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.
Jacobs and Jackson embrace this idea with a vengeance. As severed-tongue-in-cheek as Teeth may be, it takes sexual violence and retribution seriously. Jacobs and Jackson’s version of Dawn incarnates a goddess called Dentata, risen from the cthonic depths of ancient legend to reboot her crusade to dismember every man. As our antiheroine moves further down this path, the production ramps up to a climax of fire and rain, and Alan matches it with her performance. No stranger to strong women—she was Hillary Clinton in 2019’s Soft Power—she moves from trembling worry to trembling fury with fearsome abandon, backed by a female chorus of six that ably mirrors her transformation.
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 |
2024 | Off-Broadway |
Off-Broadway Return Engagement 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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