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Horror Comedy ‘Teeth’ is Getting a Stage Musical Adaptation?!
Here’s something we didn’t have on our horror bingo card this week: a stage musical adaptation for 2007’s cult horror comedy Teeth is in the works.
Deadline reports that Michael R. Jackson, the Pulitzer and Tony award-winning playwright of A Strange Loop, is working on an adaptation set for an Off Broadway debut next year.
The musical was announced as part of Playwrights Horizons’ 2023-24 season. Teeth, the musical, will feature lyrics by Jackson, music by Anna K. Jacobs and a book co-written by both. Previews are slated to begin in February 2024.
Here’s Playwright Horizons’ official synopsis for Teeth: “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.”
For those unfamiliar with the 2007 cult favorite written and directed by Mitchell Lichtenstein, it centered around teen Dawn O’Keefe (Jess Weixler) realizing her vagina dentata gives her the upper hand with sexually aggressive men. When men violate her, her body bites back.
“In Teeth, the tethered yet battling forces of sexuality and religion push each other towards wild theatricality, and Jackson’s and Jacobs’s sharp tale of revenge and transformation tears through a culture of shame one song at a time,” the theater company told Deadline, adding that the stage production 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.”
The musical will be directed by Sarah Benson (Fairview, An Octoroon) and choreographed by Raja Feather Kelly (A Strange Loop, Fairview).
Keeping our fingers crossed that Teeth begins a trend of stage musical adaptations of unexpected horror films!
All of us here at Bloody Disgusting are deeply sad to learn that The Blob director Chuck Russell has passed away at 74 years old.
Russell’s career began with his directorial debut, 1987’s A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors.
The multihyphenate film director, screenwriter, and producer is best known for helming 1994 comedy The Mask starring Jim Carrey, Arnold Schwarzenegger actioner Eraser, and adventure spinoff The Scorpion King. The latter served as the first leading role for Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson.
The filmmaker left an indelible mark on horror with his ANOES sequel, 1988’s The Blob, and 2000’s Bless the Child.
Russell’s final film credit is 2024’s Witchboard remake starring Madison Iseman (I Know What You Did Last Summer), Aaron Dominguez (Only Murders in the Building), and Jamie Campbell Bower (“Stranger Things”).
It marked Russell’s return to horror after a lengthy hiatus, and he shared sequel hopes to Bloody Disgusting in an interview ahead of the remake’s release: “I got to design the board with real mystical symbols and things that I know represent good and evil, and where that board takes us if the audiences respond to the film, and I hope they will; I know it’s out there for you guys, but the sequel is a world we’ll get to go a little further. That’s sure the intention.”
He also recently expressed interest in returning to the franchise that began his career.
TMZ notes that Russell passed away at his San Diego-area home.
We send our deepest condolences to Chuck Russell’s family, friends, and fans.
Director, Co-Writer & Producer Chuck Russell behind the scenes of the horror film, WITCHBOARD. Photo courtesy of The Avenue and Atlas Distribution
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