The three-time Tony nominee plays two disturbed characters in this outrageous musical satire

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last time Andy Karl He performed on Off Broadway’s New World Stages, Altar BoyzA pop musical satirizing Christian boy bands who spread the gospel of chastity. Twenty years later, after becoming a bona fide Broadway star and racking up Tony nominations for her acclaimed turns Groundhog Day, In the Twentieth Century And Rockyhe returned to the same theater and preached purity in another musical satire… though this show is a bit more painful. Karl plays Pastor Bill O’Keefe. teethStage adaptation by Michael R. Jackson and Anna K. Jacobs 2007 cult horror film of the same name It’s about Dawn (Alyse Alan Louis), an evangelical Christian teenager who discovers that her vagina has a team of guardians determined to protect it. to follow someone Big run at Playwrights Horizons last springThe production has been transferred to New World Stages for an open-ended run. Most of the cast is back, but Karl is a new addition to the cast.

In addition to being a clergyman, Karl’s character is Dawn’s abusive and controlling stepfather, preferring her over his own troubled biological son, Brad (Will Connolly). Pastor Bill is caught up in a religious zeal that blinds him to reality and makes him dangerous to everyone around him, especially Dawn.

TDF Stages chatted with Karl about his return to Off-Broadway and found out his own crazy take on Pastor Bill and how much blood was shed. more more.

Joey Sims: you are new teeth. Did you have any hesitations when signing?

Andy Karl: My first question when I joined the show was, “Where’s the tone?” teeth a horror cult classic/feminist examination/exploration of patriarchal identity/something humorous yet crazy; How can I get to the edge of all these things? Everyone involved in the show had the opportunity to explore this anyway, and here’s how I get into it: what’s going on? But I’m joining this journey like everyone else.

Sims: I thought about the tone issue when Pastor Bill told his son Brad to burn in hell… and my audience laughed out loud. When such a cruel and terrible sentence gets this much laughter, do you think yes, we succeeded?

– Karl: I always think the best humor comes from the most tension. Of course, like the Pastor, he is a bigot who speaks through the rhetoric of this irrational, radical religious ideology. At that point in the show he was completely out of it. And yes, he says to his son: “To hell with you, demon child. Go join your mother in the lake of fire!”

That’s what’s really fun about the show: Viewers laugh at the scariest things. It’s not because we’re playing it for laughs, it’s just because of the reaction: Oh my God, I can’t stop laughing at the insanity I’m seeing on stage! That’s what this show has in spades.

Sims: By the end, Pastor Bill has completely lost himself, but he starts off as a complex figure. He is deeply protective of Dawn, even loving in his own way, but also domineering. How did you approach playing such a ruthless character?

– Karl: As I tried to identify with this man, I had to think about his past. You imagine that the priest comes from an abusive and controlling family and is caught up in the perpetuation of this patriarchy, beating the little and the weak to make them “strong.” Because “the strong will survive.” Once you find this, it is easy to get locked in because you realize there is nothing the Priest won’t do to preserve the sanctity of the religion in which he lives.

Sims: There is also a second character, Dr. You play Godfrey. Dawn, who lives outside the city, seeks help from the gynecologist Dr. Godfrey. He has a very different vibe from Pastor Bill. How did you find it?

– Karl: Dr. Playing Godfrey, he tries to find the truth in his crazy song “Girls Like You”. She goes into a lot of detail about why she became a gynecologist and isn’t afraid to describe the smells, sights, and feelings of things. Because he is very perversely interested in what he does.

Dr. With Godfrey, I wanted to add some physicality. I thought about what he would do when he came home. He’s probably attacking Liza Minnelli and dancing around trying to copy her moves. That guy is a funny cat. “Girls Like You” is her big Broadway moment, it’s got a little tango in it and a little bit of banter, and I’m all over the stage, jumping on the gurney and doing all kinds of things with the props. You can compare this to Dentist. Little Shop of Horrors but even more distorted.

Sims: There is an intense physicality to both of your characters. As Pastor Bill, you bring your whole body to his sermon.

– Karl: The priest is kind of like an entertainer and is so excited about what he says. So he will somersault across the stage, get down on his knees, and raise his hands to God the Father. I saw Alyse copying some of my big performance moves because Dawn wanted to imitate her father, which I thought was really smart. There’s a pace and physicality to the whole show that we all really got into. I mean, the ending of the series was the craziest thing I’ve ever seen in my life. And we have to live accordingly.

Sims: I was wondering, was this cartwheel your idea? Because I don’t remember Steven Pasquale, who plays the role in Playwrights Horizons, doing cartwheels.

– Karl: I have no idea, but they asked me: “Can you do a full backflip or a back handspring?” And I said, “No, man, I’m too old for that, but I’ll give you a nice, fancy hoop.”

Sims: Prosthetics and blood have also been strengthened for the New World Stages. There’s a reason theatergoers in the first two rows are given ponchos.

– Karl: We get to the question of how much blood is too much blood? speech. Maybe what I thought would be too much turned out path not enough. I want to wet these two lines. So they’re wearing ponchos! I want to capture them with all their blood. This should be the slogan of our show: “teethNow with more blood!”

Sims: This is your first work off-Broadway since 2005. Altar Boyz in the same theater. How does it feel?

– Karl: It’s like coming back home! Altar Boyz It was about religious men’s groups and now I’m playing another religious character. Maybe Luke, my character Altar BoyzHe became a priest. Maybe God found the Father in a very crazy way. This is a little Easter egg for people.

Also right next to us Drag: The MusicalI saw last week. It’s so fun. Currently, New World Stages has two productions that are so big in their ideas, they are big shows with so much energy and their caliber is astounding. These are Broadway-caliber shows.

When it comes to our show, there’s horror, there’s humor, there are deeply disturbing moments around family, idealism, and patriarchy. The songs are bomb. The staging is incredible. The choreography is amazing. It’s one of those shows you have to see to believe.

This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

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