Michael R. Jackson & Anna K. Jacobs' TEETH Musical at Playwrights Horizons (Winter 2024)- Page 3

[whatever2]

Posted: 2/22/24 at 6:30pm

lopside said: " ... unless it is a medical condition"

scroll up ... six posts north of yours someone referenced exactly that ... perhaps more people have medical conditions than you think?

[Matt Rogers]

Posted: 2/22/24 at 7:42pm

lopside said: "Also the comparison to a movie, doesn't really work since most people do not leave in the middle of films, especially from the middle of a row. I find it so hard to believe that 2hrs without intermission is such an issue for grown adults, unless it is a medical condition"

Setting aside the issue that you show absolutely zero empathy about people who might possibly be different from you and have different tolerance, your above movie statement is absurd. You can easily leave a movie to go to the restroom regardless of where you are sitting. If you leave a Broadway or off-Broadway show, there is a chance you may not be readmitted. Or you might be held by the usher until “an appropriate break in the show”. Also, unless you are on an aisle, in a Broadway theatre and off-Broadway as well, it would be considered rude and physically almost impossible to climb over people if you have to use the restroom. Finally, if going a few hours without a bathroom break should not be an issue, why are there endless, mobbed, bathroom lines during the intermission at virtually every Broadway show? Maybe it’s the bottle of wine they had at dinner before the show. Maybe it’s the giant sippy cups of beverages they serve pre-show. Maybe some have medical conditions. Maybe some just need a bathroom break more than others. Whatever the case is, why a 2 hour show cannot have an intermission is pretty absurd. With that said, I am sure there are people at Teeth tonight, especially since I sold my ticket. I look forward to hearing everyone’s thoughts. 

[Dionysus3]

Posted: 2/22/24 at 10:51pm

I saw this tonight and thought it was in good shape for a second preview. There were some minor technical blips and perhaps an over reliance on irreverent one-liners, but it was enjoyable, silly, and fun. There are A LOT of songs, but it doesn’t feel overly long. Dawn’s solo songs, in particular, are really strong. And the actor who plays her is a star; she’s got great presence. The promise keeper girls also work well together. I enjoyed it, and the crowd also seemed into it. 

[quizking101]

Posted: 2/22/24 at 10:57pm

OKAY! FINALLY! A REVIEW!

Much like the film itself, this is certainly not a musical for the faint of heart. If I could describe it accurately, it had the sexual frustrations of SPRING AWAKENING, damning religiosity of BARE, and the campy cult stage horror of CARRIE.

The show itself starts off a bit slow, but very tuneful and funny with how it roasts purity culture amongst religious teenagers and the current movement of men’s rights and regaining masculinity. There’s definitely a lot of teasing of what is to come with Dawn’s stepbrother hinting at how he lost his fingertip (yes, mild incest). The action really kicks off about 50-60 minutes in when the first member is…dismembered, and from that point forward, it careens into chaos - both good and bad as it departs further from the movie. I want to avoid spoilers but some can afford to be cut and the pacing tightened (since it felt like there was a few false endings). It ran a total of 2:03 from curtain to curtain and I know exactly where an intermission could go - but also know that it might kill the pace.

It definitely had some WHITE GIRL IN DANGER energy as it went from the seemingly real and normal to absolutely surreal and comically horrifying. Alyse Alan Louis is putting the most energy into Dawn that she can, all the way up to the twisted ending. Jason Gotay, Steven Pasquale, and Jared Loftin were also all standouts.

The technical blips with the sound were a bit annoying at times but ultimately didn’t affect my overall enjoyment 

Like any MRJ show, this is going to be polarizing as hell, but to put it succinctly - it was filth and I LOVED it

Updated On: 2/23/24 at 10:57 PM

[berniesb!tch]

Posted: 2/23/24 at 11:32am

Saw this last night and I loved it. 

It's definitely not perfect, needs some tightening and I think the show could have gotten to the TEETH action sooner, but it was really thrilling. I don't know what really happened in the last 10 minutes of the show, but at that point I didn't care! I was having such a good time and it was so bat**** I could not help but love it. It definitely won't be everyone's cup of tea, but I lived for it. 

Props to Jason Gotay and the actress who played Dawn (don't have my playbill) they were fantastic. The whole cast was great though, really. 

Also - it really should be two acts. There was such a natural act 1 finale it felt weird they didn't just spit it up.

Updated On: 2/23/24 at 11:32 AM

[Dionysus3]

Posted: 2/23/24 at 1:05pm

berniesb!tch said: "I don't know what really happened in the last 10 minutes of the show, but at that point I didn't care!"

 

Yeah, I didn’t mind the slower build, but the ending seemed to be an attempt to give the material a greater sense of depth and mythology than it needed (in the weirdest f-ed up Once on this Island way?). If I had a criticism, it would be that the last scene wasn’t really needed to accomplish the show’s message on religion, purity, and hypocrisy. I’m also not sure about Brad (and by extension his incel Andrew T*te bs) being given that level of importance and power. But it sure was hilarious. I wish I was going to have a chance to come back to see again once it officially opens. 

 

[berniesb!tch]

Posted: 2/23/24 at 1:26pm

Dionysus3 said: "berniesb!tch said: "I don't know what really happened in the last 10 minutes of the show, but at that point I didn't care!"



Yeah, I didn’t mind the slower build, but the ending seemed to be an attempt to give the materiala greater sense of depth and mythology than it needed (in the weirdest f-ed up Once on this Island way?).If I had a criticism, it would be that thelast scene wasn’t really needed to accomplish the show’s message on religion, purity, and hypocrisy.I’m also not sure about Brad (and by extension his incel Andrew T*te bs)being given that level of importance and power. But it sure was hilarious. I wish I was going tohave a chance to come back to see again once it officially opens.

"

Totally agree - felt a bit like a sledgehammer when the nail was already in place - but it certainly didn't ruin it for me. At a minimum I appreciated the ambition. 

[yyys]

Posted: 2/23/24 at 5:34pm

extended to April 14th!  on sale now.

[Justin Longo]

Posted: 2/24/24 at 10:17pm

Are any actors signing afterwards?

[ErmengardeStopSniveling]

Posted: 2/24/24 at 10:22pm

What's Pasquale's role like?

[Dionysus3]

Posted: 2/24/24 at 10:42pm

ErmengardeStopSniveling said: "What's Pasquale's role like?"

He plays both adult characters—the overbearing, “spare the rod, spoil the child” father/pastor and the over-the-top, lecherous gynecologist. 

[quizking101]

Posted: 2/24/24 at 10:43pm

Justin Longo said: "Are any actors signing afterwards?"

It depends on who comes through the lobby that you recognize, though when I went, most had family/friends they were meeting so I was patient. I got MRJ, Pasquale, Gotay, and Louis and all were lovely - though I primarily waited for Louis since I was just super excited to see her again after WGID.

What's Pasquale's role like?

While he plays a variety of roles, he’s mainly both the church pastor/Dawn’s stepfather/Brad’s father, and he plays the role with some really fervent and energetic religiosity, like it was tailor made for him. Like a very aggressive youth pastor archetype

[Leaf Coneybear]

Posted: 2/25/24 at 12:37am

Saw this last night and really enjoyed it! A fun time, and while I do agree that it's a bit long for a no-intermission show, I do have to say it created one of the funniest moments of the show. After 

 

Click Here To Toggle Spoiler Content

Dawn's vagina bites off the first dick and she holds it over her head

the audience went nuts, and one man in the front row got up and left. We assumed he was leaving because he objected to the material, but he came back a few minutes later- I think he'd thought it was intermission and wanted to get in line for the bathrooms before others! 

Regarding the last ten min, I honestly think it was overkill. The song lyrics were a bit on the nose for me - I think the idea could work, but personally I think no song and maybe just the imagery and the girl going for the apple could get the point across. 

[Det95]

Posted: 2/28/24 at 8:13am

How has the run time of the show been, and has it been starting on time? I'm looking at hopefully getting one of those randomly dropped tickets for Oh, Mary, and with the 2:30 matinee start time that would be a very tight window to get downtown. 

[noahseestheatre]

Posted: 2/28/24 at 8:26am

berniesb!tch said: "Saw this last night and I loved it.

It's definitelynot perfect, needs some tightening and I think the show could have gotten to the TEETH action sooner, but it was really thrilling. I don't know what really happened in the last 10 minutes of the show, but at that point I didn't care! I was having such a good time and it was so bat**** I could not help but love it. It definitely won't be everyone's cup of tea, but I lived for it.

Props to Jason Gotay and the actress who played Dawn(don't have my playbill) they were fantastic. The whole cast was great though, really.

Also - it really should be two acts. There was such a natural act 1 finale it felt weird they didn't just spit it up."

This comment could be about WHITE GIRL IN DANGER too LOL. I guess he tends to pack the message compactly at the end, but still so curious to see this! WGID took risks, some worked, some didn't, but it was exciting. 

[chrishuyen]

Posted: 2/29/24 at 12:50am

Saw this tonight and really enjoyed it!  I think it has VERY solid bones (and a good amount of meat on them too), with a delightful mix of camp and horror--I was reminded of both Heathers and Spring Awakening at different points, and it is firmly a dark satirical comedy (which is interesting, because based on the trailer, the movie looks like it's pure horror?).  Some really tuneful songs here and I cannot wait to hear them again, though there are many moments where Alyse Alan Louis is expected to belt over the entire ensemble singing together, and while she's an excellent singer, she doesn't quite have the kind of brassy powerhouse voice that would be more suitable for that kind of moment, and I hope they tailor the songs a bit more towards what her voice IS good at.

Went to the post-show talkback as well, and MRJ mentioned they just cut a song within the last two days and that they're still working on the ending, with a new ending being put into place tomorrow(!), which is good because I was pretty on board with the whole show until the ending, which seems to be what other people have felt too, so very curious to hear from anyone that goes!  He also mentioned how the unifying theme is mostly about ideology and how that runs our lives, whether it's religion or factions of the internet, or really anything else that people believe strongly in, and after reading the Wikipedia summary of the film, it really did do a fairly large departure in the tone and themes (though the major events stay the same).

I also agree that there's a midway point that's practically screaming for an intermission break, and I think with an additional song to open act 2, it would work as a 2 act piece without stalling momentum.  I didn't check exactly on the dot, but it started around 6 minutes past and probably ran around the posted 1:50 running time (definitely under 2 hours).  I thought it moved very well though, and I was never bored, with the songs coming fast and often (it felt like there was rarely more than 5 minutes or so between songs).  There's a bit of a tone shift late in the show that was just a tiny bit jarring, but I think it flowed well enough towards the end of the piece that it didn't bother me that much.  As much as I liked A Strange Loop, I definitely felt the run time and towards the end it really felt like it was dragging on a bit, which I never felt here.  If I'm able to, I'd definitely love to come back later in the run and see how they change it.

Some thoughts on the ending (and I'm curious to hear what other people's takes are as well!):

 

Click Here To Toggle Spoiler Content

It sounds like this is the same ending as earlier posters, but we saw Dawn and Brad basically engage in a "final battle" and then essentially morph into deities that kind of represent the Godfather that Brad had been speaking to and Dentata, arguing over who really defeated evil, as represented by the Pastor (at least that's my interpretation), while the rest of the stage is besieged by the four elements, until one of the former Promise Keeper Girls approaches a tree and takes a bite of an apple from it.

While talking with my friend afterwards, I saw that to mean something along the lines of "the cycle starts anew" and that this is essentially a fight that will never be resolved, or maybe the cycle beginning again is another chance to "get it right".  Meanwhile, my friend was of the opinion that both Brad and Dawn (or whoever they were representing) should have taken a bite out of the apple together, since there was a lot of discourse about blaming Eve (and subsequent women) for tempting man to sin by eating the apple, and if they both ate it together, that would balance that act.

 

[Jordan Catalano]

Posted: 3/3/24 at 5:26pm

Oh, I just had the BEST time this afternoon. This was just stupid gross/filthy fun from start to finish. Unlike other shows that try to not be what they are, this knows EXACTLY what it is and leans all the way into it. For me, I'd compare it to mostly to "Saved" and "Little Shop of Horrors" with some extra sex and gore and other nods to things like "Carrie" thrown in. Even though I can't remember any of the lyrics right now, I think it was just the first song just had us rolling and it kind of never stopped. 

There were no technical issues but if I could tell them one thing it would be that the musicians tend to drown out the vocals when the entire ensemble is singing, so there was one or two songs that I could only make out a little bit of what they were saying. I'm not getting into the discussion of if this needs an intermission or not but like was posted before there really is a spot about an hour in that's PERFECT for it and the next scene is just the most perfect opening for an act two, enough so that I have to believe it originally was in there but just taken out. The show is very fast paced though so I didn't really care, but if they want to add it going forward, they know where it is. 

But really, after sobbing last night at "Tuesdays With Morrie", it was nice to laugh my ass off today. 

[idioteque...]

Posted: 3/3/24 at 5:29pm

Anyone having issues purchasing young membership tickets? It worked for a bit when extension was announced but 3 days later purchases are disabled? 

[brando193]

Posted: 3/3/24 at 11:51pm

They’re only selling young membership tickets for the extension dates that fall under Tier 2 pricing unfortunately, so the only dates that I think have that available are Wed matinees.

[LeftofLinus]

Posted: 3/4/24 at 9:51am

I genuinely hope the mess of a human in the center of row F at Sunday, 3/3's 7:30 pm show learns how to behave in a theater.  In the future, it would be greatly appreciated by everyone around you if you could not...

1 - Scream.  Why were you screaming?  It was obvious you were intoxicated but your volume was at 11 from the moment you sat down and was turned down to 10.5 when the show started but for the love of newborn baby Jesus shut the f- up no one needed your commentary or your cackle every time a character cursed or mentioned genitalia.

2 - Point. In addition to your obnoxious commentary, you do not need to point at every person or thing that comes on stage.  We all see it.  It's a small theater.

3 - Try and do the Choreography. You are not in the show. It's a limited run, and I don't think they are looking for replacements.  Sit still.

4 - Sit BACK in your seat.  In addition to talking, pointing, and dancing, you managed to block the view of everyone behind you by sitting on the front of your seat and leaning forward.

5 - Toss your hair. The poor person next to you was hit by it multiple times. 

You were absolutely one of the worst people I have EVER encountered in a theater - hell you were more obnoxious than a bachelorette party at a drag brunch. It was obvious you had been to this multiple - I hope you reconsider how you behave in public spaces in the future. You were embarrassing.

[whatever2]

Posted: 3/4/24 at 12:08pm

> You were absolutely one of the worst people I have EVER encountered in a theater - hell you were more obnoxious than a bachelorette party at a drag brunch. It was obvious you had been to this multiple - I hope you reconsider how you behave in public spaces in the future. You were embarrassing.

Not to hijack this thread, but i had this person's twin sister in front of me at The Little Big Things in London the week before last. The ushers were all over it ... wish our houses would get a little more aggressive about behavior this obnoxious.

Updated On: 3/4/24 at 12:08 PM

[Det95]

Posted: 3/4/24 at 3:10pm

How's the runtime been? It's advertised as 1:55. How accurate would y'all say that is? Especially with the 2:30 matinee. Thanks!

[yyys]

Posted: 3/4/24 at 3:18pm

I went on a Sunday.  Started 2:40 and I was outside the theater around 4:40. So yeah roughly 2 hrs.
 

Det95 said: "How's the runtime been? It's advertised as 1:55. How accurate would y'all say that is? Especially with the 2:30 matinee. Thanks!"

 

Updated On: 3/4/24 at 03:18 PM

[GottaGetAGimmick420]

Posted: 3/7/24 at 2:57am

There was a performance cancelled yesterday and people on Twitter are saying the box office is refusing to acknowledge ticket exchanges, making everyone who still wants to see the show pay an up charge of $50-$100 to see it a different day after it was cancelled today.

I realize that may be the standard, but shame on Playwrights Horizon. It feels like extortion when people already have a ticket and get the rug pulled from under them.

I’m going in a few weeks, but I’m be FUMING if this happened to me.

[FANtomFollies]

Posted: 3/7/24 at 8:25am

GottaGetAGimmick420 said: "There was a performance cancelled yesterday and people on Twitter are saying the box office is refusing to acknowledge ticket exchanges, making everyone who still wants to see the show pay an up charge of $50-$100 to see it a different day after it was cancelled today.

I realize that may be the standard, but shame on Playwrights Horizon. It feels like extortion when people already have a ticket and get the rug pulled from under them.

I’m going in a few weeks, but I’m be FUMING if this happened to me."

This sounds illegal - I'd be calling '7 on Your side' or any local News that I could to try and sort this out.