American Horror Story star Naomi Grossman brings acclaimed new solo show to NYC for limited run.
January 23-25, 2024 at AMT Theater
** 2023 Broadway World Awards nominee for Best Solo Production (LA) **
"Darkly fabulous and profoundly revealing...Ultimately, the success of American Whore Story is to reveal a profound intersection between childhood trauma and adult fame." -- John Lavitt, The Hollywood Times
“Charming, funny, touching and so relatable.” -- Rob Stevens, LA Drama Critics Circle
Emmy-nominated actress Naomi Grossman, best known as fan-favorite “Pepper,” the first multi-season crossover character from Ryan Murphy’s hit television series American Horror Story, presents a love letter to AHS fans, chronicling her pre to post-Pepper adventures, and true mastery of the dubious art of self-compromise in this limited theatrical run of her new solo show, AMERICAN WHORE STORY. Directed by multiple Ovation Award-winner Richard Israel, the show will run January 23-25 at Off-Broadway’s AMT Theater (354 West 45th Street between 8th and 9th Avenues). Tickets are now on sale at www.americanwhorestory.com
From the face that launched a thousand memes, gifs, clickbait, and fan art, AMERICAN WHORE STORY is an anthology of autobiographical tales of self-compromise. In the show, Naomi Grossman reveals her history of hustling— from her compromised love life to her compromising odd jobs. She drives the Red Bull car (then crashes it into a shopping mall), masquerades as a native-speaking Spanish teacher (at the Playboy Mansion and beyond), works a gay pride parade dressed as a giant condom (as one does) … and the list goes on. AMERICAN WHORE STORY takes its audience on a transformative trip to Burning Man, an acid trip to a 60’s Rat Pack rager, and along Grossman’s circuitous, albeit hilarious, triumphant trip to #1 on IMDb.
AMERICAN WHORE STORY is Grossman’s third solo show. Its predecessors, Girl in Argentine Landscape and Carnival Knowledge, received critical acclaim at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, on London’s West End, in New York and Los Angeles, and at universities nationwide. Following its sold-out run in Los Angeles, AMERICAN WHORE STORY comes to NYC with notable industry buzz. Curb Your Enthusiasm and Gilmore Girls Executive Producer Gavin Polone raved: “Naomi is a true multi-hyphenate– an intelligent and witty writer as well as a comedically gifted actress. She's as comfortable on camera, transforming into an extreme, microcephalic character —as far from herself as can be— as she is on stage, bearing her soul in her own hilarious solo shows.” Ryan Murphy, who cast Grossman as “Pepper” would agree. According to an interview with Entertainment Weekly, Murphy called her performance in Asylum “pure comic delight,” in contrast with her intelligence revealed later in the show. For that reason, he said, “We cast an actress at the very beginning who could play both those things.”
“That’s exactly what this show is: super-smart writing, paired with pure comedic virtuosity,” explains theatre producer Kate Atkinson (Part of the Plan, A Very Brady Musical), who alongside documentary filmmaker Sarah Anthony (Kiss the Future, The Defiant Ones, Light and Magic) have partnered with Grossman to bring AMERICAN WHORE STORY to the stage under their AWS Entertainment Group banner. “Naomi has a Lily Tomlin-level stage presence and humor,” Anthony added. “Her physicality and timing are as dynamic as her writing is sharp. This show is a real evolution in her comedic artistry, and a fascinating insight into the up and down journey toward ‘overnight’ success.”
Naomi Grossman was a 2018 Primetime Emmy nominee for "Outstanding Actress in a Short Form Comedy or Drama" for her role in Ctrl Alt Delete. Best known as the first crossover character, the fan-favorite "Pepper" on FX's American Horror Story: Asylum & Freak Show; Naomi also appeared as a new character, the Satanist "Samantha Crowe" in the 8th season, Apocalypse, as well as in the spin-off series, American Horror Stories. Naomi made #5 of IMDb's "Top 10 Breakout Stars" after her STARmeter skyrocketed to #1, making her the most searched in its entire 8 million person database. Huffington Post, The Wrap, Screen Rant, and Syfy all ranked Pepper among "The Best AHS Characters Ever;" MTV named her their "#1 Good Guy;" Uproxx, their "#1 Most Tragic;" Geek Insider, a "Top 5 Most Underrated AHS Performer," and Entertainment Weekly called her being cast in the role "The Best of 2012." Fans may also recognize her from cameos in the following feature films: Table for Three, The Chair, 1BR, Sky Sharks, Bite Me, Painkillers, The Lurker, Murder RX, The Portal, Preacher Six, An Accidental Zombie (Named Ted), Fear, Inc. and Pet Detectives. Naomi graduated in theatre from Northwestern University, and is a former member of the Groundlings Sunday Company.
Richard Israel is an LA and New York-based theatre director specializing in the development of new musicals. Current development projects include A Very Brady Musical (with Lloyd Schwartz, the original Brady Bunch series producer), King Of Pangaea, (finalist - NAMT Festival of New Musicals), Good Man with David Goldsmith (book writer - Motown), Home Street Home with Jeff Marx (co-lyricist and book writer - Avenue Q) and The Mollyhouse. Richard was the Theatrical Coordinator for the Emmy award-winning series, Big Little Lies and was the director of the multiple award-winning musical short film Into Light. Notable west coast productions include Violet (LA Stage Alliance Ovation Award for Direction of a Musical), Floyd Collins (LA Stage Alliance Ovation Award for Direction and Outstanding Musical), 110 in the Shade (LA Stage Alliance Ovation Award for Outstanding Intimate Musical), and the world premiere of Anita Bryant Died For Your Sins. He is the proud recipient of the LADCC Career Achievement Award for Directing.
AWS Entertainment Group combines the talents of Naomi Grossman’s Red Meat Entertainment, Sarah Anthony’s Good Wolves Productions, and Kate Atkinson’s Purple Mountain Productions.
Cracked Pepper Productions, LLC is a Chicago, IL based production company dedicated to bringing American Whore Story to life. CPP is managed by Rob Jarosinsky’s independent film company, Umbrella Pictures.