HIGH PRIEST: Confessions from THE WARHOL FACTORY

The Other Side of Silence’s Doric Wilson Playwrights Project will present a special reading of Paul Iacono’s new play HIGH PRIEST: Confessions from the Warhol Factory at The Flea Theater for one night only on Monday, August 18 at 7:00 PM. The play is directed by Rachel Klein (Bettie Page: Queen of Pinups on the West End, The Gospel According to Heather).

The cast includes: Paul Iacono (Ondine), Brady Dalton Richards (Andy Warhol), Alice Kremelberg (Edie Sedgwick), Zane Pais (Billy Name), Hannah Solow (Brigid Polk), Peter Vack (Paul Morrissey), Andrew Bova (Gerard Malanga), Katherine Crockett (Nico, Valerie Solanas), Keith Rapp (Lou Reed), and Barrett Leddy (Rotten Rita, Jonas Mekas).

HIGH PRIEST tells the wild, untold story of Warhol Superstar Ondine (Robert Olivo) — a brilliant, gay performance artist and self-proclaimed “Pope of the amphetamine people” — charting his rise and fall inside Andy Warhol’s 1960s Silver Factory, only to discover the true cost of superstardom. Featuring an iconic ensemble of Factory Superstars — Edie Sedgwick, Billy Name, Gerard Malanga, Brigid Polk, Paul Morrissey, Lou Reed, Nico, and more — HIGH PRIEST is a kaleidoscopic journey through the glamour, chaos, heartbreak, and mythmaking of the Silver Sixties and beyond.

HIGH PRIEST is written by Paul Iacono and directed by Rachel Klein, with music supervision by Peter Saxe. Jasmin Sanchez serves as stage manager. Graphic design is by Jason Sedgwick. Photograph of Andy Warhol and Ondine is by Billy Name, used with permission from his estate.

HIGH PRIEST will be presented Monday, August 18 at 7:00 PM at The Flea Theater, located at 20 Thomas Street in New York. Free Tickets are available at Tosonyc.org.

PAUL IACONO (Writer / Performer) is a graduate of Manhattan’s Professional Performing Arts High School. Iacono is best known for portraying the title character on MTV’s “The Hard Times of RJ Berger.” Paul was first featured on “The Rosie O’Donnell Show” at age eight after she discovered his unique talents for impersonating Frank Sinatra and Ethel Merman. Favorite stage credits include Mercury Fur (The New Group), Bridget Everett’s Rock Bottom (Joe’s Pub), Noël Coward’s Sail Away with Elaine Stritch (Carnegie Hall), and John Guare’s Landscape of the Body with Lili Taylor and Sherie Rene Scott (Signature Theatre). Favorite film credits include MGM’s remake of Fame, Darren Stein’s G.B.F., and Dating My Mother with Kathy Najimy. Iacono’s play Prince/Elizabeth premiered at The Teatro LATEA Theater co-starring Sofia Black D’Elia and Peter Vack, The Last Great Dame (loosely inspired by his relationship with Elaine Stritch) at Jane Friedman’s HOWL! Happening Gallery, and HIGH PRIEST at La MaMa Experiments Play Reading Series. His cabaret “Where’s The F*cking Kid” premiered at 54 Below, with “Psychedelic Hedonism” following at Joe’s Pub (New York Magazine “Critic’s Pick”), followed by “Psychedelic Playhouse,” “Paul Iacono, Unfiltered,” and “The Stritch Is Back: Paul Iacono sings… Elaine Stritch sings… Elton John,” all at The Green Room 42. He was named one of OUT 100’s most influential after coming out in Michael Musto’s Village Voice column in 2011. Iacono has six other projects in development, including his downtown cult-favorite, GOTHAM ROGUES: The Unauthorized Batman Parody Musical, which will have its first full presentation October 27 at Joe’s Pub. Instagram: @PsychedelicHedonism

RACHEL KLEIN (Director) is a New York City-based stage director, specializing in new play and musical development. West End: Bettie Page: Queen of Pinups The Musical (The Lyric Theatre). Off-Broadway: The Gospel According to Heather (Theatre 555; starring Katey Sagal); Red Roses, Green Gold (Minetta Lane Theatre/ft. the music of the Grateful Dead); Around the World in 80 Days (The Davenport Theatre); The Anthem (Lynn Redgrave Theatre). Selected NYC: Tink! (NYMF); More Than All the World (Theatre for the New City); Circus of Circus (The House of Yes). Selected Regional: Spells of the Sea (The Kennedy Center, 2024 season), The Suffragist (Gallagher Bluedorn Theatre; starring Nancy Opel), Dead Certain (composer: Air Supply’s Graham Russell); 54 the Musical (House of Independents; starring Michaela Jaé Rodriguez and Frankie Grande). Selected workshops and readings: Helen (Starring Bonnie Milligan), Medusa: A New Pop Opera; Girlfriend from Hell. Charity: Ms. Klein directed the charity roast of Michael Musto raising funds for the Callen Lorde Community Health Center, featuring Rosie O’Donnell, Bruce Vilanch, and Jinkx Monsoon. Ms. Klein is a proud member of SDC, founding member of Iconoclast Theatre Collective, guest teaching artist at Fordham University, serves on the New Musical Screening Committee for NAMT,  and was the Director/Showrunner of the audio series The World to Come. Instagram: @rachelklein.theoffical