Danny Zolli (Jesus Christ Superstar) will lead the workshop cast of The Cure, a new rock musical by Mark Weiser, in a reading June 23 at the New York City nightclub, The Limelight. The reading is both site and time specific, set in "Club Underworld" on the night of the summer solstice. The Cure tells of two friends who stumble upon the nightclub, inhabited by the last surviving family of vampires. When the undead offer them a chance to become one of the coven, the two must decide if they are going to return to the living or live forever as vampires (a plot oddly reminiscent of Conor McPherson's St. Nicholas, though that one had a theatre critic seduced by a vampiric acting troupe.)

Zolli plays Vladmir, the vampire patriarch. Among the cast are Tom Schultheis (Smokey Joes' Cafe), Andrew Grant (original Rent workshop), Jack Conforti (Hair), Mercury Records artist Donna Sonkin and Sylvia Dohi (Miss Saigon).

Weiser describes his Lower East Side-flavored tunes as multi-influenced, "a melting pot of modern, end of the century music." Sources he's drawn upon include R&B, techno, industrial, Latin and theatre music. The piece is a sung-through rock opera.

The reading, beginning at 6:30 PM, is open to the public. To reserve a place, e-mail [email protected] or call the reservation line at (212) 673-4813. Seating is general admission. The Limelight is located at 47 W. 20th Street.

-- By Christine Ehren