Academy Award-nominated actor Burt Young (Rocky, Chinatown, The Pope of Greenwich Village) takes on the role of an aging mob boss in a new comedy written and directed by David Varriale. The world premiere of The Last Vig will open Jan. 14 at the Zephyr Theatre on Melrose for a six-week run.

Young will play the character of “Big Joe,” a Mafia wiseguy getting along in years who might just be the last of a dying breed.

“I wanted to look at the changing of the guard,” explains Varriale. “For so long the mob was part of our cultural mythology. But there don’t seem to be any superstars left. Gambino, Gotti – they’re all dead. Bulger is incarcerated. Atlantic City is going bankrupt.”

In The Last Vig, times are changing. Big Joe is old. But is he out?. Can he stay in the game with the help of his young, hip-hip loving assistant, Bocce, and his old friend, Jimmy “The Fixer” D? Or will the juice on the $100K he owes be his last vig?

“In my opinion, this play is like a living documentary,” says Young. “These characters are real street fellas.” A burly, talented character actor who has remained consistently busy playing “rough around the edge” types, often on the wrong side of the law, Young received his dramatic arts training in New York under legendary acting coach Lee Strasberg at the Actors Studio. Young first gathered notice playing tough thugs in such films as The Gang That Couldn’t Shoot Straight, Chinatown and The Gambler. Fiery director Sam Peckinpah cast Young as the getaway driver/assassin, “Mac,” in The Killer Elite, and Young came to the attention of newcomer Sylvester Stallone, who cast him as future brother-in-law “Paulie” in the 1976 sleeper hit Rocky. Young received an Oscar nomination for the role, and went on to reprise in all five Rocky sequels to date. Peckinpah again cast him, as renegade trucker “Pigpen” in Convoy. Young has appeared in numerous other major productions, including Once Upon a Time in America, The Pope of Greenwich Village, Last Exit to Brooklyn, Mickey Blue Eyes, and Win Win.
 
The Last Vig opens on Sat., Jan. 14, continuing through Feb. 19 on Sat. at 8 p.m.; Sun. at 7 p.m.; Mon. at 8 p.m.; and two Fridays, Feb. 10 and Feb. 17, at 8 p.m.  Tix $40, except previews $20. The Zephyr Theatre is located at 7456 Melrose Ave., L.A, CA 90046. For tix, call (323) 960-7712 or go to www.TheLastVig.com.