Teeth, The Horror Movie About The Woman With A Killer Vagina, Is Becoming A Musical, Naturally

Mitchell Lichtenstein's 2007 horror film "Teeth" has a notable premise. A young woman named Dawn (Jess Weixler) has just joined a Christian abstinence group and has elected to leave sex out of her life until she is able to be married. At about the same time, however, Dawn finds that she has a series of razor-sharp teeth in her vagina. This development terrifies her, but she also finds that it can fight back against the multiple men who attempt to assault her throughout the film. Several men will not exit the film wholly intact. "Teeth" is an excellent coming-of-age drama that confronts backward notions of sexual purity, angrily addresses the constant objectification of adolescent women, and is a wonderfully wicked tale of feminist vengeance. It was one of the best films of 2007. 

According to a report in Movieweb, Michael R. Jackson and Anna K. Jacobs are currently in the midst of adapting "Teeth" into a high-profile stage musical. A sample version of the musical previously debuted at the 31st Annual Festival of New Musicals in 2019. Some of the show's songs can already be heard on the festival website, including "Modest is Hottest" and "Dentata." The latter contains a lot of male screaming. The festival production was directed by Portia Krieger.

Jackson's previous credits include "A Strange Loop," the Tony and Pulitzer Prize-winning Broadway smash from 2022, while Jacobs is known for writing the music for "POP!" and "Harmony, Kansas." Jackson and Jacobs will write the book together, with Jackson writing the lyrics and Jacobs writing the music.

The following description comes from Jacobs' website:

"Inspired by the 2007 Sundance Award-winning cult horror film by Mitchell Lichtenstein, 'Teeth' tells the story of Dawn O'Keefe, an evangelical Christian teen with a powerful secret not even she understands – when men violate her, her body bites back. Literally. Co-created with Pulitzer Prize and Tony-Winner Michael R. Jackson ('A Strange Loop'), 'Teeth' 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." 

"Teeth" will debut as part of the Playwrights Horizons 2024 season, at the Mainstage Theater in New York City. The show will begin previews in February and will be directed by Sarah Benson who most recently directed productions of "Fairview" in 2019, and "In the Blood" in 2017. The show's choreographer is Raja Feather Kelly, who worked on "A Strange Loop" and "Fairview." 

"Teeth" is only the most recent horror film to receive a stage musical adaptation. Famously, Roger Corman's 1960 monster movie cheapie "Little Shop of Horrors" became a hit off-Broadway in the 1980s (and was, in turn, adapted back into a great 1986 feature film). One might also recall "Evil Dead: The Musical," "Silence! The Musical" (based on "The Silence of the Lambs"), or the hit adaptation of "Beetlejuice." Also gracing the stage has been "The Toxic Avenger," "Creature from the Black Lagoon," "American Psycho," "Heathers," and a very notorious production of "Carrie" which only ran for five performances in 1988, but now dazzles community theater stages across the globe.

Tickets for "Teeth" are not yet available, so keep a sharp eye on the Playwrights Horizons website.