HOWL! Arts Project and Thrillpeddlers Present VICE PALACE

San Francisco's acclaimed Thrillpeddlers present a concert version of their smash hit revival, VICE PALACE: THE LAST COCKETTES MUSICAL, on Friday, October 21 and Saturday, October 22 at 11:00PM, as part of HOWL! ARTS PROJECT 2011 at Theatre 80 (80 St. Marks Place) in Manhattan.

Loosely based on Edgar Allan Poe's "The Masque of the Red Death", VICE PALACE was written by Martin Worman & Scrumbly Koldewyn in 1972 as a vehicle for Divine and actress Mink Stole (best known as stars of cult-director John Waters' films) and The Cockettes. VICE PALACE follows Divina (Leigh Crow), an eccentric and wealthy woman who spares no expense to keep her jet-set party guests entertained, while the villagers just beyond the walls of her lavish estate are ravaged by
the plague. Each performance must top the next in this bizarre race to escape the one uninvited party guest: death!

Originally produced as a "Nocturnal Dream Show" and performed at midnight at the old Palace Theatre in San Francisco on Halloween weekend of 1972, VICE PALACE was the fabled and fabulous Cockettes' final stage presentation.

The HOWL! Arts Project is a month-long performance series which will take place throughout the month of October to benefit the HOWL Emergency Life Project (H.E.L.P). Administered by The Actors Fund, H.E.L.P is an emergency services and health fund available to East Village and downtown artists in need of assistance. HOWL! Arts Project is sponsored by The Actors Fund (administrators of H.E.L.P) and presents poetry, theater, film, dance, music and performance art
programs. HOWL! Arts channels the spirit and artistic invention of the namesake poem and poet Allen Ginsberg to deliver firsthand examples of the creative, cultural, and historical forces that have made the highly original downtown arts of the East Village/Lower East Side community world-renowned.

Upcoming events at HOWL! ARTS PROJECT also include Jim Rado's In the Dark Theatre presents SUN (AUDIO MOVIE) on October 22 at 8pm; HOWL-O'WEEEEEN (w)RITES, spooky one-act plays inspired by NY Beat Poets on October 23 at 8pm; post-punk legends 3 Teens Kill 4 in IN
PEACE & WAR, a multi-media exploration into their music on October 27, 28 and 29 at 8pm; Vangeline Theatre's DANSE MACABRE on October 30 at 8pm; and much more, concluding with GHOSTLIGHT: THE HAUNTED EAST VILLAGE, an all-star Halloween gala presented by Jackie Factory on October 31, beginning at 9pm. For full schedule and more details, visit www.howlfestival.com

Thrillpeddlers' VICE PALACE: THE LAST COCKETTES MUSICAL runs October 21 and 22 at 11:00pm at Theatre 80 (80 St. Marks Place), as part of HOWL! ARTS PROJECT 2011. Tickets are $15 and available online at http://www.brownpapertickets.com/e/200791 or visit www.howlfestival.com for more information.