Teeth / NAMT Festival

[A Part of It All]

Posted: 11/6/19 at 1:09am

Did anyone see the public reading of Teeth at the NAMT New Music Festival? Were there any other good musicals this year? 

 

[treblemakerz]

Posted: 11/6/19 at 7:01am

I was there with an industry pass! IMO, Teeth was one of two standouts this year.

Honestly, did not know what to expect from an adaptation of...that movie, but I should never have underestimated Michael R. Jackson. What we saw of the show was absolutely hilarious, while also being thoughtfully written and providing a few songs that were stuck in my head for days afterward (I honestly still find myself singing the one Jared Loftin performed, I believe it was called "Born Again") (on that note, someone please hire Jared Loftin). I have no doubt a full production of Teeth will pop up somewhere soon, based on the incredible reception it received at the festival.

The other big winner for me was definitely Interstate. From the NAMT event program:

"Interstate is an Asian-American road trip musical about Dash, a transgender spoken-word performer who embarks on his first national tour with his best friend Adrian, a lesbian singer-songwriter. Their political and personal music inspires Henry, a trans teenage blogger living in a small town in Kentucky, to make a series of life-changing decisions. A parallel story about two trans people at different stages of their lives, the musical explores love, family, and masculinity in the age of social media."

I found the show (at least, the abridged act one that we were shown) to be incredibly nuanced and touching, with a great balance of humor and emotion. One minute I found myself laughing at a witty bit of dialogue, the next I was sobered by a scene of harsh reality. I was especially impressed by the show's music and lyrics, which were just beautiful ("I Don't Look" was a standout song performed at the reading, and "Why I Share" is another favorite from the demo recording download we were given afterwards). I'm keeping my eye on this one.

[magictodo123]

Posted: 11/6/19 at 12:35pm

Ummm. I'm sorry...I think I may have misread this. Did you write there's a workshop of a production of TEETH? As in, the movie where the girl has teeth in a place that I can't write on here but below her waist? ...who...why???

[raddersons]

Posted: 11/6/19 at 12:55pm

magictodo123 said: "Ummm. I'm sorry...I think I may have misread this. Did you write there's a workshop of a production of TEETH? As in, the movie where the girl has teeth in a place that I can't write on here but below her waist? ...who...why???"

The movie itself is satirical, or at least making fun of itself if not something larger at hand. Satire has worked before for musicals. Why not?

[magictodo123]

Posted: 11/6/19 at 1:07pm

raddersons said: "magictodo123 said: "Ummm. I'm sorry...I think I may have misread this. Did you write there's a workshop of a production of TEETH? As in, the movie where the girl has teeth in a place that I can't write on here but below her waist? ...who...why???"

The movie itself is satirical, or at least making fun of itself if not something larger at hand. Satire has worked before for musicals. Why not?"

Oh, I'm aware. I just didn't think out of all of the satirical movies that are out there, they'd ever consider making a show about something like this. But hey--you never know what movie someone see and think, "this would be great on stage!"