[REVIEW] It's the Dawn of a New "Teeth"

If you are not involved in the New York City theater scene, you may not be aware that the 2007 classic Teeth is now a musical! That’s right! A musical! The Mitchell Lichtenstein screenplay was adapted by Michael R. Jackson (book and lyrics) and Anna K. Jacobs (book and music) for off-Broadway theater Playwrights Horizon. The show is running through April 28 and you can find all of the information on how to see the show on their website.

The musical Teeth follows teen evangelist Dawn O’Keefe (Alyse Alan Louis in this version) as she grapples with her sexual desire despite her devotion to her church’s “Promise Keeper Girls” purity group. Dawn has been dating high school sports star Tobey (Jason Gotay) for almost a year and their lust for one another has gotten to a breaking point. Dawn’s step-father The Pastor (Steven Pasquale) re-enforces strict gender roles and a devotion to God within both their household and the church. Her step-brother Brad (Will Connolly) is an incel dialed into a conspiracy theory group that he dials into using a VR headset. When Dawn is violated by the men around her, she discovers that she has been cursed–or perhaps gifted–with the ancient folkloric power of vagina dentata. Her teeth vagina has the ability to fight back against her aggressors by doing exactly what you would expect and biting them off.

Though the musical differs from the musical in plot and setting, the original themes of religious oppression, bodily autonomy, and the fear of women’s sexuality are still present. The musical even expands upon the theme of religion by setting the entire show within the walls of a church space. The New Testament Village (created by set designer Adam Rigg) is enclosed in beige panels, lined with a tacky carpet the color of the blood of Christ, and centers a glowing neon cross twice the size of any human person. The highly confined space holds folding chairs that are occupied by the Promise Keeper Girls who worship at the feet of The Pastor and his giant glowing cross. The few boys part of the church group include Tobey and Brad, the male characters directly associated with Dawn. This group acts as the Greek Chorus in this elevated religious tale, weaving in and out of the show during musical numbers, telling the story from a narrative perspective and letting the audience in on things that Dawn may not be aware of. 

The members of Dawn’s religious group are more involved in this story than they are in the film, which elevates the dangers of religious oppression. In the film, Dawn is a spokesperson for her school’s purity club, but this club is not directly associated with the church, nor do we see an authority figure like we do in the musical. Jackson and Jacobs have taken the liberty to turn Dawn’s own step-father into The Pastor, promoting him to the likes of a mega-church leader, and most importantly, a patriarchal power who is involved in every aspect of Dawn’s life. We are able to see the origin of Dawn’s descent into the church and purity culture and those pressures are placed upon her from her own family. In this reality, Dawn’s mother is not in the picture, leaving her to the care of her step-father who raises her to believe that her body is a shameful object of sin. This is a perspective that we do not see in the film and it’s one of the ways the musical is able to take the original screenplay and expand it to explore more of Dawn’s story–showing us the root of patriarchy and how Dawn came to believe what she does.

This version of Teeth takes the campiness of the movie and elevates it above a 10, which is only possible through its adaptation into the form of musical theater. The book and musical numbers are tongue-and-cheek in a way that further satirizes purity ring culture. A stand-out number entitled “Modest is Hottest” features Tobey confessing to Dawn what he finds most attractive about her–that being her desire to keep her clothes on. The number is juxtaposed with choreography of the pair separately expressing their lust for one another, though they never actually touch. This tone is kept throughout the majority of the show up until the turning point.

Like the film, Dawn discovers her vagina dentata when Tobey forces himself on her. The staging of the scene is done well in a manner that is not exploitative and it is extremely clear that what has happened to her is violence. This is a dark moment in the film and I was glad to see that it was handled appropriately within the musical as well. Because of the expansion of the religious themes in the musical, this scene comes much later in the musical, an update that I thought worked really well. Of course the highlight of the Teeth story is the vagina dentata, but it is also necessary to establish who Dawn is and where her ideas about her body come from before the revelation. She is not this prude who suddenly becomes a monster–she is a young girl trapped in the webs of patriarchy who develops a way to protect herself from predators.

Another major update in the musical Teeth is the change to the character of Ryan. In this version, Ryan (Jared Loftin) is a gay teen boy who is forcibly fighting against himself to “pray the gay away.” Queerness is never addressed in the original film, but it is a major part of sexuality that is equally condemned within the New Testament Village. Ryan goes as far as to take advantage of Dawn–befriending her only to betray her in an act to force himself into heterosexuality. The fact remains that conservative evangelical Christianity harms everyone, and any man is capable of violence against women for their own gain in order to uphold these standards. 

The biggest difference in the musical is undeniably in the ending. In the film, Dawn is able to take control of her powers, castrating and killing her step-brother who neglects their dying mother. With neither of those dynamics existing in the musical, Dawn takes control of her power in other ways that includes the help of the rest of the Promise Keeper Girls. All of these women have vagina dentata (though whether this fact is real or imagined is up to the viewer) and they harness it in a final sequence to take down The Pastor, Brad, and any other violent man in their path. The walls of New Testament Village fall as the women emerge as their new form of religion–the one prophesied by the incel group Brad is part of. This group led by Dawn are complete in their transformation into goddesses found in vagina dentata folklore. They are adorned in lingerie and the end of the world is clearly near.

While Teeth really succeeds in all other areas, the end sequence left me confused. Up until this point, the musical condemns religion and the bodily autonomy that it takes from both men and women, but in the end, the women become the monsters that the men have feared this entire time. If a major takeaway of the story is that organized religion is hazardous to women, why do Dawn and her followers come together in another type of organized religion? While these women having vagina dentata to protect themselves is clearly presented as a weapon of strength, it feels as if it is turned around and weaponized against them. It seems implied that by taking ownership of their ability to kill violent men out of revenge, these women are responsible for the downfall of society. Though I understand that the musical’s intention was to flip from a world based in reality to one based in mythology, I think it leaves these women as the ones to blame once again, just as evangelical Christianity has taught them all this time. I really would have liked to seen another version of this ending where Dawn and the other women are able to use their powers without turning into what the men feared all this time. It makes it appear as if the men were right to fear the women for embracing their sexual and bodily autonomy. That if women do fulfill their desires, they will become monsters.

Teeth is a feat of adaptation that takes an already excellent film and elevates it. To adapt the film at all is quite an undertaking, and Jackson and Jacobs have risen to the challenge. The pop-rock score is injected with lyrics that produce full belly laughs along with deep-seeded fear of the culture that still plagues youth 17 years later. The scenic design, costumes, and props compliment the hyper-real world of New Testament Village while keeping it grounded in a reality that the audience can identify with–signifying that these dangers exist in our own world. I’m so happy to see Lichtenstein’s work uplifted and celebrated with this musical that clearly loves its source material. Not only does the musical expand on the themes that interest Jackson and Jacobs for the modern age–it does so without invalidating the original film. It takes what was already so refreshing about Dawn’s story and explores it in more depth while simultaneously reflecting on the little changes that have happened since its inception. 2007 Dawn and 2024 Dawn are in conversation with one another, as Jackson and Jacobs are in conversation with Lichtenstein. It is rare that an adaptation finds itself so easily back into a culture, and though the implications of its relevance remain bleak, I am elated that Teeth does what it does to bring the story to a whole new generation of horror lovers, musical theater goers, and anyone grappling with their own coming-of-age.