New Musical POP PUNK HIGH Rocks The Parkside Lounge Starting Tonight

Tickets are now on sale for Pop Punk High, a new musical by Ben Lapidus and Anderson Cook that parodies and celebrates the pop punk bands of the 2000's and all the angst they inspired. The show is directed by Felicia Lobo and performs at the historic Parkside Lounge on the Lower East Side.

Pop Punk High tells the story of a high school where everyone is pop punk, it's always 2006, and there's never been anything cooler than shredding, pizza, and flipping off your lame-ass parents. Derek, a young wannabe pop punk frontman, wants nothing more than to become king of Pop Punk High and win Amanda Bunkface's straight-ironed love. It seems all but impossible for a loser like Derek, but when he finds a bong in his attic containing the ghost/genie of Avril Lavigne, his wildest dreams may be possible after all.

Pop Punk High previously had a sellout run at the PIT Loft this past spring. Pop Punk High features a score reminiscent of blink-182, Sum 41, and Green Day. The music is composed by Ben Lapidus, frontman of alternative band Ambler and skate-punk band Kill Your Friends.

The show blends pop punk authenticity with a book full of inventive, obscene humor from Anderson Cook, the creator of The Disembodied Hand That Fisted Everyone to Death - the Musical!, the low-budget smash hit that played various theaters in NYC for over a year and was subsequently licensed by the Boston Conservatory. The Disembodied Hand... was featured in Time Out NY, The Jay Thomas Show on Sirius XM Radio, and many other outlets, and will appear next year at Dad's Garage in Atlanta and internationally with Morta Hassen Theatrics in Stockholm, Sweden. Anderson's other work includes Origen (Dixon Place), Space Monkey (LSTFI), Blatantly Blaine (The PIT), and a new commissioned adaptation of a young adult novel.

Pop Punk High is directed by Felicia Lobo, assistant directed by Stephanie Wurster, choreographed by Christine Ferry, produced by Anderson Cook, and musically directed by Emily Erickson.

The cast includes Ben Lapidus as Derek, Amanda Centeno as Tib, Jacob Grover as Richard, McLean Peterson as Mom, Patrick Sweeney as Skeet, and Mina Walker, Leanne Velednitsky, and Zac Porter as members of the ensemble. The production team includes Jaye Hunt (stage management), Rachel Brown (set and prop design), Carly Oscar (general management), Elizabeth M. Stewart (lighting design), and Noelia Mann (costume design).

Pop Punk High runs tonight, Oct. 12th, through Nov. 30th (No show on Thanksgiving), playing Thursdays at 8 PM at The Parkside Lounge, 317 E. Houston Street. $15 Tickets, available online at poppunkhigh.com or at the door. Under 21 is admitted with a no-drinking wristband.

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