Dawn O’Keefe is an evangelical Christian teen with a powerful secret not even she understands – when men violate her, her body bites back. Literally. From Pulitzer Prize and Tony-winner Michael R. Jackson (A Strange Loop) and Anna K. Jacobs (POP!), Teeth, based on the cult classic film of the same name, is a fierce, rapturous, and savagely entertaining new musical crackling with irrepressible desire and ancient rage – a dark comedy conjuring the legend of one girl whose sexual curse is also her salvation.
Pasquale recovers most successfully when he ditches Pastor to play an overly friendly gynecologist whom Dawn (Alyse Alan Louis), the show’s Vagina Dentata, visits after she has accidentally castrated her boyfriend (Jason Gotay). The scene is lifted from Lichtenstein’s script but enhanced immeasurably by replicating the “Dentist!” number from “Little Shop of Horrors.” Jackson’s lyrics are delightfully sadistic and Jacobs’ music channels what sounds like Greek soft shoe. Also wonderful is their creation of a character not in the movie. Dawn now has a gay best friend, Ryan (Jared Loftin), who makes the tragic mistake of switching teams. Jacobs and Jackson give their very best one-liners to the emotionally and sexually conflicted Ryan, and Loftin knows just what to do with them.
In their new musical “Teeth,” making its world premiere at off-Broadway’s Playwrights Horizons, writers Anna K. Jacobs and Michael R. Jackson plunge right into this dark world, especially the shame and insidious secrets that preside over it. The show explicitly presents acts of rape and assault that may be difficult to watch (or even read about) for some. But “Teeth” is a brazen, unique, cackle-worthy slice of musical theater, even if, at times, it stumbles from grace.
2024 | Off-Broadway |
Playwrights Horizons Off-Broadway Premiere Production Off-Broadway |
Year | Ceremony | Category | Nominee |
---|---|---|---|
2024 | Drama Desk Awards | Outstanding Book of a Musical | Michael R. Jackson |
2024 | Drama Desk Awards | Outstanding Featured Performance in a Musical | Steven Pasquale |
2024 | Drama Desk Awards | Outstanding Lyrics | Michael R. Jackson |
2024 | Drama Desk Awards | Outstanding Musical | Teeth |
2024 | Drama League Awards | Outstanding Direction of a Musical | Sarah Benson |
2024 | Drama League Awards | Outstanding Production of a Musical | Teeth |
2024 | Outer Critics Circle Awards | Outstanding Book of a Musical (Broadway or Off-Broadway) | Anna K. Jacobs |
2024 | Outer Critics Circle Awards | Outstanding Costume Design (Broadway or Off-Broadway) | Enver Chakartash |
2024 | Outer Critics Circle Awards | Outstanding Lead Performer in an Off-Broadway Musical | Alyse Alan Louis |
2024 | Outer Critics Circle Awards | Outstanding New Off-Broadway Musical | Teeth |
2024 | The Lortels | Outstanding Choreographer | Raja Feather Kelly |
2024 | The Lortels | Outstanding Featured Performer in a Musical | Steven Pasquale |
2024 | The Lortels | Outstanding Lead Performer in a Musical | Alyse Alan Louis |
2024 | The Lortels | Outstanding Musical | Teeth |
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