A new musical comedy is about homicidal genitals, and I've never felt more seen
Anna K. Jacobs and Michael R. Jackson have ripped open my heart with their 'Teeth'
The new musical at Playwrights Horizons had my jaw open and face frozen in a shocked expression throughout most of its two-hour runtime last night, but it wasn’t the supernatural (and outrageous) horror genre elements that did it. Rather, it was the way this musical about religion and shame and virginity read me and my life experiences like a book.
The last time a show made me feel this specifically understood (despite not sharing all the particular identities at the center) was Michael R. Jackson’s A Strange Loop. For Teeth, Jackson has teamed with Anna K. Jacobs in what I can only imagine based on the results is the Platonic ideal of creative collaboration. She has a Book and Music by credit, he has a Book and Lyrics by credit. Sarah Benson directs the show, and Raja Feather Kelly provides the choreography. All deliver stunning work here.
Just as razor sharp as teeth in surprising anatomical places — sharper, even — is the way that Jacobs and Jackson interrogate how the religious doctrines and fears we inherit get tangled into budding sexuality, leaving us to grope around in the dark — or maybe the dark web — for self-discovery and understanding.
Teeth gets so much deeper than the surface-level stereotypes and tropes usually relied upon when subjects such as these have been explored on stage. I thought The Book of Mormon was impressive for going barely deeper than those stereotypes, but Teeth sets the bar so much higher, imbuing every funny-sounding religious practice and phrase or every awkward sexual feeling and encounter with profound seriousness and care.
While watching Teeth, I somehow didn’t think about my favorite musical, Howard Ashman and Alan Menken’s Little Shop of Horrors (probably because this show is so singular and had me completely enraptured the entire time) but there are some common threads between the two: Both are based on cult horror films, and both employ dark comedy to tell stories about longing and loneliness.
Teeth is a piece of theater that seems allergic to scapegoats and easy villains for all the sexual shame and frustration in our world. It doesn’t let any of its targets off the hook, from selfish predators to Christianity itself to gender-essentialist hucksters on anonymous internet forums, but Jacobs and Jackson treat these targets with enough complexity and sympathy to move beyond the proposition that solving society’s sexual problems means vanquishing whoever or whatever we determine to be the cause of our disfunction and pain.
I will be processing and thinking through Teeth for a long time — and I’m ravenous to experience it and appreciate its wisdom again. The show is only through March 31, but seeing as the entire run is already sold out, I am anticipating an extension. I’ll be refreshing the show’s website continuously until then.***
(By the way, I can’t believe Teeth is playing at the same time as another generational masterpiece, Cole Escola’s Oh, Mary!, which did get an extension this week, and now runs through May 5. We really are living in a time of giants.)
***Update 2/23: Since this post went live earlier today, Teeth has been extended through April 14! Here’s where you can get your tickets.
→On my radar: February 23-29, 2024
Friday, February 23
🎬 Drive-Away Dolls
Saturday, February 24
📺 Saturday Night Live (New episode @ 11:30 p.m., NBC/Peacock) — Shane Gillis hosts with musical guest 21 Savage.
Sunday, February 25
📺 Indie Spirit Awards — Aidy Bryant hosts.
Monday, February 26
NYC: 🎟 The Traitors watch party and conversation with Alan Cumming and Catherine Cohen (92nd Street Y) — More info.
Tuesday, February 27
📕 Burn Book: A Tech Love Story by Kara Swisher
NYC: 🎭 An Enemy of the People (Performances begin) — Starring Jeremy Strong.
📺 Shōgun (Hulu) — Two-episode premiere.
📀 Wonka (4K blu-ray)
Wednesday, February 28
🎮 Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons Remake
NYC: 🎭 Dead Outlaw (Previews begin) — Music and lyrics by Erik Della Penna and David Yazbek.
📺 Iwájú (Disney+) — All six episodes available, along with documentary Iwájú: A Day Ahead and game Iwájú: Rising Chef on iOS and Android.
🎮 Star Wars: Dark Forces Remaster
📺 Survivor (Season 46 premieres from 8-10 p.m., CBS, Paramount+) — Subsequent weeks will see the return of 90-minute episodes.
Thursday, February 29
🎮 Final Fantasy VII Rebirth
Visit my complete listing of upcoming movies, TV shows and more.
ADDED THIS WEEK:
NYC: 🎭 Illinoise (Previews begin Mar. 2, opens Mar. 7, closes Mar. 23) — Based on Sufjan Stevens’ 2005 concept album. More info.
📺 Apples Never Fall (All seven episodes available Mar. 14, Peacock) — Starring Sam Neill, Annette Bening, Alison Brie, and Jake Lacy.
🎬 Stormy (Mar. 18, Peacock) — Documentary featuring Stormy Daniels.
🎮 Pepper Grinder (Mar. 28)
NYC: 🎭 The Lydian Gale Parr (Opens Apr. 5, closes Apr. 21) — More info.
NYC: 🎭 The Lonely Few (Previews begin Apr. 27, opens May 20, closes Jun. 2) — More info.
NYC: 🎭 Three Houses (Opens Apr. 30, closes Jun. 9) — New musical from Dave Malloy. More info.
NYC: 🎭 Encores! Titanic (Opens Jun. 12, closes Jun. 23) — Featuring Chuck Cooper, Eddie Cooper, Drew Gehling, Ramin Karimloo, Emilie Kouatchou, Judy Kuhn, Bonnie Milligan, Brandon Uranowitz, and Samantha Williams. More info.
🎮 Shin Megami Tensei V Vengeance (Jun. 21)
💬 Ahsoka comic adaptation (Issue #1 releases July 8) — More info.
←Rear-View Radar
At the end of each newsletter, I look to — the past! — to mention recent culture I've been paying attention to, whether they were previously on my radar or not.
I’m always ready for more Star Wars storytelling, and so I happily returned to the animated series The Bad Batch this week, which is now back on Disney+ with new episodes of the final season every Wednesday until May. I am impressed with the quality so far!
I was especially impressed by the music, and was thrilled to see Kevin Kiner’s longtime collaborators, his (adult) children Sean and Deana, get promoted from “additional music” to a full-on shared composing credit. Deana is the first trans composer in the Star Wars world that I am aware of, making this promotion especially exciting to me.
Thanks for reading! What's on your radar? Reply to this email or send me a message to let me know!
Derrick Clements writes the On My Radar newsletter. He lives in Queens, New York. Visit derrickclements.com for more.