certification or a license for your service animal and be prepared to present it to the House Manager upon request. You can send advance notice to tix@arsnovanyc.com, which is appreciated, but not required.
Our bathrooms are stalled, all gender restrooms – everyone is welcome to use any bathroom of their choice. We have two single-person restrooms in the lobby; with the wheelchair accessible option located right outside the theater on the first floor (doors 7 feet 10 inches x 3 feet 10.5 inches).
We have space that can be made to offer privacy for feeding should you need at any time. See the House Manager onsite and they will arrange a comfortable space, with storage and refrigeration for your materials.
The audience seating locations could be in, around and throughout the playing area. Performers will be within 3’ of you.
The seating is a combination of chairs.
Black Chairs with back: 19” wide x 32.25” high x 21.75” deep with a 500lb capacity
Black Counter height: 16.5” wide x 38” high x 18” deep with a 500lb capacity
The doors for entry into the building are 7 feet 10.5 inches x 3 feet 7 inches (external) and 7 feet 10 inches x feet 10.5 inches (internal).
Box Office height is 3 feet 6 inches and the Bar height is 3 feet 8.5 inches.
